in the kitchen

Don’t Toss Out Your Hardened Honey, Honey

Sara {Go Gingham}

Honey warmed in potToday was my day to make granola.  Everybody loves granola and I have an easy, healthy recipe that I’ll share soon.  While rounding up the sweetness (for the recipe and not the other sweetness – my husband) I discovered we were practically out of honey.  The honey had hardened and was stuck at the bottom of the container.  It would have been easy to toss out the honey at this point but that is just too wasteful for this frugal gal!  My solution?  I grabbed a knife (you could use kitchen scissors) and took the plastic honey jug down! 

After cutting the container, I placed it in a pan with about 1″ of water in the bottom of the pot.  I turned the stove onto the lowest setting and in a few minutes, my honey was liquid once more.  Try it yourself.  Make sure you keep an eye on the stove!  Plastic and stoves don’t usually go well together.  I’ve “heard” you can use this same technique with a microwave oven, also.  We don’t have a microwave so this is not my area of expertise.  You’re on your own.

I love getting every last drop out of a container before it goes into our recycling bin.  You can use this technique – the cutting part and not the heating part – with lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, and other products that can be easily cut.

What are your techniques for getting the most out of things you buy?
Do you wrestle with your plastic containers to get every last drop?
What makes honey do this?  Do you have this problem?  Is it just me?

Published by Sara {Go Gingham}

Sara, creator of Go Gingham, writes about real food, green living, and a healthy lifestyle - on fewer resources - {Stylishly Frugal Living}. She loves gingham - but tries to keep that in check.

6 thoughts on “Don’t Toss Out Your Hardened Honey, Honey”

    1. Darcy, I just had some granola for breakfast. My morning mix of Uncle Sam cereal and granola, plain non-fat yogurt and a splash of milk. The best! Thanks for the comment.

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  3. Yes, I have this issue with honey, and I have a microwave. I don’t think the two play well together, however. I’ve microwaved a “honey bear” before and now I have a twisted monstrous looking animal.

    The things I’m always trying to get the last bits out of are:
    -Liquid laundry detergent and softener. I rinse them out with water and use the rinse water in the washer.
    -Lotion (including SPF) in squeeze tubes. I cut the end off (the flat end) and swipe out the inside with my finger. Cut some more off when your finger can’t reach, until you have a little nub of a tube. It’s amazing how much sticks inside those that you can’t squeeze out.
    -Tom’s of Maine toothpaste tubes, which I guess I could cut open, but I’m afraid the recycler won’t like sharp shards of aluminum, so I don’t. I just squeeze them every which way until I think I’m going to hurt myself trying to squeeze it more.

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    1. Liana, so sorry about that “honey bear” of yours. For the toothpaste, go ahead and cut it open! Place any small parts inside another container – perhaps an empty can of tomatoes – and squeeze the top together so your little metal parts don’t clog up the recycling machines. You can collect the metal tops from your husband’s beer bottles using this same method. Thanks for the comment!

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