Is is true that honey never spoils? Why?

Question

I've heard that "honey never spoils", but I'm incredulous. Is this true, and if so, how? Isn't there some indicator that I should throw the honey in my cupboard away?

Asked by KatieK

Answer

Honey is very stable for a number of reasons. The main ones though are the low amount of water (most honey is under 18% water) and the high amount of sugar (which is a preservative). Both of these things keep things like mold and bacteria from being able to grow. Over a long period of time (and if left unsealed) the honey could absorb moisture and then ferment (the sugar would turn to alcohol) but if sealed then your honey should be fine for a long time. This PDF from the National Honey board http://www.honey.com/images/downloads/shelflife.pdf says that a shelf life of 2 years is often stated. On Chowhound I saw a discussion that said that in the UK the "best by" dates are usually 4 years out so I'm guessing that those dates have far more to do with decisions by the respective governments (i.e. laws that state a maximum best by date no matter what the food is) then the actual shelf life of honey. As the honey in your cupboard, if it's only a few months or a year old as long as it's been in a sealed container then it most likely should be fine.

Answered by djmadscribbler

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Parmesan Crusted Steak - Replace olive oil with honey

Question

I've recently been making a parmesan crust for my steaks, the recipe I'm using calls for olive oil on the steak itself, before cooking. It works well for the crust, but its hard on the grill, cause the oil starts an oil fire, which chars the steak quicker than I'd like, giving us tougher meat.

I'm thinking of substituting the olive oil with honey, still allowing the parmesan crust to stick, and add a little flavor, but avoiding that oil-based flame from charring my steaks.

Any suggestions to any other ingredients, or cautions against using honey?

Answer

If you're trying to avoid char, then switching to honey or any sugar is probably in the wrong direction. Sugar burns...quick.

I'd recommend three things overall specific to this crust:

1. Use less oil. If your oil is dripping off in buckets and causing significant fires - you've got too much. Just try a light brushing on the meat.

2. Use a different oil. EVOO isn't recommended for grilling mostly because of it burning at lower temps. It turns black, kinda nasty, and loses all its good flavor if it goes too long, too high. You can try extra light olive oil or really just a more standard canola or peanut oil.

3. Use the lid on your grill. A real fire in your grill consumes oxygen fast. If you leave the lid off, it can burn for much longer. With the lid on, fires are much much shorter. I'm an avid fan of grilling with the lid on and I never knew why people complained of flair ups till I did something with the lid off, its a lot worse for flair ups.

A general steak tip, especially for something like this with a crust - make sure your steaks are at room temperature before they go on the grill. If you're starting with a cold steak, you're going to have to grill it longer and there's a much greater risk to burn the crust.

Also, consider a quick sear on each side over direct heat till your crust gets the color you want, and then move it off to indirect heat to finish.

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Is there any reason not to decrystallize honey?

Question

The other night some friends of mine tried to convince me that decrystallizing honey is bad for the honey. I don't buy it.

Is there any truth to their claims? I couldn't find anything to support them--or even anything considering the question at all.

Answer

Honey contains lots of aromatic compounds, which are quite big, fragile molecules. This is one of the reasons why cold centrifuged honey costs more. When you decrystalize honey by heating it, many of these aromatic molecules break up, and you lose the complexity of the aromas. So yes, it is bad for the honey. Also, it may reduce its health benefits, as vitamins and other micronutrients tend to degrade under heat (but only some of them - others, like trace minerals, are quite unimpressed by temperature).

Of course, the question is not only if it is bad, but if it is worse than eating crystalized honey. This depends on 1. The honey quality and 2. the way you plan to use the honey. With the honey quality, it is obvious that, if the honey has already been heated in the production process, the volatile stuff has already been destroyed, so subsequent heating for decrystalization is not a problem. But if you spent money on cold centrifuged honey, you are negating its benefits by heating it.

About the use: If you will heat it anyway (as in putting it in tea, or baking it into a dough), there is no reason not to decrystalize first. Also, if you are only using it as a sweetener, even cold, there is no problem in heating it. But if you are using it as an aromatic agent, like in a creme fraîche and honey dressing for a fruit salad, or using it as a bread spread, then it will taste better if never heated. It will still have a general honey taste and aroma, but the subtle notes will be missing. Whether this bothers you or not depends on whether you rate aroma or texture higher. My personal choice is to not heat honey in these cases, but your preference might be different. Probably the best way to decide is to take a small amount of crystalized good quality honey, heat it, and compare it side-by-side with the crystalized version. Then use whatever version you like better.

