Honey is part of what makes barbecue, barbecue. We’ve blogged before about salad dressings and glazes with honey. Here’s a quick guide to grilling and barbecuing with it. Honey can go with most anything, but you have to know how to use it.
Why BBQ Pros Grill with Local Hive Honey
Honey Retains Moisture: Yes, honey adds sweetness. But more importantly, it also adds moisture. When you marinade or brine your meat with a few tablespoons of honey, it loses less moisture during cooking as the temperature rises.
Honey Makes Marinades Last Longer: Honey never spoils, and it makes the perfect “glue” to hold together all the ingredients in a marinade. If you’re marinating your meat long-term, like overnight, honey will help all those flavors stick together. And it’s not like the sweetness overpowers the other ingredients. It makes a perfect complement to savory marinade standbys like soy sauce, mustard, and Worcestershire.
Honey Makes for a Crispy, Crunchy Coating: When honey caramelizes, it can pump up the Maillard reaction that makes the browned sides of cooked meats taste so good. Try it for yourself with one of these glazes, adding a bit of liquid to the honey until it’s just thin enough to drizzle:
- Honey and olive oil
- Honey and water
- Honey and juice (orange, lime or pineapple)
(Find your new favorite Local Hive Honey here. We’ve got 23+ varietals from around the U.S.)
Tips on Grilling with Local Hive Honey
There are two ways to grill with honey: as a marinade or by brushing it on. It’s easier to work with as a marinade for all the reasons listed above: honey binds ingredients together, doesn’t spoil, adds moisture, and enhances meat’s texture. But many BBQers just prefer to brush it on. That’s no problem, just as long as you come prepared. Here’s how to prevent any sticky situations.
Always Mix Local Hive Honey with Another Liquid
If you just pour honey on meet while you grill, it will burn quickly and char your cut before it’s cooked through. But in a brine or sauce, honey can handle direct heat by sticking to the meat. Honey’s sticky consistency can also make it hard to brush, baste, or mop onto your meat. Whisking it into another liquid – even just water – will help, and if you use a natural tenderizer like citrus juice, your marinade will do double duty, making your cuts even better.
Get The Thickness Right
Make sure your Local Hive Honey sauce is thick enough to stick, but thin enough so it doesn’t form clumps. These are more likely to burn, char or drip off your meat. Add liquid a little at a time and whisk together to get it just right.
Use Indirect Heat to Caramelize Local Hive Honey
Most grills have hot spots. But if you learn where they are on your grill, you can use them to your advantage. When grilling with honey, start with your meat on a cooler section of the grill, using indirect heat to slowly caramelize it. This locks in that flavor and can help retain the texture in your meat. Then, just before your meat is finished, move it over direct heat to sear it for about a minute. Make sure to regularly check the temperature of your grill, and use a meat thermometer to know when your cuts are almost done.
FAQs
Always Mix Local Hive Honey with Another Liquid
How to use honey to grill? ›
More important: If you add honey by itself directly to the meats, it can char the surface before the food is cooked. By adding a bit of orange juice, fresh pineapple juice or even a touch of water to the honey, you shouldn't have any problem putting the honey mixture in direct heat.
How do you cook with honey without burning it? ›
To avoid burning your honey, be sure to lower your oven temperature by about 25 degrees from what the recipe recommends.
What does honey do for BBQ? ›
Honey Can Help Enhance Browning and Crisping
It's the perfect way to add texture, color and, of course, flavor to popular dishes like pork, chicken, vegetables and even fruits. You'll love the crispness and color that honey adds to our grilled Honey Mustard-Glazed Pork Tenderloin!
Does honey tenderize meat? ›
When used in a marinade, honey will help tenderise meat and while it is cooking, the honey gives a distinctive barbecue flavour to food as it caramelises. Contemporary chefs use honey in many of their dishes - from salad dressings to barbecues, stir frys, fusion food and delicious desserts.
Can you use honey as a binder on a grill? ›
Go thick with it!
Honey is also a great binder and thickener for amping up or sweetening sauces, marinades, dips, and dressings. For instance, a good beef marinade can be a simple dose of honey along with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, fresh rosemary, green onions, and Dijon mustard.
What happens when you cook with honey? ›
When honey is heated or cooked, the sugar and fructose in the honey change their chemical composition as a result of a browning effect called the Maillard Reaction. Heating or storing honey for long periods of time will increase the production of a toxic substance called 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF).
How do you add honey to BBQ sauce? ›
To make honey BBQ sauce, you need these ingredients: ketchup, honey, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and your favorite spices to taste. After you combine the ingredients, let it rest in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it. It's perfect for dipping and is a marinade for meats and veggies.
Why should you not heat up honey? ›
Beneficial bacteria and harmful heat
Heating honey to high temperatures – generally above 45-50°C – eliminates these benefits by killing the bacteria, enzymes, and antioxidants that make honey so powerful.
Is honey BBQ good? ›
Honey & BBQ: A Delightful Flavor Combination
The taste itself is amazing, and we can't forget honey's great health benefits! Any barbecue sauce that has extra antioxidants along with everything else sounds like a winner to us.
If you're marinating your meat long-term, like overnight, honey will help all those flavors stick together. And it's not like the sweetness overpowers the other ingredients. It makes a perfect complement to savory marinade standbys like soy sauce, mustard, and Worcestershire.
What is the secret ingredient to tenderize meat? ›
Whether hosting a holiday cookout, serving up some stir-fry or tackling game meats, baking soda is the go-to meat tenderizer to help make your steak, chicken or turkey silkier, juicier and yummier.
What does honey cure for meat? ›
The honey acts as a way to preserve the meat without refrigeration by drawing out moisture. It also improves the flavor of the meat and adds a complementary sweet flavor. Less commonly, roasted meat might be dipped in honey and eaten right away, without time in storage.
How do you add honey to cooking? ›
Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you should use less of it. You only need one-half to two-thirds of a cup of honey for each one cup of sugar. You should also reduce the other liquids in the recipe by one-fourth cup for every cup of honey that you use. This is because honey itself contains water.
Can you melt raw honey? ›
Place your bottle of honey with its lid off inside a pot. Pour warm water (water should not exceed 110º F) into the pan and allow to sit until the honey melts. In five-minute intervals remove your bottle from the pan, stir the honey and return it to the warm water.
Is heating honey OK? ›
Heating honey to high temperatures – generally above 45-50°C – eliminates these benefits by killing the bacteria, enzymes, and antioxidants that make honey so powerful. Heating honey – whether at home in the cooking process, or by commercial producers – seems like a huge waste of an incredible natural product.
What does heat do to raw honey? ›
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. Heating up to 40°C (104 F) destroys invertase, an important enzyme. Heating up to 50°C (122 F) for more than 48 hrs.
