If you’ve ever kept honey in your house, you’ve probably experienced crystallized honey.
That’s when the delicious honey turns from a slow moving liquid into crunchy, hard, crystals. It’s easy to think that your honey has gone bad and should be tossed, but don’t. Crystallized honey is normal and common, and it’s easy to fix.
One way you can turn crystallized honey back into a liquid is to fill a pan with water and place the jar of honey in it. Then put the pan on the stove and slowly heat it. As the water heats, it will warm up the crystallized honey and turn it back into a liquid.
The other way to fix crystallized honey is to put it in a microwave-safe container and microwave it for 15-20 seconds at a time. Just stir it frequently and be careful (it will get hot!).
Honey is not only a tasty treat, it’s a natural cough suppressant and great for sore throats. Now that you know this trick, you can make sure you always have some on hand.
Check out our other cheap tricks to help you save time and money and be sure to share your own cheap trick with us. You just might see it end up in a future Cheap Trick post!
Tshanina says
January 27, 2014 at 8:12 pmGreat tip! Thanks for sharing!
Dianna says
February 21, 2014 at 4:13 pmIf you heat honey to more than 140 degrees on the stove, boil it or microwave it you lose all the magic that honey has, it’s antibacterial qualities will be gone, all healthy benefits will be zapped. Put in in a pan of hot water as suggested an let sit until liquified again. Leave time, because you will have to do it every time you use it.
Christina Brown says
February 21, 2014 at 4:35 pmThanks for the info, Dianna. I had not heard that honey had antibacterial qualities, so my goal was to make the honey useable again for eating or soothing throats. The hot water trick does take longer, but it does work a little better than microwaving anyway.
Mary says
April 21, 2015 at 9:36 amIt not only is bacteriostatic when undiluted, but promotes healing. They think it draws oxygen to the wound site as well as disinfecting. For years, doctors have been experimenting with the old-time remedy of honey on wounds, with or without iodine povidone, to speed healing as well as its antibacterial properties. My grandmother in the old country told me they’d mix it with cobwebs from the barn to bind open wounds, apparently this idea was pretty good. Docs have experimented with sugar (sucrose) on wounds as well. Just remember that honey can also contain botulinum spores which won’t grow in the honey itself, nothing will grow in honey because it is so hypertonic, but once diluted with stomach juice the spores are released. This is why it should not be fed to elderly or infants. And on an unrelated note, don’t ever use honey in solution to feed hummingbirds, it’s the wrong saccharides (glucose and fructose) and can innoculate the birds with that botulinum, and hummies must have sugar (sucrose) to fuel their search for insects, which is what hummies really are, insectivores with an astronomical metabolic rate who need that sucrose to fuel themselves. Table sugar… never honey, brown sugar, molasses, etc. The ratio is four parts water to one part white sugar, no more and no less. If you ever come across someone having an insulin reaction who doesn’t have a glucose tablet on hand, put a little honey under their tongue and against their cheek and gums… they need the glucose, and it will absorb straight through the mucosal membranes.
Christina Brown says
April 21, 2015 at 10:00 amGood info! I knew about the botulism risk – but never knew you can’t give it to hummingbirds. Thanks for the information!
Alecia says
September 29, 2014 at 8:16 pmI tend to be a little leery of putting a plastic bottle in boiling water. Another trick I learned is to place the honey bear in the dishwasher (of course, without the heated dry cycle) to re-liquefy the honey.
Christina Brown says
September 30, 2014 at 8:50 amClever idea, Alecia! I suppose you could also just make a hot (but not boiling) water bath, too.
Mary says
April 21, 2015 at 9:42 amI wouldn’t trust a plastic container that was not meant to be heated. It may give off toxins. I would transfer it to an inert, safe glass container. I know, pain in the ,partootie, but safer to use appropriate containers when applying heat. Nothing edible should be heated in any grade of plastic.
Mary says
April 21, 2015 at 9:44 amOops… Damn this spellcheck… Patootie.
Christina Brown says
April 21, 2015 at 10:01 amGood points you make! And maybe you invented a new word. :-)
Christina Brown says
April 21, 2015 at 10:09 amAnd if you buy local honey, it will probably come in a glass jar anyway.
Jason says
May 9, 2016 at 12:32 amI tried (fill a pan with water and place the jar of honey in it. Then put the pan on the stove and slowly heat it. As the water heats, it will warm up the crystallized honey and turn it back into a liquid.) and it worked. Low heat, plastic container of honey. Thanks for saving me 1/4 of a container of honey.
Christina Brown says
May 9, 2016 at 9:20 amGreat! I’m glad you found my tip helpful!