If you happen to like the decrystalized one more, it is probably a good idea to not spend money on fancy honeys in the future ("cold-centrifuged lavender honey from South France" etc.), as it won't taste all that different from a common wildflower honey after decrystalization.

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How to Replace Icing Sugar in a No-Bake Cheesecake

Question

Are there any good substitutes for sugar in Cheesecakes? I am not interested in synthetic sugar like Aspartame. I want to use natural sugar substitute like honey. But if mix honey into the cheese (e.g: Philadelphia cheese), will it ruin the cheese cake. I don't mind getting the honey taste in the cake, but will I get the same consistency in the cheese compare to if I mix sugar into the cheese?

This is the recipe. I got it from www.recipify.com:

250 gr of digestive biscuit/biscotti

80 gr butter

80 gr Philadelphia cheese

5 table spoon of Nutella

4 tablespoon of icing sugar

400 gr of creme

1. Melt the butter in the sauce pan.

2. Crumble the biscuit, and pour the melted button onto it. Cool it in the fridge for half an hour.

3. Mix the Philadelphia cheese with the icing sugar. Once you have done that, mix the Nutella.

4. Whisk the creme. Combine it with Nutella and Philadelphia mixture.

5. Put everything onto the crumbed biscuit. Leave it in the fridge overnight.

Thanks

Answer

Can you make cheesecake with honey instead of sugar? Sure!

Is it as simple as just replacing it 1:1? Not quite, there's increased moisture, but check the top answer here.

You'll need to reduce any liquid you might be adding a bit. Without seeing your exact recipe, I can't give you an exact answer there.

---

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa....thats not cheesecake, thats no-bake 'cheesecake'. And that's not normal sugar, that's icing sugar.

No bake 'cheesecake' is much more forgiving about the ingredients - you'd not trying to set a custard like, you just want a thick, flavored, semi-firm pie filling. Add the honey, but leave off a touch of the creme, maybe 20-30 g overall? Icing sugar will actually thicken it a bit as its not only not a liquid, but its also got cornstarch in it. There's about 1/4 tsp of cornstarch in that much icing sugar, so I'd add that. If you're against cornstarch, I don't think it'd be the end of the world to leave it off.

I'd add the honey and then add 350 g of creme and see how the consistency is. You'll probably end up adding another 20g or so, but I'd wait and see.

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Culinary uses for honeycomb?

Question

On a whim, I bought real honeycomb (not the cookie type dessert) from a local shop. I tried eating it plain, but the wax makes it unpleasant and chewy.

What can I do with it?

Answer

The comb, which is beeswax, holds the honey. Honeycomb is used for decorative desserts, placed on or along side nicely arranged fruit, is used as a spread on toast or bread or crackers and is served with cheese platters.

As a child I loved honeycomb, would pop a hunk in my mouth and chew like gum until all that was left was the wax, and either spit the wax out or swallow it.

You say the wax is unpleasant and chewy. The wax will remain chewy, the melting point of beeswax is somewhere around 60 C/140 F. If the wax has a bad flavour, would suggest tossing the whole thing and trying again.

Don't know of any use other than eating it raw. Was in the US capital a while back eating across from the bar association national headquarters and had an excellent appetizer platter which had bits of meat, cheese, preserved and fresh fruit, olives, different breads and honeycomb; it was very good.

Bottom line is if you eat it plain, you wind up with hunks of wax in your mouth that you have to do something with. If you eat it with other foods, the wax isn't really noticeable, kind of like eating the rind on cheese; it just gets ate up.

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Does honey have a bitter component?

Question

I've heard Jeffrey Steingarten, on Iron Chef America, mention that he finds honey quite bitter. I've never noticed that myself. Maybe if I really try I can notice a slight bitter finish, but for me the sweetness and floral aroma dominates. Is honey actually bitter in some quantifiable sense? Are some particular varieties of honey better known for this characteristic?

Answer

I also notice it myself, and it varies depending on the flowers and region. I read that there is a bitter honey from Sardinia, Miele Amaro.

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What is the best temperature to store honey at?

Question

I was wondering what temperature is suitable to store honey bought from stores?

Now in the summer, it can be around 30+ Celsius, and even nearly 40 on some day. Do you suggest keeping honey while being consumed in the refrigerator? If not, what harm can that cause?

Answer

Honey should be stored at 50-70 Degrees Fahrenheit

Honey is similar in to olive oil and should be storaged between 50-70 Degrees Fahrenheit according to Max Shrem from Slashfood:

Similar to olive oil, honey should be stored at a cool temperature between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. So, it's best to store it away from your oven or stove. Also, it should not be refrigerated. Extreme changes in temperature will spoil the flavor of honey.

