Honey

[jmengert]

I'm trying to get most processed foods out of my diet, as I am still feeling awful 6 months into the gluten-free diet, and I am completely gluten-free, both related to foods and products I use. So, as one of my goals, I'm trying to start cooking with honey instead of sugar. First, there's no way that there could be gluten in pure honey, right? Second, does anyone here often cook with honey? How does it measure up, regarding taste, compared to sugar? I've never cooked with honey, and I'm hoping it will taste alright.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

[cdford]

You have made a great choice. We use honey a lot around here. It sweetens well but with a little different taste. It may take some getting used to. If you use it to sweeten stuff like tea, remember that it will not last as long as white sugar because it is natural and spoils more easily. It is a great thing to add to marinades you make yourself and will sweeten most anything. When baking, be sure to adjust your other liquids just a little to compensate. If you find that the taste is too strong for you, consider using an alternative such as sucanat with honey that has a milder flavor. It can be purchased over the internet. My preferred provider is breadbeckers.com.

Ideas for honey:

Bake chicken with honey drizzled over it for a lightly sweet flavor. If you can have soy, mix the honey with soy and drizzle that. Hams also work well this way.

Mix either soy or a little worstershire sauce with a couple of tablespoons of honey, some lemon or orange juice, and a quarter cup of red wine or balsamic vinegar. Add enough water to cover your meat and marinade for at least a half hour, preferably longer.

Use natural peanut butter and mix it with honey for a delicious spread or dip.

Mix a little honey in with plain yogurt for a quick snack with a light sweetness.

Hope these ideas help!

[jmengert]

Thank you SO much for the tips! Looking forward to trying them all--thanks again!

[Carriefaith]

First, there's no way that there could be gluten in pure honey, right?

No, honey is liquified nectar made from bees and I don't think that wheat, oats, barely, or rye have flowers (correct me if I'm wrong).

[tarnalberry]

I WAY prefer honey over sugar. (In a lot of recipes, btw, you can pretty much just half the sugar - yeast breads always excluded, and varies by taste, of course.) I also like using agave, but it's more expensive.

[skbird]

I use agave, also. It's very similar tasting to honey and has a lower glycemic index, which is why I like it. You use less of it, measure to measure, than sugar, and also you have to reduce you liquids in your recipe. I use it most these days when I make brownies, when I need sugar for my pizza crust, and on my yogurt. I think it's getting cheaper. At my health food store it's $6-7 for 8oz but I found it recently at my Safeway for $3.6o/8 oz, and when I travel to Fort Bragg, the store I shop at there has it for $2.25/8 oz. I don't know why it varies in price so much but I think as it becomes more popular the pricing is going down.

Stephanie

[cdford]

By the way, even diabetics can use certain honeys without much impact on their sugar levels. The ones that tend to be better for them are tupelo and sage. They are higher in a sugar called levulose and lower in sucrose. Levulose is assimilated more slowly by the body and can therefore be tolerated by diabetics as well as hypoglycemics. These two also do not crystallize like some of the others and have a milder flavor. Sage is my favorite, but the wildfires out west wiped out much of the crop for the last year or so and it is hard to find right now. Tupelo is a good alternative. *

*Info from The Breadbeckers Recipe Collection Revised 11/15/02. This group specializes in natural and whole grain foods.