Honey Question

IncenseApprentice

For those nerikoh makers out there--I have some o'hia honey I plan to cook soon to get it thick enough for incense. The thing is, it's already thick because it has crystallized. Will cooking it solve the crystallization problem, or will it crystalize again after it's cooked? Has anyone had any experience with this?

Nathan

IncenseApprentice tagging @EspritDeLaNature and @SamsaSpoon

EspritDeLaNature

Raw honey crystalizes pretty quickly. Its a natural enzymatic action. I still gently cook mine further in a bain marie setup. You will see that once the honey starts to liquify that there is still plenty of water in it.

SamsaSpoon

I never reduced the honey I'm using, so IDK.
The honey I'm using is wild honey (or honey dew honey - I'm not 100% certain about the right term) and it doesn't crystallize, presumably because it is high in fructose.

If you want to keep your honey from crystallizing, you can store it in the freezer.

EspritDeLaNature

Interesting....I've always reduced my honey, from the beginning of my incense making. I've spoken to other makers who were having troubles with exceedingly long drying times or molding. In both cases, reducing the honey solved the problems. You must put your honey in the freezer right away? Because, I have left mine in a frigid storage space and it seemed to increase the speed of crystallization. 🤔

SamsaSpoon

EspritDeLaNature

I don't keep the honey I'm using for incense in the freezer because it doesn't crystallize anyway. But I stored other honey in the freezer when I bought a larger amount and wanted it to keep from crystallizing. I just meant that freezing is something you can do if crystallizing is a problem.

I heard that natural honey shouldn't crystallize very fast (if at all) because it is naturally high in fructose and it's the dextrose that tends to form crystals. But if beekeepers feed their bees with common sugar, it changes the natural sugar composition and the honey will crystallize. '

IDK if this is a EU or a German law, but there is a regulation how much water honey is allowed to have. Beekeepers will leave the honey in the hive for longer, resulting in a thicker honey.
I read that in the US, there are no such regulations, which is why the honey sold there is very liquid.
I read this all years ago and kinda rolled with it, but I don't actually know if it's true...
So if any of you American people have any insight on this, I'd appreciate it.

Years ago, I was befriended with an incense dealer, who sold incense on Renaissance fairs, he was the person who introduced me to Kyphi and he used raw honey to make it.
I've met and read about other incense people here in Germany who made Kyphi or Kyphi-inspired incense and they all used raw honey.
It was years later when I learned that
a) the more authentic Kyphi is cooked (that's when I started to refer to the type of Kyphi I'm making as "raw Kyphi") and
b) people reduce their honey to make Nerikoh
and I learned that from people on Reddit.

IncenseApprentice

EspritDeLaNature Thanks, it looks like cooking it will un-crystallize it then. I definitely had some kyphi I made with my teacher, and we didn't cook the honey long enough. Those things never dried, and I have them all in the freezer now until I use them. The high humidity of Hawaii means I definitely have to make sure my incense honey isn't too runny.

EspritDeLaNature

IncenseApprentice I feel you. When living in Maui, on the wet side, I made a little solar dryer to try to dry papaya. Needless to say, that was a disaster. Jungle molding is a thing. I switched from being a long time oil painter to an acrylic and watercolor painter there for the same reason.