July/Aug
Candle W*nner: paulolszewski@comcast.net |
July/Aug,
2003 Vol 3, No. 8 |
Shedding Light on the Candle's History
For centuries, candles have cast a light on man's progress. However, many people aren't aware of the origin of candles, named for the Latin word "candere," which means "to shine." Although it is often written that the first candles were developed by the Ancient Egyptians who used rushlights, or torches, made by soaking the pithy core of reeds in molten tallow, the rushlights had no wick, like today's modern candles. It is the Romans who are credited with developing the wick candle, using it to aid travelers at dark, and lighting homes and places of worship at night.
Like the early Egyptians, the Romans relied on tallow, gathered from cattle or sheep suet (lard), as the principal ingredient of candles. It was not until the Middle Ages when beeswax, a substance secreted by honey bees to make their honeycombs, was introduced. Beeswax candles were a marked improvement over those made with tallow, for they did not produce a smoky flame, or emit an acrid odor when burned. Instead, beeswax candles burned pure and clean. However, they were expensive, and therefore, only the wealthy could afford them.
Colonial women offered America's first contribution to candlemaking when they discovered that boiling the grayish green berries of bayberry bushes produced a sweet-smelling wax that burned clean. However, extracting the wax from the bayberries was extremely tedious. As a result, the popularity of bayberry candles soon diminished.
The growth of the whaling industry in the late eighteenth century brought the first major change in candlemaking since the Middle Ages, when spermaceti, a wax obtained by crystallizing whale oil, was produced. This new wax did not elicit a repugnant odor when burned. Furthermore, spermaceti wax was found harder than both tallow and beeswax, which meant that it did not soften or bend in the summer heat. Historians note that the first "standard candles" were made from spermaceti wax.
It was during the nineteenth century when most major developments affecting contemporary candlemaking occurred. In 1834, inventor Joseph Morgan introduced a machine which allowed continuous production of molded candles by the use of a cylinder which featured a movable piston that ejected candles as they solidified. Further developments in candlemaking occurred in 1850 with the production of paraffin wax made from oil and coal shales.
Processed by distilling the residues left after crude petroleum was refined, the bluish-white paraffin wax was found to burn cleanly, and with no unpleasant odor. Of greatest significance was its cost - paraffin wax was more economical to produce than any preceding candle fuel developed. And while paraffin's low melting point may have posed a threat to its popularity, the discovery of stearic acid solved this problem. Hard and durable, stearic acid was being produced in quantity by the end of the nineteenth century. By this period, most candles being manufactured consisted of paraffin and stearic acid.
With the introduction of the light bulb in 1879, candlemaking declined until the turn of the century, when a renewed popularity for candles emerged, with candles more as a novelty than a necessity. It was probably at this point that candles began to be seen as a decorating accessory that also had a lot of function. Early electric systems would often find themselves succumbing to weather and other difficulties, make candles a useful tool to keep handy.
Candle manufacturing was further enhanced during the first half of the twentieth century through the growth of U.S. oil and meat-packing industries. Along with the increase of crude oil and meat production came an increase in the by-products that are the basic ingredients of contemporary candles - paraffin and stearic acid. A surplus of these ingredients helped keep candles affordable for everyone - including those who could not pay their electric bill.No longer man's major source of light, candles continue to grow in popularity and use even more so today. As we approach the new century, candles continue to symbolize celebration, mark romance, define ceremony and accent decor - casting a warm and unique glow for all to enjoy.
Source: The National Candle Association, 2001
Melissa Fabel/Robin Russo
Checking colonies, Comb honey supers,
The Buzz About Honey, July Honey Recipe
Typical honeybee colonies with honey supers on top. This colony has comb honey supers on it.
Checking colonies, Comb honey supers
This past month we have checked all of our colonies to see if the new queens in our splits have hatched out properly and we are adding more honey supers on top of the colonies. Click here for pictures of June supering. In July we will start another round of supering.
Because of the heavy winter loss this year we are operating fewer colonies and may not do as much comb honey but we still put comb honey supers on hives in one beeyard.
The Buzz About Honey
by Clyde E. Stauffer
from the BakingBusiness.com website
For millennia, bakers have used sweeteners to make tasty desserts. The first natural sweetener was honey, a product still widely used. The Biblical description of the promised land was "a land of milk and honey." Today, confections such as baklava are still prized although more often enjoyed with a cup of good Turkish coffee.
