Honey: Raw, Unpasteurized, and Pasteurized

Honey can be raw, unpasteurized or pasteurized. But what is the difference? And is one better than the other? We explain it all.

The difference in these three types of honey can be found in the way the honey is processed.

Raw honey can be seen as honey straight from the hive. It is extracted from the honeycombs and poured over a nylon cloth to separate the honey from any impurities. Once the honey has been extracted, it is jarred without being heated and only lightly filtered. Due to the honey being kept in it’s natural state, it still contains all of it’s nutritional properties. 

Unpasteurized honey is slightly heated while being processed. Most of the honeys nutritional properties will still be present after processing.

Pasteurized honey has been exposed to high heat while being processed. During the heating process, the yeast that is naturally present in honey will be destroyed, giving it a smoother texture. Unfortunately the high heat also destroys most of the honeys nutritional properties. Pasteurized honey will therefor contain fewer antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and healthy enzymes than raw and unpasteurized honey. For this reason all the honey sold at Country Bee Honey Farm is raw and unpasteurized. 

Crystallization

After having honey in your pantry for some time, you might notice that it is starting to crystallize. This will eventually happen to all liquid honeys and does not affect the quality of the honey! Raw and unpasteurized honey will in most cases turn into a crystallized state sooner than pasteurized honey. This is due to the fact that these honeys are heated at a lower temperature during processing. 

Is your honey crystallized and do you want to turn it into a liquid form again? Remove the lid and place the jar in hot water. Stir gently. The heat will return your honey to it’s liquid state. It’s ready to enjoy again. 

Creamed honey

You may have also seen creamed honey in our store. This raw honey is transformed from a liquid to a solid by a very simple yet unique process.  We basically take a ‘seed’, like you do with sour dough bread. That seed gets added to liquid honey while its being stirred and cooled. The small glucose and fructose crystals that make up the creamed honey will start replicating themselves and turn the whole batch of liquid honey into creamed honey within days.