Honey can be stored for many years, maintaining its beneficial properties. In this case, you must adhere to simple rules. However, not every person knows how to store honey. First of all, you need to choose the right container for the beekeeping product. Maintaining suitable temperature and humidity parameters is also of great importance.
Honey storage containers
The variety of modern materials allows each person to choose the best option for storing honey.
Clay
For many centuries, honey was kept in earthenware containers. It is considered an ideal option for these purposes. Such containers do not allow moisture and sunlight to pass through. In addition, it helps maintain constant temperatures. However, finding high-quality clay containers can be quite difficult these days. In addition, they can hardly be called practical.
Glass
It is best to keep honey in a glass container at home. This material does not react with beekeeping products and does not produce toxic substances. The only disadvantages of such containers include transparency. This means that it does not provide protection from sunlight. To solve this problem, you should place a container filled with bee nectar in a dark place.
Plastic
The beekeeping product is often sold in plastic containers. This is due to the ease of transportation and storage in the store. In addition, plastic is considered a cheaper material. This means that capacity has minimal impact on the cost of the product. In this case, after purchase, it is recommended to immediately pour the mixture into a glass container.
Tree
Wooden utensils are considered quite rare. At the same time, it is quite acceptable to use it for storing honey. However, it is important to give preference to containers made from specific types of wood - linden, beech, birch. It is better not to use dishes made from coniferous trees. This material includes many essential oils that change the taste and aroma of the product.
Metal
It is recommended to treat metal containers with extreme caution. Beekeepers use them to store large quantities of honey. However, they prefer materials without zinc, aluminum or lead in the composition. These components can provoke oxidation of the product. It is not recommended to use such storage containers at home.
Storage in honeycombs
It is quite acceptable to keep natural honey in honeycombs. In this case, you should follow the same rules as for a regular product. It is important that it is not exposed to high humidity, sunlight and temperature fluctuations.
It is recommended to keep honeycombs in glass containers. It is enough to divide them into small parts and place them compactly in jars. If all recommendations are followed, the product will retain its freshness for more than 1 year. To increase the shelf life, the honeycomb should be filled with liquid honey and sealed with melted wax. The top of the container must be sealed tightly.
Storage
You can store honey in different places. A kitchen cabinet or refrigerator is suitable for this. Some people keep the product in the cellar. In any case, it is important to adhere to certain rules.
Fridge
In a city apartment, honey can be kept in the refrigerator. It is there that the temperature remains stable all the time. This makes it possible to avoid exposure of the product to sudden temperature fluctuations and high humidity.
In addition, in the refrigerator the product is not exposed to sunlight. It is enough to close the container with honey hermetically so that the mass does not absorb foreign odors.
Basement and cellar
Private houses often have a cellar. However, most of these places are not very suitable for storing beekeeping products. This is due to unsuitable temperature and humidity parameters, which can lead to spoilage of nectar.
If there is no other place, it is recommended to keep honey in wooden barrels impregnated with wax. They should not be placed near salt, sugar, cereals, or sauerkraut. The keg can also be placed on the bottom shelf of the pantry.
Closet and pantry
These options are suitable for storing honey in winter. In this case, it is enough to put the honey in a dark place and forget about it.It is important to note that it is prohibited to keep other products nearby. You should also make sure that there are no insects in the pantry.
Temperature and humidity
It is best to keep honey at a temperature of +6-25 degrees. In summer, it is recommended to store the product in a cool place. Heating the mass to a temperature of more than +35 degrees is prohibited. Already at +40 degrees, the breakdown of vitamins in the product begins.
At +60 degrees, honey loses its enzymes and bactericidal properties. As a result, it turns from a healing product into an ordinary dessert. With stronger heating, sugars actively break down and an intermediate substance is produced - hydroxymethylfurfural. Scientists often call it a potentially dangerous carcinogen.
If heated honey is cooled, its beneficial properties will no longer be restored. In this case, vitamins, enzymes, essential oils and organic acids will be completely destroyed, and the main part of the sugars will be replaced by an intermediate substance. This product is completely devoid of aroma. In addition, it loses its rich and rich taste, becoming cloyingly sweet.
It is not recommended to keep honey at sub-zero temperatures. This leads to the loss of some vitamins and other beneficial substances. Some people freeze honey. In this case, it is necessary to observe a number of conditions - in particular, you should not expose the product to temperatures below -15 degrees.
Another important condition for proper storage of the mass is maintaining low humidity. Like all beekeeping products, honey is highly hygroscopic. Increasing the humidity of the product provokes its souring. To avoid this, the container must be hermetically sealed.
Freezing
A natural beekeeping product contains up to 20% moisture.Therefore, even at a temperature of -2 degrees, the mass freezes. To keep the sweetness constantly frozen, the temperature can be lowered to -15 degrees. Lower parameters lead to irreversible chemical processes. This entails a loss of beneficial and healing properties.
So, to increase the shelf life of frozen bee nectar, it is important to follow the following recommendations:
- The temperature in the freezer should be at least -15 degrees. Otherwise, the product will lose its taste and benefits.
- Before freezing, the composition should be transferred to small containers. Once defrosted, it must be used immediately.
- Bee nectar should be kept in tightly sealed pots, jars and containers.
- When storing in the freezer, the delicacy should not be placed near meat and fish.
- It is recommended to defrost the product under natural conditions. This can also be done in a water bath at a temperature of no more than +40 degrees.
You should not use containers made of coniferous wood to store treats. This will give the honey a dark color, bitterness and a specific smell. It is also not recommended to freeze a product that has already been thawed.
Does honey have an expiration date?
Many people are sure that the product cannot be stored for more than 12 months. They believe that after a year, bee nectar loses its beneficial properties and structure. Proponents of this theory argue that honey is not only deprived of valuable components, but also becomes harmful.
Opponents of this statement give other arguments. So, during excavations in Egypt, archaeologists found a container with an unknown mass.After conducting research, scientists determined that it was honey. Moreover, it retained its taste and remained suitable for consumption.
It must be said that with proper storage, the natural product retains its benefits for many years. Of course, the mass undergoes fermentation processes. Therefore, after some time, the honey will become darker, lose some of its aroma and acquire a thick consistency.
Honey is a very healthy product that contains a large number of valuable elements. In order for the mass to retain its properties for as long as possible, it is important to provide it with the correct storage conditions. In this case, the choice of container, as well as maintaining optimal temperature and humidity parameters, is of great importance.
