What Is Creamed Honey? Everything To Know

Executive Summary:

• Creamed honey is raw honey that has been slowly chilled and turned to create fine crystals instead of large, chunky ones.
• Most honey types can be creamed. It does not require heat or heavy processing.
• Manuka honey is thick, creamy, and delicious in its natural state and includes several beneficial nutrients, including MGO and Leptosperin.

Key Nutrients in Manuka vs. Regular Honey

The Smooth Science Behind Creamed Honey

While creamed honey may sound like it has been highly processed, it actually involves a very delicate practice to help prevent the formation of large crystals. Crystallization is a natural process in many types of honey. However, large chunks of honey crystals can be inconvenient. The creaming process ensures crystallization occurs as fine granules, resulting in a whipped and smooth texture.

So, here’s everything you need to know about this creamy form of honey. In this article, we’ll also talk about a particular type of honey that is rich and creamy in its natural state!

What Is Creamed Honey?

Despite the name, “creamed” honey does not contain any dairy. Instead, “creamed” refers to the honey's creamy, gooey texture that results from chilling and slowly turning or whipping the honey.

The large sugar crystals in honey can cause dense crystallization in cool environments. However, the creaming process, which is extremely delicate, helps guide the crystallization process to produce very fine crystals instead of large, chunky ones that would naturally form without the creaming.

While some people may be under the impression that honey can only be creamed if put through a rigorous heating process, you can cream raw honey simply through a thorough, delicate cooling and turning process.

If you have raw honey at home that continuously crystallizes or hardens, creaming it can be one way to keep it conveniently usable (although it’s fairly easy to soften hardened honey).

Raw creamed honey gives you the best of both worlds—soft, spreadable, unprocessed, and raw honey at your fingertips. (There’s even a type of honey that’s naturally creamy and rich in its raw state, but more on that later).

Manuka honey’s unique antibacterial properties, primarily derived from its high MGO content, make it not just a food item but a part of a healthy lifestyle.

How Was Creamed Honey Invented?

Like its taste, honey has a rich and unique history. Honey has been prevalent in food and wellness traditions for thousands of years.

Before pasteurization, all honey was kept raw. While we prefer to keep our Manuka honey products raw, some people prefer the convenience of processed and pasteurized honey.

Professor Elton J. Dyce discovered the art of creaming honey during an experiment at Cornell University in 1935. The professor sought ways to avoid the natural crystallization process of honey and began turning the honey at various temperatures, adding fine seed crystals in varying amounts. In fact, the results of his experiment are still used to cream honey today!

Can You Cream Any Type of Honey?

While you can buy already creamed honey from your grocery store or farmers market, making it at home is fairly easy.

Most commercial honey manufacturers use mixing tanks specifically made to slowly turn the raw honey. The constant movement helps to speed up the fine crystallization process, ultimately giving the creamed honey its soft and creamy texture.

If done correctly, you can cream most raw honey types without disrupting their natural beneficial compounds. While pasteurizing your honey can disrupt some of your honey’s naturally occurring nutrients, creaming it won’t do any harm.

Creaming honey isn’t a complex process; it should take less than half an hour (and a little muscle), depending on which recipe you follow.

You’ll need a small amount of seed honey, which is the finely crystallized honey that will help your raw honey of choice along its crystallization process.

We recommend a proportion of approximately 10% seed honey in your raw honey.

Combine the two together using that muscle from earlier or with a simple stand mixer. Mix the honey for about 20 minutes to thoroughly incorporate the two parts. Then, seal the mixture in an airtight jar and let it sit for at least a few days (preferably for two weeks if you can stand to wait). This allows the honey to fully and finely crystallize.

How To Store Creamed Honey

Whether your honey is creamed or not, follow the same guidelines for recommended storage to ensure quality. While you can worry less about your creamed honey hardening or crystallizing, that’s not to say it can’t spoil if it isn’t stored correctly.

Honey can be sensitive to heat and moisture. If exposed to high heat or direct sunlight, the integrity of the honey's beneficial nutrients could be affected. If moisture gets in the honey container, it could cause the honey to ferment.

At the end of the day, always aim to store your honey away from direct sunlight, in a dry area, and at room temperature.

