ISO invert sugar recipe

[cteavin]

I've been wanting to play with invert sugar in place of corn syrup (expensive to buy in Japan) and did several searches on Google and only came up with the basic idea of sugar + water + acid + 20 minutes at a boil = invert sugar. That's okay but I when the formulas listed a ratio there was disagreement. Some said one to one, others two to one, some 20 minutes, others 30 minutes. (sigh)

I did a 1:1 for 22 minutes to bring the final temperature to 200 degrees with a 1/4 teaspoon tartic acid. It's not very viscous. I'd really like to know what the water content should be for a proper invert sugar to be used in either baking or candy making. Can someone post The Definitive Measures, please.

Also, on an aside, could invert sugar syrup be used in place of sugar syrup to soak a genoise?

[Darienne]

Gosh, I don't know about definitive...but the recipe I use for invert sugar and believe me, it is plenty viscous is 4 cups sugar to 1 1/2 cups water plus 1/4 teaspoon citric acid. Bring to a boil. Then simmer 1/2 hour stirring occastionally. Store in tightly sealed container. Lasts a long time.

[tan319]

900 grams water

450 grams sugar

20 grams lemon juice/1/2 tsp citric acid

Bring up to slow boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

Cool/refrigerate before usung.

Cake recipes I see using invert sugar are usually using it for shelf life or moisture retention.

Personally can't see using it as a soak.

Good luck.

Edited November 23, 2009 by tan319 (log)

[cteavin]

Thank you both for your replies.

I'm really surprised by the water/sugar ration in your formula Darieen, especially when compared to Tan's. Do you use your invert sugar for baking or candy making?

[tan319]

I've not made this recipe.

I buy Trimoline or such.

It's a doubled recipe so you won't have to make it all of the time.

It's also weighed.

dariennes sounds very Trimolinish in it's mentioning viscousity.

Good luck!

[Scout_21]

Here are two recipes from Wybauw's Fine Chocolates 2:

750 g Sucrose

250 g Water (1)

22 g tartaric acid

22 g Water (2)

24 g baking soda

24 g water (3)

Heat and dissolve sugar and the water (1) to 93 C (200 F). Dissolve the tartaric acid in the water (2). Add to heated sugar/water mixture and keep the temperature at 93C (200F) for one hour. Dissolve the baking soda in water(3) and add to the sugar syrup to neutralize the syrup. The pH must be 4.5. Cool the inverted sugar as quickly as possible in order to avoid major discoloration.

Recipe 2

750 g Sucrose

250 g Water (1)

32 g Citric acid

32 g Water (2)

34 g baking soda

34 g water (3)

Proceed as described above.

I haven't tried these recipes myself but the pic from the book looks exactly like the trimoline I purchased.... I hope this helps too.

[Lior]

Thank you for the recipe. Does anyone have a brilliant idea of how to keep it at 93C for an hour? Melters don't go that high...

[Kerry Beal]

Thank you for the recipe. Does anyone have a brilliant idea of how to keep it at 93C for an hour? Melters don't go that high...

Crockpot attached to a dimmer switch.

[Lior]

wow. amazing . I just love these solutions. SO I need a crock pot and dimmer switch, which can also be useful for making food and eating it with a romantic dim light.

[John DePaula]

Thank you for the recipe. Does anyone have a brilliant idea of how to keep it at 93C for an hour? Melters don't go that high...

Crockpot attached to a dimmer switch.

Couldn't you just use a bain marie or even just really low setting atop the stove? (though a romantic dinner for two next to the dimmed crock pot does sound appealing... )

[Lior]

I guess I could experiment on that-which flame size and pot etc would keep me at that temp.

When was the last time I had a romantic dinner?? I guess it is high time....

[tomdarch]

Interesting - hearing about the sugar+water+acid made sense, but would result in a sour/acidic product, so the addition of baking soda clears that up.

About holding the 93C temp - be careful about a dimmer - many are designed to only control a few 100W light bulbs and a heating element can be more like 1000W, which could melt the dimmer (or set it on fire).

As a sous vide-er (sous vide-ie? sous vide-ite? vac-head? ) I can think of a few solutions. For most folks, a low-tech rice cooker with a Sous Vide Magic controller would be the most straight forward. You'd fill the bowl with water, then sink your cooking vessel (small sauce pan?) in the water and the Sous Vide Magic device would turn the rice cooker heating element on and off to keep the temp constant.

Realistically, with a clip on thermometer in water in a big stock pot as a sort of "double boiler" with the sugar in a pan in the water should work fairly well. The more water, the easier it would be to keep a constant temp. Also, you might want to use two thermometers - one in the water and one in the sugar. As long as the process can tolerate 2-3 degrees of over and under shoot, and you have the patience to tend the stove, this sort of setup should work.

[Darienne]

Thank you both for your replies.

I'm really surprised by the water/sugar ration in your formula Darieen, especially when compared to Tan's. Do you use your invert sugar for baking or candy making?

Sorry no reply from me. Didn't realize I was not signed on.

