DIY brown sugar

[Duer 157099]

I saw Alton Brown make his own brown sugar, and I'm one of those who just never knew. But after having read that recent thread about the variance in brown sugar and how it can drastically affect some recipes, this seems like it might be a good habit to take up.

Without looking up the details, I think it was 1 pound of white sugar plus 3 ounces of molasses, blended together in a food processor.

[eleny]

1. Brown sugar I keep always get hard as a rock

So making it as needed makes sense to me. I use it so rarely but then when I need some I have to "get the hammer".

[Warpy]

2. Nuking it for a few seconds can sometimes make it softer

as can sealing it in a bag with a piece of fruit like an apple or even a couple of slices of bread. What you need to do is either make the most of what little moisture it has or add more to it. However, the hammer (in my case a rubber mallet) works.

However, in recipes that call for it, I often add white sugar and a tablespoon or two of blackstrap molasses, depending on how much extra flavor I want.

[Phentex]

4. I swear by tupperware...

inside or out of the original bag, my brown sugar stays fresh in a Tupperware container. It's a fairly small flat container and I store it right under a larger square one with regular sugar in it.

[housewolf]

10. You must not live in Phoenix

Where it's so dry that nothing will keekp brown sugar soft for very long. I lived there for 3+ years and fought with hard brown sugar way too frequently. When I lived in the mountains in Colorado, it was the same story... it was so incredibly dry in those places that the moisture just gets sucked out of everything. Supermarkets must have humidifiers because it is soft when you buy it, it just doesn't stay that way for very long.

Fortunately, now I live in the Pacific Northwest where brown sugar stays soft for years!

And my flour wieghs about 1/2 oz more per cup here, too, just due to the humidity.

[Warpy]

12. Thanks I was just about to post that even Tupperware won't work

here in the high desert. Even in the fridge, the moisture gets sucked out and it turns into brown granite in an amazingly short time.

The only things you can do are try to rehydrate it, nuke it if it's not really bad yet, or just smack it with a hammer and dissolve it into the liquid ingredients and hope the dental insurance is paid up.

[housewolf]

13. I used to keep putting fresh slices of bread in with it

that worked pretty well. Even the hardest, most solid br sugar eventually softens down with this method. It's a maintenance technique but not an answer if you need brown sugar like - right now.

There's also a little ceramic "brown sugar keeper" thingy that you soak in water and then keep in with the brown sugar - might be a good solution but I've never tried one.

[hippywife]

3. Sometimes, tho

the point of buying brown sugar is that it's less processed and still retains most of it's molasses to begin with. I don't think this method would be a problem if you're in a pinch but doing it regularly as a matter of habit seems silly and is going to cost you more in the long run.

[Duer 157099]

5. Hmm. Alton seemed to suggest that this was how it *was* made

I mean, nowadays.

I never knew that brown sugar was so interesting. Yet another foodstuff that I've taken for granted.

One of the premises of the show was that sometimes you run out of brown sugar, but almost everybody has molasses stored in the back of a cupboard somewhere. I know that's me, for sure. And I never knew that you could just make your own. He was talkin' to me when he said: "what did you think? they just colored the sugar?" Umm... well... uh...

But then I remembered the pretty significant issue of how (especially lately) many of the brands of brown sugar don't always use the same supplier and so even within a brand, quality varies, and for certain items, like cookies, it really makes a difference. So I figured if I always use my own, problem solved.

And that reminds me, he made a Shoo Fly Pie in that episode, and I think I need to try that. I'd never even heard of it before.

Edit: it's not Shoe, lol

[eleny]

6. Shoo Fly Pie

Good stuff but way sticky. Make sure you've got milk in the fridge or at least a cup of your favorite hot drink handy. Otherwise, this pie can glue your teeth shut.

I kid!

[Duer 157099]

7. I am so tempted to go make one right now

I love pecan pie and it seems like it might be somewhat similar. I wonder if putting pecans in the bottom of the Shoo Fly Pie would be good?

Heh, never even made one and already I'm modifying the recipe.

Lots of milk on hand too, so I'm all set!

[eleny]

9. I like it

The first one I ever had was decades ago when I was a young teen. And I think it may have had some pecans in it. Perhaps dotted around the edge. I'm not exactly sure but it sounds like a good idea.

Anyhow, plain or with the nuts it's an interesting pie with a rich flavor and more texture than you'll ever experience in any other pie.

[hippywife]

8. The way I understand it

the really cheap kind made from beet sugar is made that way. The cane sugar variety should not be. It just seems silly to buy something that had the molasses all processed out of it and then pay extra to put it back in. Like I said, in a pinch I can see doing it if you don't have any brown sugar and need it. Otherwise, nah.

I have heard of shoofly pie but have never tried one. Might be something to look into. :hi:

[Kali]

14. I think you are correct.

It is one of the few "name brand" products I still buy. Store brand brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added back, C&H is the good stuff.

http://www.chsugar.com/consumer/cane_vs_beet.html#03

[Retrograde]

11. It used to be, a century or more ago

Nowadays typically the inpurities are added back to white sugar to make brown, although there are some varieties - Demarara and Turbinado - are still only partially refined.

I've heard this tip before, but since I find molasses has a very distinct taste that I'm not overly fond of I've never tried it.

[kestrel91316]

15. I haven't bought brown sugar in 15 years. 1 c sugar, 2 Tbsp molasses.

Easy peasy. It started me down the road of homemade everything.