Sweet Advice For Storing And Cooking With Honey


Winnie the Pooh was only a stuffed bear, but he had good taste. He loved naturally sweet honey. Here are some tips for storing and cooking with Pooh`s favorite sweet.

- The flavor of honey depends on the flowers from which it is made; check the label. Most honey is made from clover, which gives a very mild flavor. In general, the paler the honey, the milder the flavor.

- Store honey at room temperature. Refrigeration speeds crystallization.

- Crystallized honey is not spoiled. When crystals form in honey, remove the lid and place the jar in warm water until they dissolve.Or cook 1 cup of honey in a microwave-safe container on 100 percent power (high) 2 to 3 minutes or until crystals dissolve, stirring every 30 seconds. To protect the color and flavor, do not overheat.

- Before measuring honey, spray the measuring cup with non-stick spray coating. It makes the honey easy to remove from the cup.

- When cooking with honey, it`s easier to use recipes specially developed for the product. For example:


Four servings

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Microwave cooking time: 6 to 8 minutes

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon shredded orange rind (orange part only)

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

4 baking apples

1. Combine honey, orange rind and cinnamon; set aside. Pare baking apples one-third of the way down and core. Arrange apples in 9-inch round or 8-inch square microwave-safe baking dish. Spoon 1 tablespoon honey mixture over each apple. Cover with vented clear plastic wrap. Cook at 100 percent power (high) 6 to 8 minutes or until tender, rotating dish a half-turn once. Serve warm.


Four to six servings

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup margarine or butter

2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups carrots, winter squash or sweet potatoes, cooked

1.In a small saucepan combine honey, margarine, onion, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to boil; cook 2 minutes. Toss with 3 cups cooked carrots or other vegetable.

- If you do want to substitute honey for granulated sugar in recipes, you`ll need to do some calculating. Substitute honey for no more than half the sugar. In baked goods, reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey; add 1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey. Reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent overbrowning.