Choosing good honey in the market or in the store is not an easy task. There are more than 200 varieties of this healing delicacy in Russia, and each of them is unique in its own way. But the main thing in such a purchase is not the beautiful name of the variety. After all, if you buy the “wrong” honey, you will not only lose money, but you can also harm your health. First check the quality of the product.
Pick your recipe
You will need
A liter of honey, a tablespoon, a glass, cow's milk, a few drops of iodine, vinegar and ammonia, scales, a sheet of paper, a piece of bread and stainless steel wire.
Instruction manual
1
Hold the honey in your mouth.
It is best to try a product sample from the bottom of the container.
Its taste will depend on the variety. For example, linden honey is very sweet, and heather and tobacco are slightly bitter. Must lock up in the throat. In the mouth, high-quality natural honey is completely dissolved! No particles should remain on the tongue.
The caramel flavor indicates that the already thickened delicacy has been melted. Most likely, there were almost no useful substances in it. A specific taste of malt happens when paddy is added (insect and plant excretion). If honey resembles sweetened water, it is sugar syrup processed by bees. Put such a "sugar" honey in warmed milk, and it will curl.
2
Inhale the smell of honey.
Fragrant aroma will indicate the naturalness of the product. Its smell depends, first of all, on the honey plant. Raspberry honey smells gently of raspberry flowers, clover honey - vanilla. But with fermentation and strong heating, the addition of molasses and sugar, the honey smell disappears.
Smelling can deceive: high-quality honey from clover, Ivan tea, rape or white acacia almost does not smell.
3
Inspect the contents of the can.
Natural honey shades - from light yellow to dark brown. Artificial honey is almost transparent. By the way, the acacia variety is also very light, and in the thick state it turns white.
We noticed a precipitate - something was mixed into the product. It can be sugar, molasses, starch or other extraneous components. But pieces of insects, pollen and herbs do not necessarily speak about the quality of the goods. Negligent sellers often mix them on purpose, "for naturalness."
Running bubbles and foam are a sign of the fermentation of immature honey. He was deflated before the bees covered the honeycombs with wax. There are not enough useful substances in it, and excess moisture did not evaporate. Natural mature honey cannot ferment, it is bactericidal!
4
Perform simple tests.
Artificial or immature honey if:
• You dipped a spoon into it and began to rotate it in a horizontal position. Honey did not “wrap up” and did not stretch down a continuous tape, but dripped and dripped. He immediately merged with the contents of the jar, without forming a "little".
• A liter of honey (minus the tare) weighs less than 1, 4 kg.
• They held a piece of bread in honey - it was wet, not hardened.
• They put honey on paper, and it got wet.
• Honey is half thickened - the top layer remains liquid.
• Honey stood for a long time and did not thicken at all.
At the end of October, high-quality natural honey should be “shrunken”, candied. True, the acacia variety thickens only in the spring, and heather will become like jelly.
5
Check honey for impurities.
Extraneous components are mixed into it if:
• A tablespoon of honey in a glass of water has completely dissolved, a precipitate and floating particles have appeared.
• They drained the water and put vinegar on the resulting precipitate - carbon dioxide was released (chalk was mixed).
• A drop of iodine - and the honey turns blue (there is starch or wheat flour).
• Ammonia was carefully dropped into a 50% solution of honey, it turned dark yellow (molasses).
• The red-hot wire from stainless steel was lowered into honey - an adhesive mass stuck.
To be completely sure of the purchase, ask the seller for quality certificates, the beekeeper - the veterinary certificate and apiary passport.
note
Check out the existing varieties! Otherwise, instead of an expensive and healing treat, you can buy an unprecedented honey from hazelnuts, sea buckthorn, melon or watermelon.
Useful advice
It’s better to buy some honey for a test, and then stock it with a trusted seller. Good products can be found at honey fairs, in specialized stores, and in apiaries.