How To Know If Your Honey Is Spoiled

The best way to determine if your honey is still good is by taking a whiff of its (hopefully still) sweet aroma. If your honey still smells as delicious as it did when you first bought it, you’re usually okay to indulge.

However, if your honey smells rotten, spoiled, or fermented (think a sharp, bitter aroma, like kombucha or vinegar), chances are that moisture seeped into the container and affected your honey. This may mean you’ll unwillingly have to toss it and buy a new batch.

Is There Honey That’s Naturally Creamy?

A common question about creamed honey is whether or not it’s better than “normal” honey. The truth is that it’s a personal preference. This is because the only real difference is the texture—creamed honey and its liquid counterpart are both still honey.

That said, we’re partial to the creamier texture ourselves, which is why we love Manuka honey.

Manuka honey is naturally creamy with a rich texture that no other honey offers. That indulgent sensory experience, paired with its unique taste, is what draws a lot of people to Manuka honey.

Whether savored straight from the spoon to kick-start your day or stirred into your morning tea, coffee, or lemon water, Manuka honey in and of itself is simply delicious.

Manuka honey comes from the nectar of the Manuka tea tree, found in remote regions of New Zealand. This nectar has high levels of Methylglyoxal (MGO), a naturally occurring compound that contributes to the unique properties of Manuka honey.

So, if you’re looking for a rich, creamy, super honey that’s so much more than just a sweetener, Manuka honey is your best bet.

Plus, every Manuka honey jar from Manukora includes a unique QR code loaded with information about the honey in your hands. If you scan this code with your smartphone, you will find:

• Confirmation of authenticity
• The batch number of the product
• The harvest region
• The beekeeper responsible for the batch
• Third-party batch test results for MGO and Leptosperin
• Third-party batch results to ensure it’s glyphosate residue-free

Wrapping It Up

Creamed honey, at its core, is really no different than regular or raw honey, aside from texture. If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind type of honey that’ll indulge your senses with a uniquely sweet experience, consider giving Manuka honey a try.

Our Manuka honey collection takes this experience a step further. Its naturally thick and creamy consistency, derived from the unique Manuka tree in New Zealand, is just the beginning.

Each spoonful, best measured with our Manukora Dose Spoon, contains an array of extraordinary properties, a highlight of our trending products. The origins of Manuka honey, detailed in our Manuka Tree Origin guide, contribute to its distinct taste profile, explored further in our Manuka Honey Taste guide.

Additionally, our Manuka Honey Traditions blog sheds light on the cultural significance and history of this remarkable honey.

On top of being naturally thick and creamy, Manuka honey contains beneficial nutrients that you won’t find in any other honey, creamed or otherwise.

Ready to experience our Honey with Superpowers™ for yourself? Click here to shop our Manuka Honey Starter Kits, available in MGO 600+, 850+, and 1000+.

Looking to learn more about honey in general? Check out our blog here!

FAQs

What are the primary uses of creamed honey compared to liquid honey?

Creamed honey is favored for its spreadable consistency, making it ideal for toast, muffins, and sandwiches. While liquid honey is often used for drizzling on foods or in beverages, creamed honey is more akin to butter or jam in its application.

Is the nutritional value of creamed honey different from that of regular honey?

Creamed honey maintains the same nutritional profile as its liquid counterpart. The creaming process simply alters the texture but does not impact the nutritional content.

How does the shelf-life of creamed honey compare to regular honey?

Both creamed and regular honey have long shelf lives due to their low water content and high acidity. However, the consistency of creamed honey might remain more stable over time compared to liquid honey, which might crystallize.

Are there any specific recipes or dishes where creamed honey is preferred over liquid honey?

Yes, creamed honey's spreadable texture makes it a favorite for baked goods, as a spread for bread or crackers, or even as a sweetening agent in smoothies. Its consistency ensures even distribution in mixtures, enhancing the flavor profile of dishes.

Sources:

ANE TODAY - 202005 - The Ancient Lands of Honey: Middle East, Egypt, Greece - American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)

Antibacterial activity of varying UMF-graded Manuka honeys | PMC

Does honey go bad? Why the natural sweetener has a surprisingly long shelf life | Insider