I use the invert sugar for candy making only.

[frozendesserts]

I am using this recipe from dessert fourplay for invert sugar.

2 1/4 cups (450g) sugar

1 cup less 1 tablespoon (225g) water

2 teaspoons (10g) fresh lemon juice

I used a weighting scale, followin the grams and lemonlime juice instead of lemon juice.

Bring to almost a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 30 mins. The recipe says that there should be no hint of acidity at this point, I can still taste a bit of the acid in the sugar solution. But the color is already light brownish.

Am I supposed to continue boiling? or is there too much lemonlim juice? Is the color of homemade invert sugar light brownish or is should be totally clear?

[ambra]

Am I wrong in assuming this is The Uk's Golden Syrup? If not, light brown yet clear.

[tan319]

If it's like Trimoline it should be opaque.

Maybe lower the heat a bit and use lemon juice if that's what it specifies!

That's what a recipe is for, especially like this where is just three ing.?

Invert sugar is nothing like Golden Syrup.

If it's cooking too fast cook it for less time.

Happy Cooking

[tarko]

heres a good guide...

http://www.chefeddy.com/2009/11/invert-sugar/

[frozendesserts]

Hehhe I don't know if this is the UK's light golden syrup. But my color is lighter than the light corn syrup I have seen on shelves. The author calls it invert sugar and says he uses it in his ice cream recipes.

My purpose for this invert sugar is for ice cream, to prevent crystallization.

Have anyone try chefeddy's version of invert sugar? Does it really turn out to be transparent and viscous like liquid glucose?

I found another recipe for invert sugar, they had a pic of a thick medium brown liquid http://www.barkingside.com/invertsugar.asp.

Comparing powder glucose, liquid glucose, invert sugar, trimoline, which is a better agent for preventing crystallization in ice cream?

[Tri2Cook]

Trimoline is invert sugar and probably what he actually uses, the recipe is most likely provided for those who don't have Trimoline. Invert sugar and glucose (powder and syrup) all have their roles (stabilization, ice crystal control, boosting solids content without over-sweetening, etc.) and are usually used in combination (frequently with a commercial stabilizer as well). None of them are actually necessary for a good batch of ice cream, they're just tools that can help you achieve specific and consistent results. As far as color, Trimoline is more white than clear. Closer in color to frosted glass than glucose syrup. I have no idea what the homemade stuff should look like, I've never made it.

[paulraphael]

Mine looks like what you see at the chef eddy link ... more clear than white. Not sure why it's different from the commercial product.

I suppose there's a chance the commercial product is better. Apparently only a certain portion of the sugar "inverts," and so it's possible that it's harder to invert as much with the home process than with what's done industrially. Just speculating. Homebrew seems to work.

[frozendesserts]

Read before that Trimoline is a concentrated form of liquid glucose, double the amount of glucose in the same amount of liquid.

I used the invert sugar above in my ice cream recipe. The result is disappointing. Ice crystals are rather big. Froze too hard too. I did a liquid glucose only version before, ice crystals are smaller but it did not taste sweet enough. I am making a glucolin glucose + sugar version to see how is it. Can't find atomized glucose over here too.

Will try chefeddy's invert sugar recipe too.

Edited October 22, 2010 by frozendesserts (log)

[gilius]

Angelo Corvitto has a good recipe in his book "Secrets of ice-cream", this you can download from his website http://www.angelocorvitto.com/ as a pdf for free. It's a really good book.

/gilius

[paulraphael]

Read before that Trimoline is a concentrated form of liquid glucose, double the amount of glucose in the same amount of liquid.

Trimoline is different; it's sugar syrup made from sucrose, with a significant amount of the glucose and fructose dissociated from each other. So you have a mix of off glucose and fructose (both monosacharides) rather than sucrose, in which those smaller molecules are bonded to each other into a larger (disacharide) molecule.

You'd have something similar if you mixed glucose syrup and fructose syrup. But pure glucose syrup will have different properties.

As far as how much glucose there is in glucose syrup, that just has to do with the particular syrup you're using. I don't think there's any standard. Generally the glucose syrups I've seen sold for pastry purposes are more concentrated than corn syrups.

I used the invert sugar above in my ice cream recipe. The result is disappointing. Ice crystals are rather big. Froze too hard too.

There are so many different variables to consider. What invert sugar were you using (was this just concentrated glucose syrup?), and in what proportions? Generally trimoline substitutes for about 10% of the total sugars in an ince cream. And the results are the opposite of what you describe.

[tan319]

Thank you VERY much for this!

Edited October 22, 2010 by tan319 (log)

[tan319]

Something in your recipe is amiss.

I would refer to Michael Laiskonis's aricle on Ingredient tables, etc.

I would think you would have to use it in conjunction with atomized glucose or Sirop de Glucose, some kind of stabilizer, etc.

If it's a mainly liquid concoction, then it would change again.

What kind of machine are you using?

Good Luck!

PS: Where are you located?

Edited October 22, 2010 by tan319 (log)