Rex Trulove
I still field questions relating to how old honey can get before it spoils. A recent question was in regard to a sealed jar of honey that was six years old. Since there are still doubts in regard to honey and what the shelf-life of it is, it is worthwhile to explain this. It is utterly astounding when you think about it.
Of all the thousands of kinds of foods known to mankind, honey is the only food known that never spoils. Honey can crystallize and it can ferment, but it doesn’t spoil.
If honey crystallizes, sugars come out of suspension and the honey becomes thick and grainy. It is still edible. In fact, if it is gently heated and thoroughly stirred, the sugar can be re-dissolved into the honey.
If honey ferments, it produces a product called mead. It is even difficult to make mead on purpose, and it requires a substantial amount of water to do it. I’ve easily made many kinds of wine, but have never been able to make mead successfully.
The issue with making mead and the reason honey has a basically unlimited shelf-life is that honey contains powerful antibiotics that kill microbes and yeasts. Pouring honey onto a compost pile can even slow down or prevent the compost from breaking down properly.
Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs, in pots made of clay, that was still edible after thousands of years. It was crystallized, but still edible after heating it to turn it back into a thick fluid. No other food can make that claim. In fact, most would have turned to dust long before then.
That is why I keep a small container of honey in my camping first-aid kit. Spreading honey over a wound and wrapping it helps prevent infection and allows the wound to heal faster.
The answer to the question I was given was then simple. After 6-years, the honey would still be quite safe to eat, particularly if it was in a sealed jar.
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Did you know that honey lasts indefinitely and never spoils?
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Yes
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No
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I knew that about honey! but sometimes its hard to use when it dries
When that happens, I gently heat it up to melt the crystals, then it is quite usable.
I have not had honey in a long time but I do remember when I had a cough as a child my mom heated up milk, added honey and some butter and made me drink it all down.
Heated honey and lemon juice, mixed together, works well, too.
I take a spoonful of honey when I wake up in the morning. It helps me be at ease for the morning ritual in the bathroom.
I love honey on toasted English Muffins and if it wasn’t so expensive, I’d probably start eating breakfast of a couple of those muffins with honey.
Yes I knew that. I grew up always having fresh honey. My uncle raised bees and sold honey. I always to this day by only local honey.
I think it is a really good idea and there are few places in the US that don’t have beekeepers and fresh honey nearby.
I never use sugar but I love honey.
I love it too, and would probably use more of it if it wasn’t so expensive.
Honey is fantastic, it can be used as a sugar substitute.
I agree. Honey has been used for thousands of years as a sweetener, long before anyone figured out a way to refine sugar cane and turn it into sugar.