Minnesota State Fair Winner!

Competition was intense but we managed to get 5th place in the MN State Fair for the Light Amber Honey!

It’s an interesting, nerve wracking process to enter into the MN State Fair. We have to first choose a class to enter in and then choose our honey that we think is a “winner” . We highly filter it several times to take out anything that is not honey including pollen. We pick 12 one pound jars that have to be perfect with no bubbles or scratches from the manufacturer. Bottling includes making sure there are no impurities or bubbles that rise to the top - toothpicks and pipettes come in handy for this process. Each jar has to be filled to exactly 1 pound which is hard when you are taking out bubbles because it changes the weight. Then the jar has to be in perfect condition with no fingerprints - ask Cathy about the time we were docked points for fingerprints and came in 2nd place - that was a hard lesson.

Below is the MN State Fair scoring:

  • Container 10 points (container appearance, cleanliness, fingerprints, flaws, bubbles, scratches, and other imperfections)

  • Color 15 points

  • Volume 10 points (accuracy of filling to 1 lb)

  • Purity 15 points (without lint, dirt, wax particles, foam)

  • Moisture % (below 18.6%)

  • Moisture score 20 points

  • Clarity (crystals, bubbles) 20 points

  • Flavor (absence of off aroma or flavor) 10 points

Stop on by the Scandia Farmers Market this Wednesday 3:30-6:30 or Scandia Taco Daze this coming Saturday 10-4 to pick up a bottle of the State Fair Winner!

CATHY MACKIEWICZ