Fermented Garlic Honey - Honey Month!
Itโs National Honey Month and the start of cold & flu season so we made a batch of immune-strengthening fermented garlic honey!
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Raw honey and garlic have been used medicinally for centuries and are well-known for their health benefits.
Raw honey is packed with antioxidants that protect and strengthen the immune system, and it has antibacterial and antiseptic properties. Honey is not only a sweet and tasty treat itโs a wonderful remedy to quell a cough and soothe a sore throat.
Garlic is packed with amino acids, flavonoids, sulfur and allicin โ a compound shown to reduce inflammation as well as protect against a number of aliments such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Itโs also known for its antiviral and antibacterial properties making it a great addition to your immune-strengthening regimen.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole garlic cloves peeled and slightly crushed
- 1 cup raw, unpasteurized honey* or as enough needed to cover garlic completely
*Raw honey is needed for this recipe as raw honey contains bacteria and yeast that is necessary for fermentation.
Instructions:
- Peel and very slightly crush garlic cloves. Place the peeled garlic cloves into a pint size, wide-mouth mason jar. Slightly crushing the cloves will create enough juices to help the fermentation process.
- Add enough honey to completely cover the garlic cloves ensuring all are coated.
- Loosely place the lid on the jar and store in cool dark place.ย Keeping the lid slightly loose helps let out the gases that build up.
- Every day or so tighten the lid and flip upside down re-coating garlic, then return to upright position and slightly loosen the lid again.
- Repeat for about a month.
- In a few days you will notice bubbles starting to form โ the process has begun!
- Store in a cool place for many months. Do not refrigerate. Honey does not like refrigeration!
Food Safety:
- pH should be under 4.6 to ensure botulismย does not grow. If you are concerned, pH meters are a great tool to ease your mind; however, honey is typically a pH of 3.9 but can vary depending on botanical source.
- Do not feed to babies under 1 year old.