Baking Honey

[colbycurtis]

Is there a difference between baking honey and regular honey? Is baking honey ok for mead? I found a website that sells baking honey cheap example 60 pound bucket for $85
Also I found a website that sells 2 pound jars with a big chunk of the comb in the jar. Is this a plus or minus in mead making?

 

[liff]

Is there a difference between baking honey and regular honey?

Maybe. Most *pure* honey is just that. 100% honey, and there is differences in 100% pure honey in aroma and taste. Then again, look at the "honey" packets from KFC. It isn't honey. Baking honey is normally the cheapest honey available. I have heard rumors that this can be honey from Thailand rubber trees, or from China, or something in between. So the answer is, "maybe".

Is baking honey ok for mead?

Same answer as above. Great stuff to learn with cheaply, may not be the best stuff to make the best mead with.

Also I found a website that sells 2 pound jars with a big chunk of the comb in the jar. Is this a plus or minus in mead making?

I have no idea. Sorry. (My quess is no, but that is clearly a guess.)

Liff

 

[wayneb]

Baking honey is a lower grade than USDA grade A, which can allow for carmelized flavors (i.e. from honey that has been overheated in processing), more included undissolved solids (bee parts, pollen, propolis, etc.) and a lower percentage of dissolved solids (which means more water). It will not generally taste as good as grade A honeys due to the possible presence of carmelized sugars (and nobody like a burnt or oxidized tasting mead!), and the greater percentage of water may mean it might be less stable for long term storage.

Bottom line, you can use it to make mead, but the mead you make from baking honey will not taste as "clean" as meads made from higher grades.

 

[Medsen Fey]

It is my understanding that "baking" honey is lower grade honey that they are unable to sell as "table" honey. Whether that is due to stronger flavors, darker colors or other characteristics, I am not certain. When in doubt, I say taste it - it you like the flavor that comes through, and think that flavor would be good in a mead, then go for it! Even if a particular honey has no distinguishing characteristics, it can still be used as a base for melomels and methyglens. I have used some very cheap, very nondescript honey in some batches of fruit melomels where the fruit is so dominant that it completely overshadows the honey. It was not balanced at all, but so what - it tastes really good.

I believe that there is a recipe out there somewhere that can make something tasty out of any honey you can find (except toxin contaminated foreign honey)- it is just a question of figuring out what to use with it. :icon_scratch:

I'm not saying I can make any show winners, but if anyone out there has some honey that they don't think they can make decent mead with, please feel free to send it over to me, and I'll find a way to put it to some good use. :laughing7:

Medsen

 

[Yo momma]

Here in Mi. I get 5 gallons, or 60#'s, of wildflower for $75.00. $85 for the seconds is not what I call a deal. Depending on where your at, you could probably get the same deal if you go directly to the source of the honey your looking for. Where are you located anyway?

 

[GrantLee63]

Yo! Yo! Where do you get your wildflower honey for 75 bux in Michigan? Inquiring Michiganians want to know !!!

 

[Yo momma]

http://windmillhillfarm.com/

Make sure you tell him your a mead maker and that Jamie sent you. He's a really cool guy and will give you a tour of how the honey is processed from the hive to the warmer. He has a huge amount of honey and is based in Croswell.

 

[butterlily5]

Wow, here in Cali, my honey guy has Blackberry honey, appx 60#, for $135. :sad11:

As for your last question, about wether or not the honey with the chunk of comb in it is a plus, I'd say no. Figure that pretty much all the ancient recipes called for boiling and skimming off the crap that came up (bee parts, wax, pollen, etc.). The comb generally has a dfferent purpose, but not something I'm sure about. Since many beekeepers started using the spinning techniques to remove the honey from the combs, whatever was gained by buying the honey w/comb has been pretty much nullified (as I understand it from my honey guy). And since those same spinning techniques give a raw, unfiltered honey that's pretty darn clean, there isn't much need for boiling and skimming off the crap: I didn't find any!