How to Use a Honey Dipper
Honey dippers are definitely the best way to scoop up and serve this delicious treat. Read on for some tips, tricks and other ideas about how to use a honey dipper!
If you used to buy honey in a plastic bottle from the store like we did, you might not be familiar with how to use a honey dipper. But once you start using raw honey from a beekeeper, the honey dipper will become one of your favorite kitchen utensils.
We have been keeping our own honeybees for many years now. Prior to that, I bought honey in plastic bottles from the store. We didn’t have a honey dipper or a honey pot until we began to get our honey from a local beekeeper.
Then we wanted to try keeping our own bees and we fell in love with this incredible agricultural hobby. Now we have glass jars full of honey all over our kitchen and the honey pot is never empty. You can read more about keeping bees in these posts.
I remember when a dear friend gifted us with a beautiful, locally handmade pottery honey pot. It came with a wooden dipper too. I filled it up with honey and to this day, it sits in the center of our table, always available to offer a sweet treat when we sit down for a meal.
Our collection of honey dippers has grown too. Many are special gifts that we treasure. Before we used a honey jar, however, we wouldn’t have known how to use a honey dipper! It’s quite easy so I’ll share with you some tips and tricks and why you should use one.
Why You Should Use a Honey Dipper
Honey dippers can also be known as a honey stick, honey drizzler, or a honey wand. They come in different shapes and sizes and you can find metal, silicone or wooden dippers.
I prefer wooden as I have found that stainless steel honey dippers are too slick so the honey doesn’t stay on very well. But this is a personal preference.
What makes a honey dipper so special? Why not just use a spoon to get your honey? That’s a good question and many people do.
You can definitely just use a spoon to scoop out your honey then set the spoon right into your hot beverage and stir the honey around.
However, a dipper makes a much better scoop than a spoon! A spoon won’t hold onto the honey as well as a honey dipper so it will drip much faster and can be a lot messier.
A spoon doesn’t drizzle the honey as well either if you’re wanting to put it on some toast or a biscuit. If you want to use a spoon, though, I recommend a wooden spoon as it will hold onto the honey much better than a metal one.
A dipper holds onto the honey until you’re ready to use it and then you can perfectly drizzle it onto your favorite treat. This allows you to control the amount of honey better instead of just getting a lump of honey on your food.
Honey dippers are inexpensive and if you want to keep local, raw honey in a jar or a pot, they’re the best tool for the job.
How to Use a Honey Dipper
There may be some different techniques out there but this is the basic way to use a honey dipper:
- Holding the handle of the dipper, circle the spiral end of the honey dipper around in the pot to collect some honey then lift it out.
- Spin the dipper continuously (this is what keeps the honey from dipping and making a sticky mess!)
- Move it over your hot beverage, piece of toast, or whatever you want to put it on.
- Hold the honey dipper at a slightly tilted angle, stop spinning it, and allow the honey to slowly come off the dripping end. Move the end of the dipper around to drizzle the honey how you want, taking care that it doesn’t touch your food or drink.
- Spin the dipper again to stop any excess honey from dripping and return it to the pot to use the next time.
This is how we use our honey dippers. We always keep it in the honey pot so it’s there whenever we need it. Our kids love to let honey drip on their oatmeal, yogurt, biscuits, toast, smoothies, and more.
However, some choose not to store their dipper in the honey pot and that works too! You can put your dipper right in your hot tea and use it to stir the honey around. Just be sure to rinse it afterwards and wash it with a mild soap as needed. Read this post for tips on caring for wooden utensils.
More Tips and Tricks
- Honey dippers make excellent gifts! They’re inexpensive and very useful. You can find really unique, even locally handmade dippers that would make the perfect gift for a honey lover or beekeeper.
- To make it even more special and unique, you can wood burn it! My daughter wood burned some beautiful flowers and bees on one of our honey dippers and I treasure it.
- Add a dipper to a honey gift basket or tie it to a jar of raw honey when giving it as a gift. Or if you sell your own honey, add a dipper for new customers and tell them how to use it.
- Honey dippers are also fun to make! Our daughter took a class with our homeschool group to learn how to use a wood lathe. The first basic project she made was a one-of-a-kind dipper.
- If honey begins to crystallize and collect on the end of the stick near the head of the dipper, simply run under hot water to rinse off. Allow it to dry completely before putting it back in the honey pot.
- Keep your honey at room temperature so that it’s always in liquid form and easy to drizzle. If your honey crystallizes, here’s a quick and easy way to get it back to liquid form using warm water.
I hope this helps explain how to use a honey dipper and why they’re an amazing tool to have on hand! They’re not only beautiful when sitting in a pretty honey pot, but very useful and the best way to drizzle honey onto your family’s favorite treats!
