The One Type Of Honey You Should Never Use For Flavoring Bread - Tasting Table (2024)

ByKyle Grace Mills/

Honey can be a tricky ingredient to use for baking. As a liquid sweetener, it bakes differentlyfrom granulated sugar, typically adding sweetness and changing the texture and flavor. It can also affect the pH of a baked good, as it runs slightly acidic, like buttermilk. And then, there's the odd effect it can have on yeast in your bread-baking.

Since it contains sugars, honey can work to feed your yeast, helping it produce the natural byproduct of carbon dioxide and alcohol. But the ingredient has other qualities that can negatively affect the yeast.

Honey has long been a valued component used for medicinal purposes, since, in its raw form, it is a natural antibacterial agent. However, this means honey can slow the growth of yeast in your bread.But fret not, bakers. You can still make your beloved honey whole wheat dinner rolls — you just need to be using the right honey.

Pasteurized honey or bust

The One Type Of Honey You Should Never Use For Flavoring Bread - Tasting Table (2)

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To be clear, wild honey — the kind you can find at farmer's markets and health food stores — is the honey that threatens your yeast. Wild, or raw, honey has been left completely natural, traveling from hive to jar with zero processing.

Instead of using this type, you'll want to reach for the pasteurized variety, which is honey that has beengently heated to kill any yeast, as the microorganism can cause the honey to ferment, thus reducing its shelf stability.But for our purposes, the most important thing that the process does is kill off the ingredient's natural antibacterial components, making it safe for your bread dough's yeast.

Admittedly, pasteurized honey is not as healthy as raw honey, but considering you were going to subject the honey to high heat in the oven anyways, this feels like a moot point when it comes to baking. This is good news for bakers, because honey imparts crucial moisture to your bread's texture, and helps the crust brown to golden perfection. One final bonus? Honey can even help extend the shelf life of your bread, as its acidic nature makes it an inhospitable place for mold to grow.

Most honey sold at grocery stores will note whether they've been pasteurized or not — with the unpasteurized brands typically stamped with the words "raw" and "unfiltered." So, read the labels when you're out shopping. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to bread.

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The One Type Of Honey You Should Never Use For Flavoring Bread - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

The One Type Of Honey You Should Never Use For Flavoring Bread - Tasting Table? ›

Pasteurized honey or bust

What kind of honey kills yeast? ›

Regular, or pasteurized honey, is clear and smooth. The pasteurization process improves the honey's appearance, increases its shelf-life, and kills yeast cells that can affect the taste of the honey.

What is the best honey for baking? ›

Clover honey: With its pleasantly mild taste and flowery aroma, clover honey is a popular choice for tabletop or baked goods.

What is the effect of honey on bread? ›

Honey helps extend the shelf life of baked goods, which in particular is important for loaves of bread that need to stay fresh and moist. Honey is a humectant, a substance that prevents moisture transfer in bakery foods. Honey does not give up water easily; in fact, it collects moisture from the atmosphere.

Is honey safe for baking? ›

What Does Honey do in Baking? Honey is a 'humectant'. This means that it retains moisture- great news for baking as it helps keep biscuits and cake moist. Honey compared with traditional refined sugar, also means you gain a richer colour and fuller flavour.

Does honey affect yeast in bread? ›

And then, there's the odd effect it can have on yeast in your bread-baking. Since it contains sugars, honey can work to feed your yeast, helping it produce the natural byproduct of carbon dioxide and alcohol. But the ingredient has other qualities that can negatively affect the yeast.

Can honey cause fungal infections? ›

Both in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that honey is an effective, broad spectrum and active antimicrobial agent against a wide variety of bacteria and fungi.

What can I substitute for honey in bread? ›

What can you substitute for honey?
  1. Raw sugar.
  2. Brown sugar.
  3. Maple syrup.
  4. Molasses.
  5. Agave syrup.
  6. Corn syrup.
  7. Barley malt syrup.
  8. Date paste.
Jan 28, 2022

What happens if you add too much honey to bread? ›

If you add too much honey, it can change the hydration of your sourdough bread. Honey is higher in fructose than sugar making it much sweeter. For this reason, when substituting, you'll need to reduce the amount of sugar you use to three quarters (¾) or even half (½) of the amount of honey used.

Does baking with honey destroy nutrients? ›

Honey should not be heated rapidly, over direct heat. Basically, the hotter you heat it, the more potential for reducing nutritional value. Excessive heat can have detrimental effects on the nutritional value of honey. Heating up to 37°C (98.6 F) causes loss of nearly 200 components, part of which are antibacterial.

What not to do with honey? ›

Science confirms that heating or cooking honey does indeed damage it, thereby eliminating many of its beneficial effects.

What honey is healthiest? ›

When it comes to choosing the healthiest honey, you should look for one that is raw. Raw honeys are not pasteurized and bypass filtration, a process that may reduce its nutrients. A great variety of raw and unfiltered honey is available on Amazon.

Can you use crystalized honey in baking? ›

Crystallized honey works as a substitute for sugar in baked goods. Because it has less moisture than traditional honey, you won't have to make as many adjustments to liquids in your recipe while maintaining the classic honey sweetness. Honey is sweeter than table sugar, though, so use less.

What is the best honey for Candida? ›

All the honey types assessed were actively disturbing the growth of the microbes, but Jarrah honey was significantly more active against the three Candida species when compared to the other two types of honey.

Can honey get rid of yeast infections? ›

Honey is a natural antibiotic/ antifungal. Small studies show that when yogurt with honey is inserted vagin*lly it can help a yeast infection in some patients, but is far inferior to antifungal treatments available over the counter.

Can yeast survive in honey? ›

Most samples of honey contain detectable levels of yeasts. Although yeast counts in many honey samples are below 100 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g), yeasts can grow in honey to very high numbers. Standard industry practices control yeast growth.

What is the difference between organic honey and regular honey? ›

Honey can be raw but not organic. Pure honey can also be organic but not raw. If honey is organic, it means it is supposed to come from bees that have foraged for pollen and nectar on flowers that have not been exposed to any synthetic pesticides or herbicides.

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