Differences in kinds of sugar

[jgm]

Recently I've been looking for muscavado sugar. (See the thread on the chocolate chip cookie bake-off, and you'll know why! )

I'm not sure whether there are dozens of different kinds of sugar, or whether there is simply a lack of uniformity in referring to a few kinds.

muscavado (dark and light)

raw sugar

cane sugar

demerera sugar

Succanat (trademarked name)

These are just a few of the sugars I've come across. Will someone please straighten this out for me?

[slkinsey]

Cane sugar is simply sugar that comes from sugar cane as opposed to sugar that comes from , e.g., sugar beets. Different levels of refinement.

Raw sugar can be used to describe any sugar prior to chemical refining to make the sugar white (although there are other kinds of processing, such as washing, etc.). Demerara, turbinado, musdovado, etc. are all raw sugars.

Demerara sugar is an partly-refined cane sugar with a pale golden color. It's not clear to me that there is any definitive difference between demerara and tirbinado sugar.

Muscovado is unrefined brown sugar made from sugar cane. Different from regular brown sugar, which is ultrarefined white sugar to which molasses has been added. The lighter version probably has more processing than the darker version.

Sucanat is an unrefined cane sugar with no processing.

Edited July 21, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[paulraphael]

Some helpful definitions here:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/sweeteners_brown.htm

My abbreviated take is this:

Muscovado sugars (light and dark) are partially refined, very flavorful brown sugars. They can substitute for regular brown sugar when you want a more 3-dimensional molasses taste.

Turbinado sugar (also called sucanat or sugar-in-the-raw) is a paler partially refined sugar that tastes much less like molasses

Demerrara sugar is a partially refined sugar with a bit more molasses than Turbinado, and large crystals. It's usually used undisolved, so the crystals can contribute texture (like coarse salt).

[Darienne]

My next-door neighbor swears by cane sugar when baking. It's more expensive than sugar which is not labelled 'cane sugar'.

Neither Greweling nor Wybauw appear to distinguish between the two types of sugar.

Is there some kind of difference in anyone's opinion?

Thanks.

[tim]

I'm not sure whether there are dozens of different kinds of sugar, or whether there is simply a lack of uniformity in referring to a few kinds.

Yes and Yes!

Tim

[etalanian]

Here is a link to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, detailing some testing they did on cane vs. beet sugar:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../31/FD91867.DTL

Eileen

[gfron1]

What they all said...the challenge is sourcing that muscovado. I've yet to find a bulk distributor. I can only get 1# packs from India Tree which, even at my wholesale cost, is expensive.

[Darienne]

Here is a link to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, detailing some testing they did on cane vs. beet sugar:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../31/FD91867.DTL

Eileen

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Thanks Eileen for that interesting article. I'll have to read it at leisure.

[JAZ]

Here is a link to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, detailing some testing they did on cane vs. beet sugar:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../31/FD91867.DTL

Eileen

←

Just to put that article in perspective, it's almost ten years old, and to my knowledge, no one else has ever duplicated their results.

[dystopiandreamgirl]

Here's Rose Levy Berenbaum's 6,000 word dissertation on sugar -

[alanamoana]

Rob, try Billington's. They call it molasses sugar, but I'm pretty sure it is the same thing as dark muscovado.

[gfron1]

I thought Billingtons was a Brit brand. I bought it once through my Brit distributor -very expensive.

[Darienne]

Here's Rose Levy Berenbaum's 6,000 word dissertation on sugar -

←

Thanks, DDG, I'll read the article after a cup of coffee....

[Darienne]

Here's Rose Levy Berenbaum's 6,000 word dissertation on sugar -

←

Thanks, DDG, I'll read the article after a cup of coffee....

←

I read the article. It was terrific and I thank you for mentioning it.

My DH heard a fascinating radio talk about six months ago about a new book on the history and sugar itself, written by a Canadian female and in 2008. That's the sum total of his report. I am going to Google to see what I can find.

Thanks again.

Added after a Google search:

Sugar: A Bittersweet History by Elizabeth Abbott. Penguin Canada. It may have been a fascinating radio interview, but the book sounds like primarily the dreadful history of sugar with little or nothing about the pastry and confection part of sugar itself. Perhaps someone has read it.

Edited December 6, 2008 by Darienne (log)