The purity of honey is what determines the sweetness as well as the enjoyment you get from it. Knowing the purity of honey before buying should be the priority of anyone wishing to buy it for his or her own consumption.
While it might seem difficult to tell if the honey you are buying is actually pure, there are many tests and experiments that can help you understand the purity of the honey you are about to spend your money on.
The tips to easily detect impurities in honey can be found at https://elliotthomestead.com/best-brix-refractometers/. Also, I will provide you with easy ways to detect any impurity in honey in this article.
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Using a candle wick
When you dip a candle wick inside honey and burn it, the wick is not supposed to go off if the honey is pure. This method is usually used to check if the honey has been mixed with water.
If there is water in the honey, then the wick will not be able to burn. Honey that contains water cannot burn at all, and in the event, it does burn, then it will burn with a crackling sound.
Use of blotting paper
An absorbent is another good tool to help us know whether or not honey has been diluted with water. When using this method, take a spoonful of honey and put it on an absorbent such as a blotting paper. If the honey is pure, then it will not be absorbed. But when you see the blotting paper becoming wet, then you can know that the honey is diluted.
The thumb test
This is another easier way of testing the purity of honey. In most cases, those people who are experienced in matters honey understand how the thumb test works. If you are among those people who have been using honey for a while, you understand that pure honey has a very high viscosity.
This means that it is difficult for pure honey to spread around easily. It tends to stick together at one particular position when poured down. If you want to test the purity of honey without much effort, then simply pour a little honey on your thumb.
If it spreads out quickly, it will be a sure way to tell you that it is not pure. But if you see it is sticking together on your thumb, then you have every reason to buy it; it is pure honey.
Using warm water
The warm water test is one of the best and cheapest ways to test the purity of your honey. To test use this method, you would need a glass of warm water, a spoon, and honey.
Take a spoonful of the honey using your spoon and put it slowly in the warm water. You can stir slowly or just leave it undisturbed. If the honey you are having is pure, it will sink as a lump to the bottom.
But if it contains some sugar syrup, then it will dissolve. It is important to know the results you expect so that you can interpret them correctly. Unfortunately, some adulterated honey will still sink as a lump even though it contains impurities. But you can use this simple method to ensure that you don’t buy man-made honey.
Apart from the above methods of testing the purity of honey, there are many other things that can help for the same. Understanding the properties of honey can be a good way of knowing if the honey you are buying is good or not. Let us look at some of the common properties of honey, which can help you differentiate pure from impure honey.
Texture
Experts and those who have used honey for years understand that pure honey is very smooth, with no clumps in it. This is why pure honey is simply described as soft honey, meaning it lacks any form of roughness and such things. But if you are buying honey and you notice it is somehow rough or has clumps in it, then that honey cannot be pure in any way.
Layer formation
Irrespective of how long pure honey is put somewhere undisturbed, it can never form layers. This is due to the high viscosity associated with its particles. The high cohesive force between the particles of pure honey does not allow them to separate into layers. But if the honey contains any form of impurity, then it will easily separate into layers.
The scent
Pure honey has the aroma of honey. If you have ever tested pure honey, then you must know the aroma of honey. But impure honey will have varied scents. At times, it might smell like a sour thing. If it isn’t sour, then you might realize that it has no smell of any kind. Such honey cannot be pure.
It is always important to understand the things that make honey pure so that you don’t fall for impurities in the market.
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