The Cold Extracted Difference
RAW HONEY IS COLD EXTRACTED HONEY
At Wild Nectar, we are passionate about raw honey. We call this ‘cold extracted’ because, a bit like a cold pressed olive oil, our honey is extracted from the hives at room temperature and only gently warmed to make it flow easier during bottling. We never pasteurize, heat to high temperatures or micro-filter our honey, we use the temperature of a hive on a hot summers day as a guide to maximum warmth.
WHY DO WE COLD-EXTRACT?
This is the reason we created Wild Nectar Honey Inc - it is so important to retain all the pure goodness of raw honey in its natural state. Raw honey with minimal processing retains the natural properties present in honey exactly as the bees created it, and all the natural flavour of the honey and the flora it was created from. Through heat treating honey, the delicate and complex sugars, pollens and enzymes are altered and diminished. Not only does this lessen the natural benefits of raw honey, it also reduces the quality of the honey and changes the flavour profile and shelf life before crystallising.
Like olive oil, honey is best consumed as fresh as possible, but crystallization isn’t a sign or old or poor quality honey. Honey actually never goes “off” and although some consumers think of it as an undesirable trait, honey crystallisation is actually one of the key signs of raw honey that is not highly processed. This is a natural change, particularly in colder temperatures, and can occur more readily in certain honey varietals due to the sugar structures from particular flora. It can also be reversed by gently warming the jar or bottle in a warm water.