Gourmet Honey to Cook With

In addition to making a fabulous Gourmet Gift, honey is used for cooking.

Honey is a natural sweetening agent composed of simple sugars, mainly glucose and fructose. Fructose gives honey the unique flavor and glucose provides energy. Lighter colored honeys are usually milder flavored and can be as clear as water.

Honey is available in several forms besides the most common liquid form. Creamed Honey is finely crystallized honey that is easily spreadable. Comb honey, which is honey harvested from the hive with sealed honey cells full of honey. Comb honey is completely edible. These forms honey have no sodium and no additives.

Honey is heavy, thick and sticky. 12 oz. of honey equals one 8 ounce measuring cup. 1 gallon of honey weighs 12 pounds. Water weighs 8 pounds to the gallon.

Most honey will granulate eventually, this does not mean the honey is old or spoiled. Honey does not need to be refrigerated as this will hasten granulation. Store honey in a dry place as it will absorb moisture. Some honey will granulate within a few weeks of harvest. These could be some of the best honeys. To liquefied honey, place honey in a GLASS container, never plastic, in the pan of warm water (not over 125°F as higher temperature will kill the beneficial enzymes), until the honey is clear. If you use microwave cook on high glass, only 20 seconds at a time until clear.

Honey may be easily measured by dipping the measuring cup/spoon in oil or spray with nonstick pan spray.

Honey slightly warmed blends more easily into beverages, marinades and sauces. Never overheat honey.

Honey may replaced sugar in your favorite recipes, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar then replace up to 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of honey. Over one cup of sugar replace with two thirds or three fourths cup honey, depending on sweetness desired. When substituting honey for sugar in baking requires that oven temperatures be reduced 25-30°F. Reduce liquid by ¼ by volume to equal liquid provided by the honey.

Gourmet Honey is prized for cooking as well as eating.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 07th, 2006 at 10:43pm and is filed under Gourmet Honey Gift. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.