I keep the honey jar on the shelf, not by the hob

The spoon’s already in the tea — and the honey jar sits by the ring “so it won’t crystallise”. Easy to leave it by the hob or on a sunny sill: the lid sticky, the honey darkening, a caramel smell I didn’t ask for. I shut the lid and put the jar on a quiet shelf in the cupboard — dark, cool, not by the heat.

I keep the honey jar on the shelf, not by the hob. Honey not on the radiator is another note; a jar of Dijon its own; opened jam another story. Here it’s a quiet shelf for honey: lid shut, far from the ring and the kettle — not “warmed for convenience”.

Crystallised isn’t spoiled: that’s ordinary winter. The jar in warm water for a few minutes — and the spoon runs soft again. I don’t shove it in the microwave: it’s easy to overheat. Into tea — when the tea isn’t fierce boiling. If odd foam sits on top or a smell of fermentation — a new jar, not heroics.

I don’t need honey that quietly cooks by the hob. I need a jar from the shelf the hand reaches without a sticky lid by the heat. At yours does honey live on the shelf — or already by the ring “so it won’t set”?