Since my post on eating comb honey, I’ve been looking for additional suggestions. The following is just a variation on what I already wrote, but it is truly delicious.
I sliced whole grain artisan bread into half-inch slices and then cut squares about 1.5 inches (4 cm) on a side. I spread the squares with goat cheese (Chèvre), stuck a candied pecan into the cheese, and topped the whole thing with a small chunk of comb honey. I served these with a cold IPA. Perfection.
The chewy bread contrasts with the crunchy pecan, and the tartness of the cheese complements the sweetness of the honey. It’s definitely worth a try. If you’re in the states, Trader Joe’s candied pecans are lightly sweet—but very crunchy—and worked perfectly. Other types of nuts would work as well.
I’m looking for still more suggestions, so please let me know.
Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite
Goat cheese, pecan, and honey comb
Rusty, this sounds delicious! I will have to try it soon. You and Anneke sound a lot alike with the food and beer combo…Imagine that! 🙂
I have no idea why we would sound alike. Clueless. But the comb honey and goat cheese is great! I’ve got all my friends munching away at it. Please tell me what you think.
Took me awhile to post, but I finally tried it a week or so ago and can’t get enough of it! It’s SO good.
I’m glad you like it! I was surprised when I first tried it; it reminds me of cheesecake. In any case, it’s addictive.
I love raw honey comb! I especially love the packaging of the honeycomb in the paper box with window to see the comb. Would love to gift this package. How do I buy your honey as packaged?
Thank you!
Sarah
So when you eat comb honey, can you just butter it on toast, beeswax and all?
Oh, absolutely yes! That is whole point of comb honey!! After you try it on toast, put a piece of comb atop your favorite cheese and cracker. As long as you eat the comb along with something else in the same bite, it won’t behave like chewing gum. I had no idea I was dealing with a virgin, here. What fun!
Oh man, that’s it. I’m doing it. I just have to figure out where to get the sections (the Bee-O-Pacs don’t feel right to me) and how to use them. The summer can’t come soon enough (there’s still 3 feet of snow in my backyard).
Where can I buy some raw comb honey?!?! I was at a farmers market yesterday and asked the gentleman who was selling his honey if it was raw, it didn’t look raw… What I really was looking for was proper comb honey. Thanks for all the information!
Kerri,
Most beekeepers that you find at a farmer’s market sell raw honey. It is usually separated from the comb by centrifugal force (rapid spinning) and then strained through a fine mesh to take out any particles of honey comb, but it is still raw. Sometimes it is warmed slightly to aid the straining process, but it is seldom “cooked.” Cooking destroys a lot of flavor, so beekeepers are wary of it.
Comb honey is always raw. Most beekeepers no longer sell comb honey because the wax combs are more valuable to the beekeeper intact or melted down and sold as candles or used in cosmetics. Also, comb honey can be tricky to produce. As a result comb honey is quite expensive and the market for it is limited, although it is gaining in popularity again.
If you still want to buy comb honey, send me a message through the “contact me” tab, and I’ll try to come up with something.
We currently have Maine honeycomb. See “Maine Honeybee Market.”
Why do you not like plastic in the hive such as the plastic frames and foundation or plastic rounds? thank you
Fred,
As you know, plastic is made from petroleum and a host of other chemicals are added to it to give it various characteristics. For example, you can make it soft, pliable, hard, or whatever by adding different chemicals. These chemicals off-gas, especially in the heat. In other words, the chemicals leave the product and go into the air or into any liquid stored in the plastic. That is the reason old plastic becomes brittle and cracks easily—because the chemicals that kept it soft are gone.
Any food that has been stored in plastic for long periods, especially in the heat, tastes like plastic. That is because the plasticizers have left the plastic and migrated into your food. Hives are especially hot and it doesn’t take long for honey in plastic to taste like plastic.
Now, I’m told that different people detect plastic at different levels. I can taste it easily; some people barely taste it. At any rate, I can’t imagine that chemical plasticizers are particularly good for our health, so I avoid eating them whenever possible.
I placed 16 sq inches of honeycomb in almost boiling water. It melted. I added coffee, cinnamon and tumeric. I was a tasty drink.
My grandfather had honey bees in white boxes away from his house. He once gave me some honey comb to try. I thought it tasted awful and never tried honey again. I recently brought this up to someone even more senior than myself. This gentleman from a Kentucky farm told me the honeycomb had to “set” awhile before you ate it. He believes the reason I did not like the honey is because my grandfather gave it to me straight from the hive. Is this possibly true?
Dana,
Funny, I think the very best honey in the world comes straight from the hive while it is still warm. But no, I don’t think it is true. As far as I can tell no changes occur after honey is removed from the hive, except perhaps a change in temperature. It is what it is. Maybe you didn’t like the particular floral source that the honey came from. They all taste different.
Wheat thin topped with a blob of peanut butter (prefer crunchy) and a chunk of comb honey… YUM. Calorie dense but oh so delicious!
Sarah,
Duly added to my priority list!
I am a relatively new beekeeper, year 4. Last year we switched our hives to top bar hives and had our first top bar harvest this year. We have cut some of the most beautiful combs for comb honey. While doing so we started eating some of the leftover bits with various food and became total addicts. What an incredibly delicious treat! Our absolute favorite is blue cheese on a walnut half, topped with comb honey. There are so many reasons I am glad to be a beekeeper but this one certainly ranks at the top!
I do have a question. We are obviously not getting comb in wooden boxes and I am trying to figure out something to store it in other than those plastic takeout containers. Any thoughts?
Sharon,
I like those glass jars with the plastic snap-on lids. I just cut pieces of comb from the top bar and lay them in there.