Large amount of simple syrup- uses and storage

[Tom Gengo]

HELP. Catered a mid-day, outside wedding Sat. Here in Charleston the temps were in the high 90's and over 90% humidity. The head count was 175, so I brewed 25 gallons of unsweetened tea (18 oz per person) to ensure everyone stayed hydrated. Since most here in the South drink sweetened tea I made a simple syrup to mix w/ the tea for the sweetened variety. Unfortunately, I have 24 quart canning jars of simple syrup left over... that's right 6 GALLONS OF SIMPLE SYRUP.

Any suggestions for using it? Shelf stability (this is a 10-15 year supply for my cooking barring a barrage of catering gigs soon?) I can use it for brining, which I do frequently, with some simple calculations.

Oh, the guests stayed hydrated on UNsweetened tea, bottled water & lemonade that I also supplied.

[gap]

Sorbet? Candied fruit? Soaking syrup for sponge layers - just flavour first eg., lemon or orange etc?

[Kerry Beal]

Sell it to a bar?

[bkeith]

Process it for storage (I think water bath ought to be sufficient if you did a 1:1 syrup. Pressure canner would most likely be overkill). Then you'll have it for whenever you need it in the future.

[dougal]

Ferment to alcohol. Then store or enjoy.

What's available to you as a homebrew wine base? (Fruit/flowers/etc)

Then sugar (check), water (check), yeast ...

And once its made, the wine storage can be at room temp.

I've recently learned of "turbo" yeast - which can take plain sugar syrup to 20% alcohol (something like 40 proof) by fermentation alone. I think the idea is that you only then add the flavouring (and either store or drink) or else, heaven forfend, you might think of concentrating it further before diluting it ...

One example: http://turbo-yeast.com/

Edited July 2, 2010 by dougal (log)

[paulraphael]

What would you call booze fermented from simple syrup?

And what would you call it if you distilled it?

[Dave the Cook]

Rum.

[merstar]

Infuse some fresh ginger and make this - it's delicious:

MELONS WITH GINGER SYRUP

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/melons_ginger_syrup.aspx

[paulraphael]

Rum.

Really? I thought rum was made with molasses or cane juice. Will it still taste rum-like when made with refined sugar?

[RobertM]

How about creating different flavors and selling them to shaved ice vendors???

[ChickenStu]

Start boiling and make a bunch of candies.

[Dave the Cook]

Rum.

Really? I thought rum was made with molasses or cane juice. Will it still taste rum-like when made with refined sugar?

I didn't say it would be good rum! But there's not a lot of difference between simple syrup and cane syrup that's been pressed from sugar cane -- cane syrup has a little more glucose and some trace vitamins and minerals. (Don't get me started on the definition of "raw" sugar.) The flavor of rum is only partly determined by the sugar or sugar bypoduct that starts the process; yeast strains, fermentation time, distillation technique and aging method contribute significantly.

[Kerry Beal]

Or how about getting a hummingbird feeder?

[heidih]

Or how about getting a hummingbird feeder?

The hummer mix is 1 sugar to 4 water. I think simple syrup is more sweet?