Raw Honey In Cooking | Enjoy the Probiotic Bacteria
Did you know that raw honey contains probiotic bacteria? Researchers in Lund University, Sweden published findings that wild and fresh honey contains billions of friendly bacteria from 13 different types.
- The broad spectrum of bacteria types and active compounds all contribute to the unique taste and properties.
- Use it sparingly when baking cakes and cookies as the taste quickly becomes too strong.
What is raw honey?
It refers to unheated, pure, unpasteurized, and unprocessed. Be aware of fake honey which is a mixture of sugar water, malt sweeteners, corn or rice syrup, jaggery, barley malt sweetener, or other additives.
Please note that if you want to preserve the probiotic bacteria and active compounds, it is best to consume it without heating it too much. It has a great taste and texture and love to use raw honey on toast.
Manuka honey
This is “extra virgin” honey from New Zealand. it’s also raw honey but with unique, additional properties. It seems that the bacteria present in the honey produce more compounds.
In cooking, Manuka honey can be used the same way as standard honey, though Manuka has a rich taste, sometimes like molasses. However, because of the price and the quality you probably want to use Manuka carefully, like in tea, on toast, or as topping. This way you preserve all the sensitive compounds.
Raw honey in cooking
Many enjoy honey in cooking as it enhances taste, color, and the formation of a crust on meat. However, cooking honey at high temperature destroys the good bacteria. To avoid this, try using it as topping on on bread or in salad dressings.
You can use honey to make raw candy. You can also infuse honey with coconut oil or MCT oil by using a MagicalButter machine or similar.
Raw honey also works well in smoothies and with fruit and berries, especially strawberries. A delicious combination is mixing butter, honey, and a pinch of salt which creates a creamy, sweet spread great on toast. Honey and natural yogurt is another nice combination.
Try fermenting something yourself. Check these recipes: