Honey will never spoil and I see no reason to can it. It will get grainy, but just reheat and it will be fine again.

The reason I ask is that the recipe I have (from Ball's canning book) has a slice of lemon in each jar, as well as a couple stick of cinnamon and whole cloves.

Can I store the honey with these things in it (namely, the lemon wedge), and still have it not go bad? Or does it need to be processed because of the lemon in it?

Thanks!

Honey's ability to keep without fermenting is based upon it's being reduced to roughly 17% moisture content by the bees. If you add anything that ups the liquid, it can ferment. The lemon would do that possibly, which is why they are telling you to process it, I would imagine. The cinnamon sticks and cloves are dry and wouldn't cause a problem.

And yes, heating honey does change it's properties, and IMO also somewhat diminishes and definitely changes its taste. When I take honey from my bees, I cold filter and cold bottle it, and I don't have any problems keeping it for a LONG time -- I still have just a little tiny bet left from 1995.

The capping honey which has to be heated to separate from the wax definitely has a different flavor, and I generally use this for baking

If you wanted to make lemon or lime flavored honey without adding additional moisture and having to heat and process it, you can buy pure, dehydrated lemon and lime juice in small packets at most grocery stores, and the flavor is actually very good.

Personally, though, I would just store the honey and flavor it as I use it, but that's just me.

Honey's been taken out of Egyptian pyramids and is still useable, so as has been mentioned, there's just no reason to process it.

Carol

Ah, I understand! Thanks so much. I think I'll just store the honey and skip the processing. Thanks again.

Why did my honey change color from real light to dark color .I water bathed one jar and pressure canned the rest. The water bathed pint stayed the same but the pressure canned jars came out dark .what did I do wrong.

Thanks Dave you have been helpful

Nanokitty, you might get away with strips of lemon zest, if not the juice, in the uncanned jars. Just a guess. Make sure they are deep in the honey and not stucking out -- that would mold!