Corn Syrup

[mrose]

I was finally able to get some 42/43 corn syrup. It was actually cheap through a bakery supply store. I know that this has a lower water content than what you can purchase in the grocery store (Karo). Is there a difference in sweetness? Do you use it in the same amounts as I have been using "Karo"?

[gap]

I am probably setting myself up here as I'm not great on the science, but I think a higher DE means a higher conversion of the starch to sugars and, therefore, more sweetness. And vice-versa for a lower DE.

Edited to add: not sure what Karo DE is

Edited July 7, 2009 by gap (log)

[lebowits]

I was finally able to get some 42/43 corn syrup. It was actually cheap through a bakery supply store. I know that this has a lower water content than what you can purchase in the grocery store (Karo). Is there a difference in sweetness? Do you use it in the same amounts as I have been using "Karo"?

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I did a search and found that the product you purchased has a dextrose equivalent (DE) of 42. I've been unable to find a reference to the DE for Karo but did find an article which says it is a mixture of syrups with DE ranging from 38 - 52.

I remember that Greweling has a discussion of DE in one of the chapters of his book. I would suggest that a check here might yield something.

In general, I would think that you could use the 2 interchangeably.

[no10]

Karo's website says that (their) corn syrup contains between 15-20% dextrose (DE 15-20). Does anyone know the percent solids content (or percent water) of Karo's light corn syrup (the "mixture of various other types of sugar" statement isn't very helpful)? 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by no10 (log)

[paulraphael]

On 7/6/2009 at 10:41 PM, mrose said:

I was finally able to get some 42/43 corn syrup. It was actually cheap through a bakery supply store. I know that this has a lower water content than what you can purchase in the grocery store (Karo). Is there a difference in sweetness? Do you use it in the same amounts as I have been using "Karo"?

 

This is often the problem with consumer brands. You typically have no way to know exactly what you're getting. And since they don't tell you, they're not under any obligation to keep it consistent from batch to batch and year to year.

 

Even with products labelled for commercial use, you don't usually get all the information. They may tell you the DE but not what's actually in it (what saccharides and in what ratios). There are many ways you can get to the same DE value. You can assume that that something labelled DE 42 will be sweeter than something labelled DE 15. But you can't assume that it will be exactly as sweet as something else labelled DE 42. Or that it will have the same water content, or the same freezing point depression, etc.  

 

To the original question, I suspect Karo is sweeter than typical DE 42 corn syrup. But I'm not positive. 

 

And on another note, I just heard from someone in the ice cream industry that there's a global shortage of corn sugar. Like with everything else. So prices have been rising.