Look After Your Honey!
So your honey has turned into a jar of crunchy sharp crystals? Good! That means it's real unadulterated honey!
When you buy a squeezy tube of honey in the supermarket, it has usually been pasteurised and pressure filtered in an attempt to stop it crystalising in the tube (while being stored in a cold warehouse)!
If you want your honey unadulterated, then you need to understand how to look after it!
Pure honey is sensitive to temperature and moisture.
If you leave it in the open, it will absorb moisture, and eventually the sugars in it will start to ferment. The solution is to keep the lid on the jar - pretty simple really!
Cold temperatures cause honey to crystalise. Left alone, this will produce big sharp crystals that are really uncomfortable to eat. Though some people like this, it's also really difficult to get out of a jar. So don't store your honey in a cold place - don't put it in the fridge!! A kitchen cupboard is generally a perfect temperature (even once the jar is opened, so long as you replace the lid - see above!)
If your honey goes all grainy or crunchy, you can warm it gently to turn it back into runny honey. Place it on a radiator overnight, or warm it gently in a saucepan of water (bain marie). Please don't put it in the microwave! Not only is this too aggressive, but it likely kills the pollens in the honey.
Soft Set Honey
I produce soft set honey. Soft set honey is exactly the same as runny honey - I have simply chilled it while controlling the formation of crystals by introducing a 'seed' of tiny crystals. These tiny crystals set the size when the honey crystalises.
If soft set honey gets cold, it just gets harder. And softens as it warms.
Perfect soft set honey should be like very soft fudge - leaving a lovely shiny surface where the spoon comes out. It's difficult to get this perfect balance, but like any other honey, it comes down to temperature. You can soften your soft set honey by keeping it slightly warmer, or harden it by cooling it down slightly. This is the one time when it's acceptable to put honey in the fridge!!
If you over heat soft set honey it goes back to runny honey (the crystals dissolve). The tiny 'seed' crystals are then lost, and if it sets again it will form big crunchy crystals. So don't overdo the heating!