Wildflower Honey


Wildflower Honey
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Mouse over for member price Wildflower Honey Wildflower honey is characterized by its sweetness and flavorful taste. It is typically darker than many honeys, with a more robust flavor. Summer and early fall are prime production times for wildflower. Hives are placed in vast prairies and grasslands where bees have access to pure water and a wide variety of wild plants. The honey produced in these conditions is blended naturally by the bees as they visit many different nectar sources. Wildflower honey is a thicker honey and the taste varies from year to year based on what's in bloom. This batch of honey has a delightful taste and is darker in color. Darker honey has more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant properties compared to lighter honey. Produced in California recently, this honey is unfiltered (as it should be). The honey is heated enough to pump it and then strained through 100 micron filter bags. The resulting product is as natural as we can get it and still be able to bottle it with modern equipment. Most of the larger honey packers use filter presses with diatomaceous earth to filter their honey. The process requires high temperatures. The result is a very clear product, but some of the natural goodness of the honey is destroyed. For example the pollen is gone and the naturally occurring enzymes are history. Storing Honey To retain honey's wonderfully luxuriant texture, always store it at room temperature; never in the refrigerator (however a freezer is good too, see below). If your honey becomes cloudy, don't worry. It's just crystallization, a natural process. Place your honey jar in a pan of water and heat gently until the crystals disappear. If the honey is in a plastic container, scoop it out and put in a sauce pan or other suitable container and heat at a very low temperature. After it has cooled back down you can pour it back into the original container. Remember, never boil or scorch honey. For long term storage that will preserve the color (honey darkens in time) you can also store a jar of honey in the Freezer. *Note:* Honey should not be fed to infants under one year of age. Honey is a safe and wholesome food for older children and adults. Cooking With Honey How does cooking with honey differ from cooking with cane or beet sugar? - Honey adds a sweet, smooth, and distinctive taste to recipes. It has marvelous "keeping" qualities due to its ability to absorb and retain moisture. These qualities retard drying out and staling of baked goods in which honey is an ingredient. - Honey requires no refrigeration; store at room temperature. - Honey will add a golden brown glaze to your baked goods. When substituting honey for sugar, reduce oven baking temperatures by 25°F to prevent over-browning. How sweet is honey? Measure for measure, the fructose in honey makes it sweeter than sugar. Honey at 21 calories per teaspoon -- just slightly higher than sugar -- is about 2 times as sweet. Does honey differ nutritionally from cane or beet sugar? Honey can be absorbed into the human system immediately upon ingestion. Cane and beet sugars must call upon digestive juices to break them down before they can be used. As a result, honey provides a quick source of energy while aiding in the digestion of other foods. - Honey is an invert sugar formed by an enzyme from natural floral nectar gathered by bees and manufactured into a stable, high-density, high-energy food. - Composition and flavor vary, depending on the floral source, but honey predominantly contains fructose, glucose, as well as maltose and sucrose. How do I substitute honey for granulated sugar in recipes? - Substitute honey for up to one-half of the sugar. With experimentation, honey can be substituted for all the sugar in some recipes. - Reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup of honey used in baked goods. ? Add 1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used. - Reduce oven temperature by 25°F to prevent over-browning of baked goods. - For easy removal, spray measuring cup with vegetable cooking spray before adding honey. What do I do if honey crystallizes? - Remove lid and place jar in warm water until crystals dissolve. - Or pop it into the microwave in a microwave-safe container on high for 1-3 minutes (stirring every 30 seconds) or until crystals dissolve. - Do not boil or scorch.