Cooking with Honey

Honey

Before sugar from cane became available, the world depended primarily on honey as a sweetener. Bees collect the thin, watery nectar of flowers and, during the flight back to their hive, convert it through enzymatic action into fructose and glucose molecules. The bees deposit the nectar in honeycombs, where most of the water evaporates to create a thick, sweetened syrup, which is further flavored with enzymes added by the bees. It takes 2 million flowers to produce enough nectar to make 1 pound of honey, and the average worker bee makes only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime.

The flavor and color of the honey depend on the type of flower visited by the bees. There are over 300 varieties of honey, the most popular being alfalfa and clover. Honeys are blended by the bees as they collect nectar from an assortment of flowers. Normally, honey is a golden amber, but the darker the color, the stronger the flavor. For example, Australian eucalyptus honey has a reddish-brown color and a strong, tangy flavor. Acacia honey, in contrast, is almost clear and has a very delicate flavor and aroma.

Honey typically consists of sugars other than sucrose: fructose (40 percent), glucose (35 percent), sucrose (2 percent), and traces of other carbohydrates. To protect the consumer from honey that has been extended by the addition of sucrose, the FDA limits commercial honey to no more than 8 percent sucrose. Over 180 substances, including beeswax, minerals, and water (18 percent), are found in honey. Clostridium botulinum spores are also often present in honey and pose a hazard to children under 1 year of age, whose systems are not yet able to handle the spores as do those of older children and adults.

Honey was originally sold in the comb, but now it is generally extracted by processors by cutting the comb on one side and releasing the honey in a centrifuge. Honey can also be collected by crushing the combs and straining out the thick fluid. The extracted honey is heated to 140°F (60°C) for 30 minutes to destroy most microorganisms, then filtered and packaged in airtight containers. Some small producers sell unfiltered honey as well as comb honey. Prior to packaging, honey may be processed into various forms. Whipped or creamed honey has had some of the fructose removed, resulting in a thicker consistency. Dried granular honey, is used in baked products, confections, and dry mixes.

Regardless of the form of honey, its naturally high sugar content prevents the growth of bacteria; therefore, honey can remain shelved for years without spoiling. Stored for long periods of time, however, it can harden as its sugar precipitates into crystals. If this occurs, it can be softened by warming the jar in hot water for an hour, or setting the opened jar in the microwave on low defrost.

Honey can be substituted for table sugar in recipes if a few guidelines are followed -

• In baked products, no more than half the granulated sugar should be replaced with honey.
• Use 1 part honey for every 1.25 parts sugar.
• Reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup because honey is largely water.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda for every cup of honey to reduce the acidity and weight of honey.

Honey has a more pronounced flavor than sugar, and this will affect the final flavor of the product. it also has a tendency to increase the browning of baked products. Adding 1/8 of a teaspoon of baking soda allows even browning; reducing oven temperatures by 25° helps prevent over-browning. The stickiness of measuring honey can be minimized by coating the inside of a measuring cup with water or a very thin layer of vegetable oil before measuring.