Why fermented honey and how can I use it now?

Honey is one of the few products that, in the broad popular understanding of the world, almost never spoil, at least they do not require special storage conditions. What a surprise a person will have if it turns out that his honey spoiled in just a few days! Although such phenomena are not so common, yet the likelihood of this exists. In order not to buy (or not to do) a poor-quality product, you need to understand why it spoils. Experts say that even a spoiled product can still be used.

The fact that honey can sour is a little-known, but still reliable fact. Experts say that this product wanders only in three cases, and if you know in which cases, you can avoid such a negative phenomenon.

Honey is a product of nectar thickening. The latter is in colors and is a liquid juice, the water content of which is at 60%. It is easy to assume that such a consistency does not correspond to the consistency of honey. Bees understand that a high concentration of water will not allow the product to be stored for a long time, and prefer to use a concentrate of useful substances undiluted with liquid. As a result, they extract most of the water from nectar, bringing its amount to 15-20%, due to which the thick mass, so beloved by all, is obtained.

Honey can only be pumped out when the bees begin to seal the honeycombs with the help of propolis - with this action small producers themselves suggest that the product is ready. However, the preparation of honey takes quite a long time, because some beekeepers are in a hurry unknowingly, while others simply tend to pump out more of the watery mass, which is not honey. You should not be surprised if such a product is fermented, because moisture is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria.

As a result, the water itself begins to gather on the surface, bubbles and acquires an unpleasant smell.

The statement that honey never sour is based on the fact that most people instinctively store this product in the conditions it needs. It is enough to hope for the eternity of the amber mass - and that’s it, it will immediately spoil.

In no case should not store honey in an open container. Firstly, the thick mass is capable of absorbing moisture from the air, and the fact that excessive moisture is harmful to honey has already been mentioned above. Secondly, the abundance of moisture and sugars present in honey, a priori, become an excellent nutrient medium for bacteria, which do not have the slightest obstacle to getting into the uncovered dish.

There are other criteria that increase the chances of a quick honey spoil:

• being under the scorching rays of the sun or just in a room with a temperature above 20 degrees raises the temperature of the product, contributing to the proliferation of bacteria;
• increased humidity in the room increases the chances that water will even fall into a closed vessel - at the moment when it is opened to extract honey;
• metal containers can contribute to the oxidation of honey and give it a characteristic taste.

Honey may also deteriorate because the unscrupulous beekeeper purposefully diluted it with other components in order to increase the mass. For such purposes, sugar syrup or the same water is often used.

Unfortunately, it is far from always possible to determine a fake, but any extraneous fractions such as flat white sediments, black patches or gray spraying at the bottom of the jar indicate that you have a counterfeit product. Shelf life will be a maximum of a couple of weeks, and to restore such a fermented "honey" will not work. It remains an open question about how much natural honey is in such a mixture and whether harmful chemical additives were added to it to increase the volume.

Unlike many other products, even the honey that has already begun to deteriorate can, in most cases, be saved if you know what to do with it. However, experts point out one important clarification: it will be possible to save predominantly contained sugars, but all other beneficial substances will be lost or their number will decrease. However, a tasty sweet mass is still better than useless waste, so if the product is still spoiled, you should try to return it to a suitable condition for food.

If over the honey has even formed foam, then the first logical step in the resuscitation of the product will be its removal. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that the water and the bacteria present in it probably managed to penetrate a little deeper - to the place where their number is not yet high enough to produce the same foam. These negative factors also need to be cut off, because along with the foam they remove a small top layer of honey, which seems unspoiled.

In order to completely dry the product and kill the bacteria, the remaining mass must be heated to 60 degrees for an hour using a water bath. Unfortunately, along with excess water all useful substances will evaporate, but this procedure will help to keep at least the taste. Such a product will be a sweetness in its pure form, from which no benefit to the body should be expected. Like the real honey, the "saved" option has a contraindication - it should not be used by people with disabilities in the digestive system.

The spoiled product in its pure form is unacceptable, so that the fermentation processes do not transfer into your own body. In addition, if it is known that there are any impurities in the product, you should not use it even if signs of damage are not found behind it - no one can say in advance what exactly is added to the composition and how it will affect health. sweet lover.

That is why, in the event of unexpected damage to honey, experts advise to start it for chemical analysis in order to find out if there were any impurities - and if so, then immediately throw away the product, not trying to reanimate it

If the product is spoiled by accidental or intentional human oversight, you can try to restore it, and only then eat it in the form of a flavoring and aromatic additive. In this case, all the "magic" properties of honey will disappear - for example, it will not help in the treatment of diseases of the throat. Another thing is that the sweet tooth will be able to enjoy a product that already seemed lost forever.

It should be noted separately that even reconstituted honey almost never should be consumed in its “pure” form. The resulting mass is no longer the useful mixture of components that brings only benefit, so its use is fraught with various problems with the stomach - from distention to heartburn and pain. The use of the product is permissible except in small quantities as part of complex recipes.

The uniqueness of honey lies in the fact that its use is possible in almost any form, except where there is practically nothing left of the honey.

The spoiled honey retains its taste, therefore it is not surprising at all that it is used in cooking.The most vivid example is, of course, baking. Cakes for cakes with the use of "restored" honey are prepared according to approximately the same scheme as the usual with a natural product. Half a cup of preheated reconstituted product is mixed with a glass of sour cream and half a small spoonful of soda, previously quenched with vinegar. After the resulting mass is thoroughly mixed, add a couple of eggs and 400 grams of flour.

Homogeneous dough with the addition of vanilla to taste is baked for 35-45 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees on the form previously lined with parchment. The resulting baking is cut in half and soaked with any sweet cream if desired. As the most common filling is used well whipped sour cream, for which you will need to thoroughly mix a glass of sour cream with the same amount of sugar.

A common option is also the preparation of a special honey marinade, in which you can prepare raw meat for further frying or baking.

You can make mead from the reanimated version of honey - a special moonshine with a characteristic sweet taste. Depending on how strong the finished drink should be, take a liter of water or vodka and add half a cup of processed honey and raisins. The resulting mixture is infused for about two days in a warm place, after which it is filtered, bottled and infused now in a cool place for three months.

Variant of the drink, made from water, will look like kvass in finished form, but with a slight degree, but the vodka product will be very strong, but at the same time a pleasant addition to a good table.

Mistresses know that honey is actively used in cosmetology. Recycled, spoiled honey can be used again for the same needs, however, it should be remembered that most of the beneficial substances in the recovery process have evaporated.

Many beginner beekeepers should be warned against the mistake that they often make after collecting honey too soon. Do not give the bees spoiled honey, even if it was subsequently processed. No wonder these insects collect the product exactly in the form in which we love it. In a processed form, it still remains sweet and nutritious, but if you feed the bees, they, having oriented on the familiar smell and taste, but not getting the whole complex of useful substances, can die out in the shortest possible time.

See how to download honey in the next video.