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Solidified Brown Sugar

VivreManger

By VivreManger
in Cooking

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Anna N said:

 Just love your Aligrater! 

Me too.  It is very heavy - cast brass with a steel plate bolted on and it is quite thick.  I tried to get a photo with a macro lens to show how thick it is.  I used calipers in the area that is not pierced and it is a bit more than 1/16" thick.  It is a shredder/grater, there are two different piercings and there is the coconut grater "tail." 

 

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Thanks for the Crepes

Thanks for the Crepes

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, andiesenji said:

Not really well.  I use a grater - I got this one in Mexico about a hundred years ago (actually in 1971 when I went on an archaeological dig to Palenque in Chiapas (when it was just beginning to be cleared).  

I use it for panela and for jaggery.  It's much tougher than most graters.  It's still very sharp after all these years.  

They are not easy to find but a very efficient substitute - and one I have used when I couldn't find Aligrater - is a coarse wood rasp.

Wrap the "handle" with several layers of duct tape to make it easier to hold.  Amazon used to have them but not now.  it's cheap and shipping is reasonable.  

Will save you a lot of time and grief.

Screen Shot 2017-06-29 at 10.09.45 AM.png

Screen Shot 2017-06-29 at 10.14.22 AM.png

 

Thanks andie! I have a Bromwell carbon steel box grater I picked up a few years after the time you were down in Mexico and got yours. It is still sharp and I use it all the time. They still sell them, but now they will relieve you of the better part of $100 if you want one now. I would be surprised if I paid more than $1.99 for mine back then. I will give it a try next time, and if it works, I will be able to use the panela for more than tea.

 

That rasp you linked to looks like the one we used on the horses hooves. I think it came from the Sears and Roebuck catalog and came with a wooden handle.

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> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Thanks andie! I have a Bromwell carbon steel box grater I picked up a few years after the time you were down in Mexico and got yours. It is still sharp and I use it all the time. They still sell them, but now they will relieve you of the better part of $100 if you want one now. I would be surprised if I paid more than $1.99 for mine back then. I will give it a try next time, and if it works, I will be able to use the panela for more than tea.

 

That rasp you linked to looks like the one we used on the horses hooves. I think it came from the Sears and Roebuck catalog and came with a wooden handle.

The coarse rasp I have is flat on one side and rounded on the other.  It cuts through the jaggery like a hot knife through butter.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted (edited)

My container of hard, dry brown sugar was dumped into a large Ziploc bag with a tiny bit of water and placed in the microwave, after about 20 seconds or so it was softening up.  I kept massaging the bag and re-microwaving it until it was pretty well malleable.  Then I put the whole bag, tightly sealed (with the soaked clay bear) back into the plastic container...I'm thinking that'll keep it from drying out.

Kim, I love your idea and I'd use it if I ever had marshmallows in the house.

Edited by lindag (log)
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Kim Shook

Kim Shook

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, lindag said:

My container of hard, dry brown sugar was dumped into a large Ziploc bag with a tiny bit of water and placed in the microwave, after about 20 seconds or so it was softening up.  I kept massaging the bag and re-microwaving it until it was pretty well malleable.  Then I put the whole bag, tightly sealed (with the soaked clay bear) back into the plastic container...I'm thinking that'll keep it from drying out.

Kim, I love your idea and I'd use it if I ever had marshmallows in the house.

 

Had to giggle at this.  I have a plastic grocery bag with assorted marshmallows hanging in my pantry at all times!  When I am in need of something simple and sweet, I'll grab a couple of the big ones.  :$

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Kim

Kim's Cookbook

What Fresh Hell is This?

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, IndyRob said:

A little bit of microwaving usually gets me over the hump.  But I recently bought some molasses with the idea that I wouldn't have to deal with this issue any more as brown sugar is simply sugar with some added molasses. 

 

I haven't actually used this trick yet, but Serious Eats has a feature on this theme.

Has anyone tried this?

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

I had some marshmallows hanging around but had to toss them because they got hard and dried out!  

Marshmallows also soften in the microwave.  Tossing them is not an option in my kitchen.  

Dried marshmallows + a couple tablespoons of white corn syrup (NOT the high-fructose stuff), 1 tablespoon of water in a glass dish you have sprayed with oil.

Nuke 15 seconds, stir.  If some still hard, nuke another 5 seconds and so on.  =  Marshmallow fluff.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

??????  I am lost.

Just that Andie's "alligrator" looks like one of these. 

 I, too had never heard of an alligator snapping turtle before.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

Ahhhhhhh!  Of course!  And thank you, @Anna N!  I was a bit foggy last night.  :D

 I'm a big foggy most of the time but I do love that Alligrater.  

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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jmacnaughtan

jmacnaughtan

Posted
Posted

Pure white silicon kitty litter with some distilled water works as a good humidifier.  I've never used it with brown sugar, but it's a great way of keeping humidity up - I use it in my electric wine cellar, and it works like a charm.

 

I got the tip from a cigar forum - if you need to know anything about humidity, technical cigar threads are a good place to start.  And stop, quickly, before they drown you in tedious, tedious detail.

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Anna N said:

Just that Andie's "alligrator" looks like one of these. 

 I, too had never heard of an alligator snapping turtle before.

There were a few where I grew up, although most are further south.  They like to live in sloughs and ponds and will go after anything from fish, snakes, birds, muskrats and people who wade into their territory.  Mean.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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