Flavor. The main advantage to using honey in baked goods is flavor. This has two components — type and strength. The distinctive flavor of honey is derived from the flowers from which the bees gather nectar. Most commercial honey is based on clover or alfalfa, and the flavor from these is rather delicate. Buckwheat, sage or mint, for example, yield stronger flavors, which might work well in a bread but would not be desirable in cakes or cookies. Flavor strength correlates with color; darker honey typically has a more robust flavor. Specification of flavor and color should be arrived at through discussions with suppliers.Color. Honey color is measured by an industry method using the Pfund scale. Basically, the scale ranges from water white to dark amber. The usual specification for honey for bakery use is in the middle of this range, for example, honeys designated as extra light amber to light amber. These ranges typify most commercial honey production and, hence, are the most economical. Honey can be purchased to meet specific needs (for example, minimum coloration or maximum flavor) at somewhat increased cost.
Sweetness. The second advantage of honey is sweetness. Two characteristics stand out in a typical composition for honey (see "Honey Composition" on Page 45). First, nearly all the solids are carbohydrates, represent ing approximately 82% of the total weight. Second, the main sugar present is fructose. Fructose sweetness is 1.5 to 1.7 times that of sucrose. Glucose, the other monosaccharide in sucrose, is 0.7 to 0.8 times as sweet as sucrose. The fructose/glucose ratio in honey is 1.25, slightly less than that in 55% HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup with a 1.34 ratio) but much higher than in the commonly used 42% HFCS (a ratio of 0.82). Because honey contains about 82% sugar solids vs. 71% for HFCS, on a wet weight basis, it is somewhat sweeter than 55% HFCS and significantly sweeter than 42% HFCS.
BAKERY APPLICATIONS
Honey may be added to bakery formulations in two ways — as a replacement for currently used sweetener or as the main sweeteners in a complete reformulation. When substituted forsucrose, 10 lb of sucrose can be replaced with 10 lb of honey, if 1.7 lb of water is removed from the formula. To replace 10 lb of 42% HFCS, use 7.1 lb honey plus 1 lb of water. These substitution levels will result in the same sweetness level in the baked product.
Honey can replace sucrose in cracker and cookie formulas; however, two factors must be kept in mind. First, honey is slightly acidic, so the amount of baking soda must be increased slightly to compensate. Second, the reducing sugars in honey increase the amount of browning, so bake time and/or temperature must be adjusted. Honey can also be used in other sweet goods such as cakes and muffins. In these items, the water content of the batter must be adjusted to obtain the correct viscosity for proper ovenspring and setting during baking. Again the acidity and browning sugars of honey must be taken into account.Trials using honey in bagels and flat breads have given positive results. In bagels, 6% honey in place of the sucrose usually used produced less "chewy" bagels, with good cohesion and a lighter texture. In flat breads, the addition of honey to the usual sugar-free doughs produced flat bread that were preferred by taste panelists compared the control (no honey) breads.
In frozen dough, a study in which honey was used at 4% to 8% (flour basis) showed improved storage stability in the freezer. The additional reducing sugar content improved browning, giving a more pleasing appearance to the baked-off product. The bread also had increased shelf life because staling was reduced. The use of honey in frozen sweet doughs would appear to be an interesting product development route to follow.
Invert sugar (50% solids) is often used in icings. The mixture of glucose and fructose inhibits crystallization of sucrose, the main sugar component, extending the shelf life of the icing. Honey, with its monosaccharide content, makes an excellent replacement for invert sugar in this application. Ten lb of invert sugar can be replaced by 6 lb of honey (equal sugar solids basis) plus up to 4 lb of water to keep the same spreading consistency. Besides being a crystal inhibitor, honey would also impart a pleasing floral note to the flavor of the icing.
from the BakingBusiness.com website
July/August Honey recipe
Rosemary-Infused Honey & Apple-Honey Facial Toner
Rebecca Kolls from the popular television program "Rebecca's Garden" has a few favorite sweet recipes that use honey. The Rosemary-Infused Honey is wonderful when drizzled over softened brie or included in a sauce for chicken or lamb. The Apple-Honey Facial Toner is fresh and wonderful when it's time to pamper yourself.
Rosemary-Infused Honey1
cup honey
3/4
cup fresh rosemary leaves
Place honey in a double boiler with water in bottom. Squeeze rosemary leaves to release flavor and place in honey. Bring water to a boil, and bring honey to 185°F and keep at 185°F for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Strain while still warm. Place in sterilized jars and cap.
Apple-Honey Facial Toner
1
tablespoon honey
1
apple, peeled and cored
In a blender, puree honey and apple. Smooth over face and leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water.
Do you have a great honey recipe - please send it to us and we will put it in our newsletter.
Last Months Newsletter - June, 2003 |
Honeyflow
Farm
4939 Mill Rd. PO Box 275
Dryden, Michigan 48428
(810) 796-2344 (Phone & Fax)
Comments or questions concerning Honeyflow
Farm should be addressed to wcs@honeyflowfarmREMOVETHISBIT.com