Re: [CH] habs or Savinas in honey question
Dan McFeeley (mcfeeley@keynet.net)
Sun, 28 Oct 2001 20:56:40 -0600
On Thu, 25 Oct 2001, Mary Anne wrote:
>I have always chopped up fresh habs and put them in honey. Thought this
>was OK, now on my list TomatoMania we have a couple of bee keepers who
>are insisting it will cause the honey to ferment. They say you must dry
>the habs or any chiles first.
>
>*sigh* sorry to bring this up again, but I am getting ready to make a big
>batch for Christmas gifts. Steve, my hubby says fermentation is a good
>thing. LOL
>From a lurker on the list -- I'm a meadmaker, which means I have some good
background in fermenting honey (mead . . . wonderful stuff if you've never
tried it!) Honey normally doesn't ferment so long as its water content is
under 18% or so. It's biologically impossible because of the high osmotic
pressure. Bees keep honey below that critical 18% in order to turn it into
a food source that can be stored in the comb for long periods of time. An
18% or lower water content is also a marketing standard, since honey couldn't
be stored or sold if it was a perishable product.
Beekeepers are familiar with losses from fermenting honey, but this usually
occurs because of poorly sealed containers. Another characteristic of honey
is that it absorbs water from the air. This happens when a honey container
allows continual access to moist air, causing a thin layer of water diluted
honey to form on the surface. That layer of diluted honey is above 18%
water content from the absorbed air moisture, allowing the yeasts present
in the honey to begin fermenting the honey sugars. The honey below that
thin layer doesn't ferment, nonetheless the honey is spoiled -- the wild
yeasts in honey create strong off flavors along with the alcohol that
spoils the whole batch.
In other words, there's no problem with fermenting honey so long as you
keep the habs dry avoiding the introduction of water into the honey,
and keep the jair tightly sealed against the outside air.
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