Brown sugar
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- This page is about the sugar product. For the slang term for the opioid, see heroin. For other uses see brown sugar (disambiguation).
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by the addition of molasses to refined white sugar.
Brown sugar contains from 3.5% molasses (light brown sugar) to 6.5% molasses (dark brown sugar). The product is naturally moist from the hygroscopic nature of the molasses and is often labelled as "soft." The product may undergo processing to give a product that flows better for industrial handling. The addition of dyes and/or other chemicals may be permitted in some areas or for industrial products.
Particle size is variable but generally less than granulated white sugar, products for industrial use e.g. as an ingredient for industrial production of cakes may be based on caster sugar (crystals of approximately 0.35 mm).
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[edit] Manufacture
Many brown sugar producers produce brown sugar by adding cane molasses to completely refined white sugar crystals in order to more carefully control the ratio of molasses to sugar crystals and to reduce manufacturing costs. This also allows the production of brown sugars in areas where the source of sugar is predominantly from beet. Brown sugar prepared in this manner is often much coarser than its unrefined equivalent and its molasses may be easily separated from the crystals by simple washing to reveal the underlying white sugar crystals; with unrefined brown there is inclusion of molasses within the crystal which will appear off-white if washed. This is mainly done for inventory control and convenience.
The molasses used is often that obtained from sugar cane, because the flavor is preferable over that of beet sugar molasses, though some areas, e.g. the Netherlands, sugar beet molasses is often used. Beet molasses generally carries a strong vegetable odour and taste from its beet origins; brown sugar produced from this will have a slightly different taste and smell to that produced with cane molasses. The white sugar used can be from either beet or cane as odour and colour differences will be covered by the molasses.
Brown sugar can be made at home by mixing white granulated sugar with molasses, using one tablespoon of molasses for every cup of white sugar (one-sixteenth or 6.25% of the total volume). Thorough blending will yield dark brown sugar; for light brown sugar, between one and two teaspoons of molasses per cup should be used instead. It is, however, simpler to substitute molasses for an equal portion of white sugar while cooking, without mixing them separately.
[edit] Nutritional value
Brown sugar has a slightly lower caloric value by weight than white sugar due to the presence of water. One hundred grams of brown sugar contains 373 calories, as opposed to 396 calories in white sugar. [1] However, brown sugar packs more densely than white sugar due to the smaller crystal size and may have more calories when measured by volume.
[edit] History
In the late 1800s, the newly consolidated refined white sugar industry, which did not have full control over brown sugar production, mounted a smear campaign against brown sugar, reproducing microscopic photographs of harmless but repulsive-looking microbes living in brown sugar. The effort was so successful that by 1900, a best-selling cookbook warned that brown sugar was of inferior quality and was susceptible to infestation by "a minute insect"[2].
[edit] Natural brown sugar
Natural brown sugar is a name for raw sugar which is a brown sugar produced from the first crystallisation of cane. Raw sugar is commonly then further processed to produce white sugar. As such "natural brown sugar" is free of additional dyes and chemicals. There is a higher level of inclusion of molasses than brown sugar giving it a higher mineral content. Some instances of natural brown sugars have particular names and characteristics and are sold as such: eg Demerara or Muscovado.
[edit] Reference
- ^ New Scientist. I'm Sweet Enough 21 January 2006
- ^ Levenstein, Harvey. Revolution at the Table Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. 32-33
