[mothergoosemagic]

I have looked everywhere, including my good old reliable Stocking Up, and I can't find any directions for canning honey, i.e. water bath or pressure cooker method. I want to make sure that the honey I'm putting up is absolutely safe.

I know cured honey doesn't need it, but this is my first time extracting honey & I'm paranoid. I only have about one super full, so I want to do some as comb & some as strained honey. Any suggestions about how to extract on an extremely small scale?

Thanks!

 

[Cessna180]

Just put it in Honey jars or mason jars. Put the comb in with it. It lasted for thousands of years in the tombs of Egypt. No need to do anything else.
if you do it will ruin the taste and taste just like store bought honey.

Mike RADFORD
In alaska, former Mountainier.

 

[G3farms]

just be sure the moisture content is at or below 18.6% (some honey does not require it that low) to be on the safe side or it will ferment.

 

[mike haney]

1."...I know cured honey doesn't need it..."
the question should be why go to the trouble of harvesting honey if you're going to destroy the majority of its health benefits and taste?
2."...absolutely safe..."
surely you're not so naive as to believe that is possible.

 

[Bee Bliss]

My suggestion is to use honey for the sweetener for something that you are already going to can or bake. Don't can just your honey. Raw honey is more than sugar, it has vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, etc. in it. It is a living food. Those benefits are ruined when honey is heated to too high of a temperature.

Honey is a wonderful complement to berries, fruits, jams, jellies, etc.

There is a canning book "Putting it Up With Honey" by Susann Geiskoph-Hadler and probably many other honey recipes on the internet. Lots of other honey recipe books for sale, too.

I make my pumpkin pie with honey in it. They say you can use less honey, but I now use the same cups of honey that I would of sugar for the pumpkin pie.

Edit: Beeswax melts at about 147* degrees so your canned comb would just melt anyway.

 

[sqkcrk]

Canning green honey, not green in color, but not fully ripened honey, as you would jam or jelly is not a good idea. The lids will blow off or the jars will break.

 

[Countryboy]

For a small batch of honey, just stick the jars in your fridge if you are worried they might ferment.

It has been my experience when extracting small batches of honey, it doesn't last long enough to think about storing any.

A dehumidifier can help you cure down green honey...or mix the green honey with ripe honey.

If you shake the frame before you extract it, and no nectar comes out, odds are it is dry enough you don't have to worry about fermentation. If you do have nectar coming out, give that frame back to the bees and let them dry it down more.

 

[Bee Bliss]

Well I'll "bee". There is a Honey Jelly recipe.

Honey Jelly
2-1/2 cups honey
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup liquid pectin

Combine honey and water. Bring just to boiling point, heating slowly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat, add pectin slowly, stirring constantly. Pour at once into hot sterilized jars. Complete seals and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

Hmmmm :scratch:

Maybe you want to check with your county extension office.

 

[BearHill]

The honey jelly recipe cracks me up. Water down your honey and then add pectin to thicken it? ... Crazy talk.

 

[StevenG]

Why in the world would anyone make honey JELLY???? Talk about ruining something for no good purpose! Jeez.....

And if you put honey in the refrigerator, it will only granulate faster.

 

[Bee Bliss]

I can imagine that the Honey Jelly would have to be tasted before someone can actually decide if they like it or not, eh? The proof is in the "puddin". Is it necessary to preserve it that way? NO! But as tasty as honey is, maybe it is really good made as a jelly with some great spices to add additional flavor. Cinnamon and ginger come to mind.

If that is not for you, then don't make it or sample it. If someone were to offer me a jar, I would accept it because I like to try different things. I love spices and they can ROCK the flavor of honey. Pectin is sometimes made from sour apples. Maybe pectin (a thickener) adds some flavor to the honey jelly. Maybe water is added to help with the heating process, idk.

That said, I would advise people wanting to can to use honey as the sweetener for the foods they are going to can. Fruit or berry jelly with honey in it would be awesome! There are lots of recipes in the book I mentioned..... even honey vinegar!

Variety is the spice of life! There are many, many things that can be made with honey in it.

Excuse me, all this talk about food has made me hungry. Gotta find a snack! :thumbsup:

 

[sqkcrk]

Why in the world would anyone make honey JELLY???? Talk about ruining something for no good purpose! Jeez.....

And if you put honey in the refrigerator, it will only granulate faster.

First statement, I agree.
Second statement, I disagree. It'll actually slow down crystallization. But being less viscous because it's cold will make it seem like it is crystalized, perhaps.

 

[sqkcrk]

The proof is in the "puddin". :

The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Send me some.

 

[MikeJ]

I have looked everywhere, including my good old reliable Stocking Up, and I can't find any directions for canning honey, i.e. water bath or pressure cooker method. I want to make sure that the honey I'm putting up is absolutely safe...

If the comb is 2/3 or more capped then your pretty safe. Canning doesn't make things absolutely safe anyway. The store-bought honey is only pasteurize to kill fermentation yeasts (I suspect because they get honey of to high a water % and mix it with other honey, but pasteurize to be "safe"?) - anyway they pasteurize not to kill bacteria but to get rid of those yeasts (I suspect some of it is also partly due to the public expecting EVERYTHING to be pasteurized).

I have never heard of canning honey. Maybe no one does? I'm guessing That would be a good reason you can't find instructions of how to do it. :scratch:

Mike

 

[Bee Bliss]

For those interested there is discussion on a thread in the recipe section of Beesourse entitled "Honey Jelly'. Some people make it and sell it also.