That delicious jar of pure, organic honey in your pantry begins to crystallize and pretty soon it won’t budge out of the jar. Many people quickly assume it has gone bad, but WAIT! Don’t throw that precious jar away just yet.  

Crystallization of honey is actually a natural phenomenon and can even occur in the hive itself if temperatures drop below 50°F, meaning that if your honey is stored in a cooler environment, it may also crystallize. Temperature is not the only factor in crystallization but also depends on the make up of the honey itself. Honey is made of a solution of sucrose and glucose, and the higher the glucose levels, the faster or more prone it is to crystallizing.

We are so used to processed foods and seeing them after they have undergone heat treatment that when something natural occurs in them, we sometimes assume the product is no longer good. That is definitely not the case with honey, and crystallization can be an indicator of its high, unprocessed quality.

I experienced honey crystallization in two jars of Organic Rainforest Honey I had and at first was so disappointed. The honey became so hard and was very difficult to get out of the jars. It wouldn’t move, even when the jar was left upside-down. I was not about to throw them out but was waiting for  a chance to use them in a recipe sometime. Before I got around to that, I saw this tip on reheating honey to bring it back to its liquid form.

All you need to do is place your container of honey in a warm water bath and allow it to heat up gradually. I don’t have a picture of the original crystallization for my honey, but trust me, it was pretty bad. I started out by pouring warm water into a bowl with the honey bear bottles in it and reheated the water a few times as needed until the honey returned to its liquid state. This worked well to get the honey out of the original bottles and to a useable state, but my honey was still very grainy (see top picture) and I wanted to see how far I could go with this.

I continued my little experiment by emptying the honey into a glass jar, and placing the jar in a pot of water on low heat. I slowly heated the water without letting it come to a boil. After about 15 minutes, the honey was smooth and glossy without a sugar crystal in sight! Once the honey cooled to room temperature it thickened up again and was as good as new!

Once you get your honey back to your desired state, use it up as you normally would. Have it with toast and butter, stir it into your tea or coffee, or use it in your next dessert, but whatever you do, don’t throw it out!

How to Fix Your Crystallized Honey 

Crystallized Honey
Glass Jar, if the original jar is plastic
Warm Water
Bowl or Pot

Place the jar of honey in a bowl or pot with the warm water, reheating the water as needed until your honey reaches your desired state of liquefaction.

If you would like the honey to completely return to its original state, gradually heat the jar in a pot of warm water without letting the water come to a boil.

Allow to cool to room temperature and use as desired.