Raw Honey

 

It's important for your health to eat raw foods as much as possible and raw honey is one of those foods that can make this much easier to accomplish for busy people on the go.

Raw foods preserve all their natural vitamins, enzymes and other nutritional elements that cooking and processing destroys. Raw honey (not commercial honey) will help you live longer, keep fit and satisfy your body's energy requirements to power your daily life.

Raw, natural honey is the undiluted nectar of flowers that exits straight from the honey extracting machine. It is unheated, pure, unpasteurized, unrefined honey. An alkaline-producing food, this type of honey holds elements akin to those encountered in fruits, which become highly alkaline in the gastrointestinal system. This is a highly desirable trait. It does not sour in the stomach and it can be utilized to neutralize acid indigestion. When blended with ginger and lemon juices, it also alleviates nausea and furnishes energy to rejuvenate tired bodies. Raw honey is the most robust alternative amidst the assorted forms of honey since it has the highest nutrition. It contains amylase, an enzyme concentrated in flower pollen which helps to predigest starchy foods like breads.

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Nearly all honeys located in supermarkets and corner stores are not raw honey but are actually “commercial grade" honey. These honeys have been heated and filtered so that cosmetically they look cleaner, smoother, and more attractive on the shelf. In the handling facility, they're easier to work with and package this way. When honey is heated, such as during the pasteurization process, its fragile aromas, yeast and enzymes (responsible for activating vitamins and minerals in the human body) are partly destroyed. As a result, such honey isn't as healthy or nutritious as raw honey.

Defined through its fine rough crystals, raw honey appears milkier and bears particles and flecks made of bee pollen, honeycomb bits, propolis, and broken off bee wing fragments. Raw and unfiltered honey is comparatively low in moisture content (around 14% to 18%) and has a high level of antioxidants. It will generally granulate and crystallize to a margarine-like consistency after a month or two. A lot of folks favor spreading it on bread and waffles, dissolving it in hot coffee or tea, or using it for cooking and baking.

Amongst honey producers there exists no consistent code of use regarding the term "raw honey". There are no rigid legal prerequisites for claiming and labeling honey as "raw". You might find raw honeys that are unrefined but have been warmed to delay granulation for a short time period to permit light filtering and packing into containers for sale. If that's the case, then the honey won't be considered 100% "raw" because it's been heated up slightly and consequently truly shouldn't be labeled as such by the provider. Applying as little heat as possible is a sign of cautious handling.

Forms of honey

Honey comes in a variety of physical forms, and understanding the differences will definitely help you pick a suitable type from the grocery market. This is especially the case when you wish to combine honey with other ingredients used in the preparation of foods such as baking. Give all the different types a try when you have the opportunity.

1. Comb Honey:

It's hard to find comb honey today, but occasionally you'll be able to find a jar of liquid honey to which a bit of cut comb has been added. Prior to the innovation of honey extracting devices, honey was by and large made in the form of comb honey. Nowadays, very little honey is produced as comb honey.

Comb honey is made up of raw, pure honey sections taken directly from the hive. Honey bees wax comb without additional handling. It's the most natural and unaltered form in which the honey comes. The bees fill the hexagonal shaped wax cells of the comb with honey and cap it with beeswax. You can eat comb honey just like a chewy candy. Since the honey in the comb is not handled, it's viewed as pure. Honey made this way is pricier than other forms of honey but it is the most nutritious as well.

2. Liquid honey:

Liquid honey is the easiest honey to find both at home and abroad.

Liquid honey has been strained to get rid of fine particles, pollen grains, and air bubbles. Then it's heated up to dissolve obvious crystals soon after being extracted from the honey comb by centrifugal force or gravity in the extractor. Since liquid honey blends easily into various foods, its uses in cooking and baking are diverse. It's employed as a syrup for flapjacks and waffles and in a wide variety of recipes.

3. Cream honey:

If you're among those who think that honey is messy to use, cream honey (also known as whipped honey, spun honey, granulated honey, or honey fondant) would be an excellent alternative to liquid honey. The crystallization method has been controlled very exactly, so cream honey doesn't dribble like liquid honey, has a smooth consistency and can be spread like butter.

It contains 1 part finely granulated honey blended with 9 parts liquid honey. Crystallization lightens the color of honey, but doesn't impact the taste and nutritional goodness in the least. For example, creamed premium lavender honey from the south of France is white in the jar. In warmer climates creamed honey that you buy from the air-conditioned superstore becomes darker in color and more liquid when sitting for awhile at room temperature.

Note: Honey does not do well if the moisture content is too high. No responsible honey dealer would add water to honey, since this would cause the honey to ferment and emit an alcoholic smell.

Color and Flavor of Honey

In the honey industry, color is used  as a handy way to measure the flavor and aroma of honey. In general, lighter honeys have a more modest flavor and darker honeys have a more full-bodied flavor. The coloration and flavor of honey is for the most part dictated by the floral origin of the nectar. Be aware that exposure to heat and storage time may affect honey’s quality and color. Generally, the darkening of honey comes about more hastily when honey is stored at high temperatures. Likewise, honey appears lighter in color after it has granulated. This is why just about all creamed honeys are opaque and light in color.

Conclusion

Raw honey is the king of honey nutrition and is at its peak when eaten directly from the honey comb. Processing reduces the nutritional value of honey but gives the honey a more pleasing look and makes it easier to handle. Use the information discussed here to help you choose the type of honey that is best for your culinary purposes.