Honey
August 7, 2026
No Comments
Table of Contents
It's not gone off, it's raw honey doing exactly what raw honey does
We get a version of this question most weeks, usually from someone half apologising for even asking, worried their jar has somehow gone wrong. It hasn’t. Honey turning cloudy and grainy in the jar is one of the most normal things it can do, and for raw, unfiltered honey like ours, it’s actually a reasonable sign that nothing’s been stripped out of it along the way.
I had a customer email me a photo last week, sure her jar of bush honey had turned into sugar overnight. It’s a fair reaction to have, I’ve done the same double take myself with a jar left too long at the back of the pantry. The honey hadn’t gone anywhere. It had just done exactly what honey left alone long enough always does.
What's Actually Happening Inside the Jar
Honey is a supersaturated sugar solution, meaning it’s holding more dissolved sugar, mainly glucose and fructose, than it would naturally be able to at room temperature. Glucose is the less soluble of the two, so over time it starts separating out of the liquid and forming tiny crystals.
How quickly this happens comes down largely to the ratio of glucose to fructose in that particular honey, which varies by floral source. Honeys higher in glucose, like clover or canola, crystallise fast, sometimes within weeks. Honeys higher in fructose stay liquid for much longer.
As a rough rule, honey with a fructose to glucose ratio above about 1.3 tends to crystallise slowly and can stay liquid for years, while a ratio below about 1.1 pushes it toward crystallising within weeks. Most raw honey, ours included, sits somewhere in between.
Why Raw Honey Crystallises Faster Than Supermarket Honey
A lot of mass-produced honey is heated and heavily filtered specifically to slow crystallisation down and keep it looking glassy and uniform on the shelf indefinitely. We don’t heat our honey or push it through a fine filter. If you’d like the full picture, we’ve laid it out on our honey extraction process page, and on what “raw unfiltered” actually means, we’ve written more on our raw unfiltered honey page.
The Crystallisation Myth That Runs Backwards
There’s a myth that does the rounds every so often, that crystallised honey means something’s been added to it. It’s actually the opposite. Honey that’s been heavily processed is the honey that tends to stay liquid on a shelf for years without ever turning. That’s not a sign of purity, it’s a sign of processing. If anything, a jar that refuses to crystallise at all after a long stretch on the shelf is more worth a second look than one that has.
Is Crystallised Honey Still Safe to Eat?
Completely. Crystallisation is a physical change, not a sign of spoilage or bacterial growth. Crystallised honey tastes the same as it did liquid, it’s simply thicker and grainier.
How to Decrystallise Honey at Home
Sit the jar, lid loosened, in a bowl or saucepan of warm water, not boiling, somewhere around 40 to 50 degrees, and leave it there, stirring occasionally, until the crystals dissolve back into the liquid.
Avoid the microwave entirely, since it heats unevenly and can scorch parts of the honey before the rest has even softened. Extreme heat will destroy the enzymes within the honey.
How to Store Your Honey So It Crystallises More Slowly
Crystallisation happens fastest in that cool middle ground, roughly 10 to 20 degrees, so a spot on the bench that gets properly warm through the day, or anywhere above about 25 degrees, will generally buy you more time before it turns.
The fridge is the one place to avoid. It sits right in that fastest crystallisation range, so a jar that would have stayed liquid on the bench for months can turn cloudy within a couple of weeks in the fridge.
When Crystallised Honey Turns Into Something Else Entirely
Some producers take crystallisation a step further on purpose, whipping the honey while it crystallises to produce a smooth, spreadable texture instead of a grainy one. That’s exactly how our creamed honey is made.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does crystallised honey mean it's gone bad?
No. Crystallisation is a natural physical process, not spoilage.
How long does it take honey to crystallise?
It depends entirely on the honey’s glucose to fructose ratio, which comes from its floral source.
Can I stop honey from crystallising?
Storing it somewhere warm, ideally above 25 degrees, slows the process down.
Why does my honey have a layer of crystals only at the bottom?
This usually just means the crystallisation process has started but hasn’t spread through the jar yet.
Is crystallised honey better than liquid honey?
Not better, just different. Some people simply prefer the thicker, spreadable texture.
Should I throw away honey that's crystallised?
No, there’s no reason to throw out crystallised honey.
Piesseful Bees Honey
Piesseful Bees Honey, Australia's favourite honey shop. 100% raw honey from Western Australia, including Jarrah honey and bush honey.
You may also enjoy our other blogs
Bee
July 12, 2026
No Comments