Honey is a versatile food. You can pair it up with something else or enjoy it on its own. Those who eat it on its own usually do so for medicinal reasons. A spoonful of pure honey once a day is thought to cure all kinds of common and not so common ills. For the most part though, most of us enjoy pairing honey with something else. This might be a cookie, a hot scone or with a croissant. Watch the video to learn a little bit about Beekeeping 101 and cooking with honey!

My Notes

The different ways to take honey is only limited by a person's imagination, that's how versatile this golden food is. Let us look at a few of the reasons why this superfood should be a staple in all our kitchens.

A Natural Replacement for Sugar

Honey is a healthy and delicious replacement for table sugar. The only drawback is that a lot of older recipes were created with dry sugar in mind. Quite often honey will still work with some of these, but it may need a bit of trial and error to get things right.

From Table Sugar to Honey

Remember that most honey by nature is really sweet. When you use it as a sugar replacement, treat one cup of honey the same as one cup of sugar. For any recipes that require more than one cup, replace each cup of table sugar with about 2/3 of a cup of honey. Depending on the type, you may need to adjust this slightly.

Honey Contains a Little Water

You have to take the water content of honey into consideration when cooking. The general rule for recipes using more than one cup of honey is this: reduce liquids by 1/4 of cup per one cup of honey.

Cooking with Honey Browns Food Faster

Because cooking with honey will brown food faster, be sure to lower the baking temperature. The general rule of thumb is to reduce the heat by 25 degrees. However, this is something you may need to tweak, depending on the food you cook, your oven and cooking utensils.

Honey is Slightly Acidic

The way to reduce the slight acidity of honey in cooking is to add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of honey. This will not only neutralize the honey's acidity, but it will also help the food to rise.

Beware of Strong Flavored Honeys

You need to be aware that some of the stronger flavored honeys can affect the taste of your food. This might be a welcome flavor but it might not be too. If you think you may like the taste of strong honey in your food, then experiment with honeydew, chestnut or buckwheat honey. If you only want the sweetener aspect, stick to the lighter flavored honeys as these won't affect the taste.

Aside from replacing unhealthy table sugar, here are seven more reasons to use honey in cooking:

• A flavor enhancer. All honeys have their unique tastes. This makes it a great natural sweetener for hot and cold beverages. Try the different honeys in your drinks until you find one you love.

• Enhances browning and crispness. This makes it perfect for coating baked and roasted foods.

• Offers new texture and feel to foods. If you're looking for that something “extra” in your food, honey makes a great addition in pastries and cakes, etc.

• Prolongs shelf life. The food of bees acts as a good, natural preservative for pickles and sauces. Remember, honey itself never goes off. You could even eat pure honey that was thousands of years old.

• Retains moisture. This makes it an essential ingredient for providing and maintaining moisture in cakes, especially rich ones.

• Is binding. This is due to the honey's viscosity. What this means is that honey makes for an excellent ingredient to help shape puddings, pastries and cakes.

• Adds color: Great if you want a beautiful golden hue to sauces, dressings, jellies and frozen desserts.

How to Store Honey

The rules for storing honey are simple. Just make sure you store it at room temperature. Usually, all this will mean is that you keep it on the kitchen counter, the pantry or a shelf. Don't be tempted to store it in the refrigerator as it's not necessary. All that will do is speed up the honey’s crystallization. This won't affect the health of the honey, but it will make it less workable.

Further Reading of Interest

Honey Could Be Healthy Alternative to High-fructose Corn Syrup In Halloween Candy

Summary

Pure honey has no shelf life as long as it's stored in an airtight container. Providing it's 100 percent pure you won't have to rush to eat it. Be sure to use it as a healthy replacement for table sugar. This alone will be one of the single most important things you can do for your health, and that of your family.