America's Test Kitchen - General Discussion

[ladydove]

On 10/28/2024 at 12:05 AM, Bastet said:

cannot believe Cook's Country did a honey segment without discussing the benefits of eating local honey.  They emphasized the importance of raw, rather than the filtered shit that litters grocery store shelves, which is primary, and noted the origin of all the samples, but it was weird not to even mention why you'd want to look for honey that's local to you.

Maybe because it is a "medical" reason? Helping cure allergies, I believe. Maybe the big bosses are afraid of losing sponsors from big pharma companies. I love cook's country. The equipment reviews are great. This show is almost as good as Martha Stewart or Jaques Pepin.

[Deskisamess]

On 10/28/2024 at 1:05 AM, Bastet said:

I cannot believe Cook's Country did a honey segment without discussing the benefits of eating local honey.  They emphasized the importance of raw, rather than the filtered shit that litters grocery store shelves, which is primary, and noted the origin of all the samples, but it was weird not to even mention why you'd want to look for honey that's local to you.

 

A couple of reasons most likely. Most legit medical sources have come out and said there is no benefit for seasonal allergy sufferers of using local honey. That combined with the fact that this is "medical" info, which they aren't going to delve into, is the reason.

[dubbel zout]

Julia was right that the smoke from the toasted cumin while it was being ground was hypnotic, lol.

Jack mentioned you should look for raw honey; if that's not on the label, does it mean the honey have been heated? I'm not a huge fan of honey, but I do use it as a sweetener in corn or oatmeal muffins.

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Jack mentioned you should look for raw honey; if that's not on the label, does it mean the honey have been heated?

Yep.  And the process of heating (pasteurizing) and filtering, which is done to avoid or at least significantly slow crystallization, degrades the flavor.

This is done because people take it as meaning it lasts longer, regarding crystallization as an indication honey has gone bad and tossing it.  But honey doesn't go bad; crystallizing just means it changes color and texture, but it's just as edible as it was before.  So it simply appears to last longer if it's been pasteurized and filtered before being bottled.  If the state of crystallized raw honey bothers someone, all they have to do to return it to its former state is slowly apply minimal heat.  That won't destroy the flavor the way the high-temp pasteurization process does, but will give them the color and texture regarded as normal.

(It's also done to make the bottling process faster, by making the honey thinner.  In other words, there's no upside to anyone but the manufacturer.)