Honey is a product very familiar to us from childhood. For centuries, it was added to drinks, consumed as a dessert, smeared on sandwiches and what else was done with it. And most importantly, probably, each of us had tea with honey when sick.
Honey from the earliest times accompanied humanity as an integral product. On the medicinal properties of honey written a lot of books, and its taste is known to everyone. In the modern world, honey has also not lost its position, in shops and markets there is a huge selection of this fine product. But how to determine the quality of honey, if the choice is so great, and the opportunity to buy low-quality goods lies in wait almost everywhere? To be based on a price policy or to buy, being guided by success, risking the health?
How to check the quality of honey you buy?
The most precise quality control can be done in a chemical laboratory, where, mixing honey with various reagents, it is possible to know its composition for certain. But most people do not carry a pocket lab to the store or to the market. How then can you determine the quality of honey in "field" conditions?
There are basic methods for determining the quality of honey based on its structure, taste and aroma. When buying honey, first of all, it is worth to assess its appearance. The composition of honey should be uniform without signs of fermentation. Many when checking the quality of honey pay attention to its crystallization (honey can crystallize, for him this is a normal process). Indicator quality of honey in this case will be a slight color change, as well as increased crystallization during heating and further cooling of honey. It is worth remembering - not natural honey does not crystallize.
Viscosity is one of the important criteria in determining the quality of honey. Too liquid honey composition may indicate added water. But how to know the quality of honey by its viscosity, what kind of composition should it be? Here can help a small experiment, which requires only a tablespoon and checked honey. The spoon should be lowered into honey and turned several times, after extracting and tracing the way honey will drain from the surface of the spoon. Honey with good quality flows down slowly with large drops while most of it remains on the spoon. If honey drains in a long stream, its quality is in doubt, it can be either unripe honey or honey - diluted with water. When starting to check the quality of honey, it is worth remembering that the quality is influenced by the plant from which honey is collected. For example, buckwheat honey is more viscous than flower honey.
An equally important indicator of the quality of honey is its aroma. Different types of honey have different flavors, the most subtle smell is floral honey, falsified honey does not have a smell.
And how to check the quality of honey at home, if the product is already purchased and you are still not sure about its quality? The answer to this question is even simpler. Pour a glass of water and dissolve in it a tablespoon of honey, if there is a sediment on the bottom of the glass, then this honey has not passed quality control, it contains impurities.
One of the favorite ways to check the quality of honey in the old days was fire. A spoon of honey was brought to the fire, real honey is charred, honey with impurities burns, blue flame. This method was used by the traders to check the quality of honey when purchasing goods in the villages.
But, unfortunately, no way can save you from various diseases that bees can hurt, so try to buy honey in proven and reliable places where the owners of honey are interested in permanent trade.