Looks like this confirms that you may want to keep it in a cool place and away from hot temperature where it would cause honey to degrade in quality.

Shrem from Slashfood continues:

Remember Do not store honey in a refrigerator or near a stove or oven. Store it in an air-tight container.

Thus, choosing an appropriate container is an important part of the equation.

Penn State has a great article germane to this topic.

Refrigerating Honey

In the article, it talks mentions the crystallizing state of honey if it is refrigerated in no way it harms the honey at all.

Restoring honey from a crystalized form

I know this is not related to your question. But something you asked in the comments. Apparently, honey can be restored from it's crystalized form: placing it in the microwave for 20 seconds can restore it from a crystallized form.

Therefore, you can store it in the refrigerator and heat it afterwards. The downside is that if stored in the fridge too long it'll turn hard and sugary.

Proper Storage Container

Since honey has very little moisture in it it is difficult for microorganisms to grow. Thus, an airtight container is of utmost importance.

If moisture gets in the container it can be an ideal environment for mold and yeast to grow. Honey should be thrown out if it foams and smells like alcohol

Long Term Storage of Honey

Honey can be stored for long periods of time without any issue. Over time, honey will darken and intensify with flavor.

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Can a Toddler Eat Food Cooked With Honey in it?

Question

One of the recommendations for enabling a young child to pick up some of the more slippery foods is to coat them with bread crumbs or graham cracker crumbs. While looking for graham crackers at the store, we found honey graham crackers. Considering that exposure to honey can cause infant botulism, I was wondering if the honey graham crackers are safe for him to eat?

Answer

That bit of the Wikipedia article is unsourced, but Health Canada confirms and says that spores may be present even in pasteurized honey. (I never would have thought that.)

I wouldn't expect the cooking of the crackers to damage the spores significantly more than the pasteurization. I can't say for sure that there will be live spores in the crackers, but it's a definite possibility and if you're concerned about this then you should not risk it.

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Is honey considered vegan?

Question

I was thinking of following a vegan diet for health reasons. I tried it for a week during a "cleanse" and it wasn't so bad, even though I love steak and eggs. I was just curious though if honey is considered vegan or not. It's an animal (bee) byproduct, right? The only difference maybe is that it's something bee's make naturally, although if we farm them for the honey it's not exactly humane (see A Bee Movie).

Answer

Honey is not vegan. In short, the core tenet of veganism is living without exploiting anything in the animal kingdom, and most (if not all) vegans consider taking honey from bees a form of exploitation.

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Can I replace honey with maple syrup in recipes that require honey?

Question

There are many recipes (or recipe variants) that require honey as ingredient.

• Barbecue Spareribs
• Honey Lamb Chops
• Honey Raisin Choc Drops
• Honey Shortbread Biscuits
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Krispie Shortcake
• Honey, Lemon and Rosemary Marinade
• Pear and Almond Tart

May I generally use maple syrup in recipes that call for honey?
Are there guidelines for when that substitution will work well?

Answer

Generally speaking, maple syrup will work fine in any recipe that calls for honey. They may have slightly different viscosities and water content, but that could be true between two honeys as well, so I wouldn't worry about it a lot. The only thing I think you really have to consider is whether the flavor of maple syrup is appealing in the dish you would substitute it in. In most cases, I think it will be fine, especially if the dish would have worked well with a dark, fully flavored honey. You might also like to try sorghum syrup, molasses, or agave nectar as other possible replacements.

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Can I replace sugar with honey in tea?

Question

If I want to replace sugar with honey in black or green tea, can I add the honey at any point or should I wait until the tea cools down a bit?

Answer

There is apparently evidence that some of the flavour compounds in honey deteriorate during heating:
http://www.ibra.org.uk/articles/Effect-of-heat-on-honey

The text suggests that honey should not be heated to more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). So it might be wise to let the tea cool down a bit before adding the honey. Having said that, I usually put the honey in immediately after removing the tea leaves and it tastes fine to me. The flavour of the honey is clear and pronounced and I have never felt that anything was missing.

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Are there any substitutes for honey when trying to activate yeast?

Question

Are there any substitutes for honey when trying to activate yeast? I have a bottle of corn syrup and was wondering if I could just use that.

Answer

Yes you can use 3/4 cup (180 ml) of light/dark corn syrup:

You can use any of the following substitutions:

• 1 cup of honey

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) maple syrup plus 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) light or dark corn syrup plus 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) light molasses plus 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar

• 1 1/4 cups (250 grams - 265 grams) granulated white or brown sugar plus 1/4 cup (60 ml) additional liquid in recipe plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Courtesy of Joy Of Baking

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