If you are a regular consumer, you know that it is a highly appreciated product and, therefore, it is sometimes quite expensive. The reason is that it is made up of minerals, nutrients and enzymes that are very beneficial to health, and it is also a natural substitute for sugar.
But there is a problem: its quality and purity, and checking it can be a challenge. The best quality honey and the only one that should be called that comes from bees, so when buying a jar of honey, make sure it has the words “natural”, “forest honey” or “organic”. However, it will not always be reliable, as manufacturers take advantage of legal loopholes to place ambiguous labels.
To know once and for all if the honey you have at home is pure and of good quality, follow these tips.
thumb test
One of the best ways to check if your honey is pure is to put some honey on your thumb and see if it stays in place or if it runs off like some thinner liquid.
If it runs, it means that the honey is not pure, true honey is thick and viscous, while adulterated honey is more liquid, although its flavor persists due to the large amount of sugar that is added to the latter.
water test
Pour a tablespoon of honey in a glass of water. If the honey remains at the bottom of the container, it means that it is real honey, since pure honey is dense and, in order for it to dissolve, it must be stirred constantly, while adulterated honey, being more liquid, will dissolve together. with the water.
fire test
This may sound alarming, but pure honey is actually flammable, so if you are going to carry out this test, we ask that you do so with great caution. Take some cotton and cover it with honey.
Take a lighter and make the honey come into contact with the fire. If it lights up, it is pure honey, if not, it is adulterated.
vinegar test
Mix a tablespoon of honey with a little water and about 2 or 3 drops of vinegar. If the result of this mixture creates any kind of foam, then this honey has been adulterated. It is not pure.
heat test
When heating pure honey, it will caramelize immediately, but being false, it will boil, evaporating.
If you don’t feel like performing any of these tests, you can check the simple physical composition of the product, for example its texture, which should be smooth but consistent, its sweet smell, or its tickling sensation in the throat when consumed.
There are other tests that experts use to determine its degree of purity, but these are the most practical and everyday.
And please don’t forget to support your local beekeepers as they produce good quality, pure honey.