Does Honey Ever Go Bad?

Does Honey Ever Go Bad? 

We used to think honey lasted forever.

Maybe because honey is one of those foods that can sit quietly in a cupboard for a very long time.

Then we started finding jars that had changed.

The colour was different. The texture had become thick and grainy. Sometimes there were crystals around the edges.

The more we learnt about honey, the more we realised that some of the changes we used to worry about were simply part of being honey.

Honey has a long life

Honey has very little available water and is naturally acidic. Together, these characteristics make it difficult for many microorganisms to grow in it.

This is one reason honey can keep for such a long time when it is properly stored.

But long-lasting doesn't mean unchanging.

Over time, honey can darken. Its aroma can shift. It can become thicker or crystallise.

These changes don't necessarily mean that anything is wrong.

Sometimes, they are simply signs that the honey is changing naturally.

Crystallised doesn't mean spoiled

This was one of the first things we learnt to stop worrying about.

Some honeys crystallise quickly. Others can remain liquid for much longer.

It depends on the honey itself, including the types and proportions of sugars it contains.

A crystallised honey hasn't gone bad.

In fact, we have come to enjoy honey in both forms.

Liquid honey drizzled over yoghurt feels completely different from a thick, creamy honey spread over toast.

Same honey. Different experience.

If you want to understand more about why this happens, we wrote about it in [Why Does Honey Crystallise?].

But honey isn't invincible

There is one thing honey doesn't handle particularly well:

"Water".

Honey naturally contains very little water. If moisture gets into the jar, the balance can change.

Under the right conditions, yeast can begin to ferment the honey.

You may notice bubbling, a sour or alcoholic smell, or a change in flavour.

That's different from crystallisation.

And that's when we would no longer think of the honey as something to enjoy.

How we keep our honey

Fortunately, honey doesn't need much from us.

Keep the jar properly sealed.

Keep it somewhere cool and dry.

Keep water and wet utensils away from it.

And there's no need to refrigerate it.

We also prefer to keep honey away from direct sunlight and excessive heat, both to protect its quality and to keep it closer to the way we want it to be.

Honey Doesn't Stay Still

Perhaps the biggest thing we've learnt is not to assume that every change means something has gone wrong.

A jar that has crystallised hasn't necessarily spoiled.

A darker colour doesn't necessarily mean the honey is old.

A change in texture doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be thrown away.

Take a moment to look.

Smell it.

Think about how it has been stored.

And if something seems genuinely unusual, particularly signs of fermentation, it's better not to take the chance.

We used to think the best honey was the honey that stayed exactly the same.

Now we see it a little differently.

Honey is a natural food. It changes with time, just as the seasons do.

And perhaps that's part of what makes it interesting.

Sometimes, what looks like a change is simply honey being honey.