how to store honey correctly at home - timing and temperature

Can I store honey in the refrigerator, what kind of dishes to put it in and how long it can be of use? Many of these questions are habitual to hear wrong answers. Only this prevents the use of beekeeping products at home as long and efficiently as possible.

How much to store honey?

The period during which honey remains a useful and tasty product, directly depends on the conditions of its storage. Of course, the ideal option is an apiary, waxed kegs and a large amount of honey with propolis. Under such conditions, it can last for ten years, since fermentation slows down as much as possible.

If we talk about home storage, it is necessary to take into account the main factors affecting the composition of the precious product: humidity, temperature, lighting, dishes and honey.

Temperature

Expert opinion is still fluctuating, but on average they offer +10 and -10 degrees as the extreme limits, which it is advisable not to go over. It turns out that even at a temperature of +20 degrees the composition of the product begins to change, exfoliating and parting with a part of vitamins, and at a temperature of +40 degrees, all valuable vitamins are destroyed and the formation of harmful substances. The taste also changes, filling with bitterness.

Minus temperature has a more sparing effect on the composition, but it also gives a certain effect.-10 degrees is suggested as the minimum temperature for bee hives in winter. Further reduction is unnatural for beekeeping products and shortens the shelf life of their products.

Another subtlety - the temperature should be stable. A sharp change leads to uneven crystallization.

Moisture

To prevent honey from becoming watery, there should be a stable moisture regime, and its percentage should not exceed 75%.However, this figure may vary depending on what kind of honey you are going to store. It turns out that honey from acacia can carry and a greater percentage of water in the air, but the hardy with difficulty makes 60%.

Based on what your home conditions, it is wise to choose and honey. If there is nowhere to store the whimsical look, calculate how many kilograms of such a product you can use in a short time, or take a view more suitable for your conditions.

In any case, the room should be sufficiently dry.

Tableware

Storage of honey for a long period of time requires sterility and the absence of oxidation sites. At home, usually a small container is used. If you choose glass, you need to take care of its darkening and tight fit of the lid. The pan can be glass, ceramic or enameled( without seats with a coiled coating).

In order to prepare the dishes for use, you need to wash thoroughly without the use of chemicals. Suitable mustard, laundry soap or stems nettle. After this, rinse thoroughly with plenty of water and dry.

You can use wooden kegs( except for conifers), which are soaked and scalded several times before the honey bay. So do with pottery, which perfectly maintains the temperature inside and neutral with respect to other substances.

Regarding plastic, despite its widespread use, in this case it is not recommended, even food, because nectar is so actively interacting with the environment that even from such plastic, in a short time, it can extract poisonous substances. The usual plastic is strictly forbidden.

Tip

To keep the cans at home in a lighted place, wrap them in dense opaque paper.

Lighting

Sunlight has a harmful effect on honey, in particular, on the enzyme inhibin. It is he who imparts antimicrobial properties to honey and makes it so effective in the treatment of many health problems. It is best to choose a dark place at home, even if the container is opaque. In any case, direct sunlight is contraindicated.

The best storage for

Based on the requirements of temperature and light conditions and humidity, at home, storing honey for a long time is possible in several places.

• In the fridge. There is always dark, stable temperature. With regard to humidity, the unit using dry freezing is ideal, but older models need support from the owners. The moisture on the walls will have to be cleaned regularly with clean, dry rags. And in any case, banks should be hermetically sealed, so as not to absorb the foreign smells of other products.
• Dry cellar is more suitable for wooden containers. But we must take into account the neighborhood with other products. Pickles in barrels, some vegetables with a strong odor can pass it to honey. It is strictly forbidden to store a number of paints or refined products. Honey instantly absorbs the smell and taste, becoming frankly inedible.

Tip

Using kegs, do not try to put several kinds of honey in one container, despite the temptation of free space. The product will definitely deteriorate in a short time.

• Open balconies are completely unsuitable for such purposes. A constant change of temperature and humidity will spoil the product. But the storage of honey reserves in closed balconies or loggias is quite possible( except for the summer season).There it is usually cooler than in the apartment, and the humidity is moderate. Although more than a year this option does not support the product's value.

Advice

If you have a short time honey remains open, look at the nearby food. Salt, cereals and sugar microparticles easily rise into the air and significantly accelerate the processes of fermentation. Either close the honey, or take these products away.

Honey in honeycombs

It is believed that in such a natural form the value of honey increases, and it really is. More substances are retained for a long time, in the course of further fermentation their quantity only grows.

To store honey in honeycombs, you can even not pull it out of the frame. Pack everything in an opaque material and put it in the refrigerator. There, honey will not only survive at the right temperature and lighting, but will also be protected from moths, which like to be wound up within the framework.

Of course, the ability to use this method depends on how much space in your refrigerator. If there is no such, it is possible to decompose the cut-off honeycomb pieces by means of sterile dry jars or other suitable utensils. Close as tightly as possible, ideally - hermetically sealed. Then you can store honey in honeycombs, using the usual rules.

Council

Honey always crystallizes, the process begins from the moment it is taken from the honeycombs. So, in cells, this process is as slow as possible! Even in winter, you can get a sticky honey to the table without using a water bath and know that it will give the maximum amount of benefit to loved ones.

Knowing how to properly store honey, each hostess can for a long time use for food and for treatment a nutritious and useful in all respects product.