Did you know that honey is a fantastic food to add to your emergency food supply? Today I'm sharing 5 reasons you should store honey.
5 Surprising Reasons to Store Honey
#1 Honey Never Goes Bad!
Did you know that honey never spoils? You can store it indefinitely. It will get cloudy over time and crystallize a bit, but you can still use it as a sweetener or for medicinal purposes.
#2 Honey is a Natural Antiseptic
When you are in an emergency situation (or you're just out of Neosporin), you can actually put honey on small cuts and scrapes. It acts as a natural antiseptic.
#3 Honey Soothes a Sore Throat
Next time you have a sore throat, try some warm water or herbal tea with honey. Or, do like I do and just eat a spoonful straight.
#4 Honey Works as a Natural Cough Suppressant
Not only does honey soothe the throat, but it coats it and acts like cough syrup.
#5 Try honey as a Moisturizer
Try putting honey on your lips or dry elbows and knees to moisturize dry skin.
What do you think? Do you store honey? I received some as a gift several years ago. Since I don't use a lot of honey, it was stored out of sight for a very long time. When I finally pulled it out, the bottle was covered in dust and dirt, and the honey was crystallized and difficult to pour.
I cleaned off the bottle and scraped some into a squeeze bottle. Then, I put it into the microwave for about thirty seconds. Voila! It was back to liquid honey that I am still using on fresh-baked bread. Delicious.
*Jan (whose dad is a beekeeper) just added in the comments that the best way to "un-crystallize" honey is to put the jar in a dish of warm water. Microwaving honey kills some of the nutritional value. Important to know!
So, next time I use some of my older honey, I'll skip the microwave, and do it Jan's way. Thanks, Jan!
I'm so glad you stopped by today. While you're here, check out some of my other ideas for emergency preparedness and food storage. (Images below are linked.)
Jan Schaubert
Just a little tip ... the best way to "un-crystallize" honey is to put the jar in a dish of warm water. Microwaving honey kills some of the nutritional value! But, yes, my Dad was a beekeeper and you can store ... and eat ... honey indefinitely!!
Heidi
Thanks so much for the tip, Jan! I'll update the post to let everyone know.