How to Pasteurize Honey at Home

Pasteurize honey to increase its shelf life.

Pasteurizing is a method of killing food-borne bacteria by heating it. Most of the honey that you find prepackaged in grocery stores has been pasteurized already and is labeled as such. Honey that you harvest yourself or purchase at a farmer's market is unlikely to have gone through this sterilization process. Before you eat unprocessed honey, it's wise to pasteurize it. The process kills bacteria and yeast living in the honey. It also reduces the likelihood that the honey will crystallize or ferment during storage.

Things You'll Need

• Pot
• Candy thermometer
• Spoon
• Storage container
• Ice
• Water
• Salt
• Funnel

Instructions

1. Place the honey in a clean pot.

2. Place a candy thermometer in the honey.

3. Heat the honey to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep it at this heat for 30 minutes. Do not allow the temperature to fluctuate by more than 10 degrees.

4. Remove the pot from the stove and place it directly into a large container filled with ice water and salt (1/2 cup per quart of water). Do not submerge the pot or allow any salted ice water to get into the pot.

5. Stir the honey constantly and keep it on the ice water bath until the honey cools to room temperature.

6. Pour the honey into a storage container using a funnel. It is now ready for storage.

Tips & Warnings

• Heat pasteurization will change the flavor of fresh honey slightly. To avoid this, only pasteurize honey intended for long-term storage. The flavor change due to pasteurization is similar to the flavor change during long-term storage.

• It is especially important to pasteurize low-grade (C or lower) honey. It's high moisture and debris content makes it much more likely to degrade during storage.

References

• Bee Source; Honey Composition and Properties; J.W. White, et al.; October 1980
• Government of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development; Commercial Honey Industry; Dennis Dey; July 2001