Sugar! Sugar!

[shel]

G'mornin' Gang,

Some recipes call for brown sugar, others for light brown sugar, and still others for dark brown sugar. Can all these sugars be used interchageably except, perhaps for some subtle taste differences. In other words, doestusing one or another change anything in the cooking? Could I use while sugar if I prefer the taste, or don't have any brown sugar?

And what about Turbinado or Muscovado sugar. Brown sugar, as I understand it, is just processed white sugar with molasses added, while Turbinado and Muscovado are essentially raw sugars (if I understand correctly). Can they be used interchangeably with brown sugar in a recipe?

And what if I wanted to use honey instead of sugar in some recipes? Is there some rule of thumb about the type of recipe that honey can be used instead of sugar, such as it being OK in baked goods but not such a good idea when preparing meat or poultry? How would one arrive at the correct amount of honey to be used - is there some relationship or proportion that one can use, even if only as a general rule?

Finally, is any one brand or type of sugar sweeter, or require a somewhat different amount to be used, such as the differences of saltiness between some Kosher salts and typical table salt?

Thanks,

Shel

[phatch]

Dark brown sugar has more molasses. I've never seen it in my area. Or maybe I've never seen light. The brown sugar I see says brown sugar. So i use it for both and have been satisfied.

Using white sugar instead is a problem. It lacks moisture from the molasses and the flavor will be noticeably different.

The raw sugars have a large crystal. This won't work in most recipes as it won't dissolve fast enough. It also doesn't have as much molasses flavor as brown sugar, quite a bit less.

Honey is sweeter than standard sugar but the problem using honey is that you are adding a liquid ingredient and that throws off the recipe generally speaking. Off the top of my head, the rule I saw for using honey was something like use half the measure of sugar as honey, reduce the liquid measure by that amount and use the other half measure of sugar. But I never paid attention to the substitution as it struck me as not worth the effort.

There are sugars of different sweetness. Fructose is sweeter than sucrose. But then you get into the purported side effects of high fructose corn sweetener and such. Plus your measurements go skewompous. Artificial sweetners are super intensely sweet. Ounce for ounce artificial sweeteners are usually close to the same calories of sugar. But you can use so much less for the same sweetness as sugar that you get very few calories. Sweeteners like Equal for baking are padded with a filler to give the same measurement and sweetness as standard sugar.

I've always thought that the claims of "saltiness" of salts was just misinformation. Kosher tastes "saltier" because you usually run into a big crystal of it. When you get into the natural salts such as fleur de sel, you have other flavor compounds present that can tweak the flavor and provide more of a 'balance'.

[shel]

Originally Posted by phatch

I've always thought that the claims of "saltiness" of salts was just misinformation. Kosher tastes "saltier" because you usually run into a big crystal of it. When you get into the natural salts such as fleur de sel, you have other flavor compounds present that can tweak the flavor and provide more of a 'balance'.

Diamond Crystal salt crystals are larger than those of table salt and Morton's Kosher salt, therefore one needs a greater measure of Diamond Crystal for the same amount of salt and "saltiness in cooking." There was a conversion chart for this in a recent edition of Cook's Illustrated, and I've seen the info elsewhere as well.

Thanks for you comments on the sugar. I'll have to go back and reread them as I've been interrupted a couple of times by my cats and other goings-on here.

Shel

[phatch]

Originally Posted by shel

There was a conversion chart for this in a recent edition of Cook's Illustrated, and I've seen the info elsewhere as well.
Shel

Yes, but that's not saltiness. That's how the salt packs into cups. Large flake salts pack roughly with lots of air space. If you weighed the measurements, they'd weigh the same.

Phil

[Mezzaluna]

Back to sugar for a moment....

Phatch, I thought sugar is considered a "wet" ingredient because it liquefies so easily. That's why it's added to other wet ingredients in baking (eggs, milk, etc.). I know when one uses Splenda as a sugar sub in baking, some consideration must be made to add more of some other liquid to compensate, as Splenda adds sweetness and some structure, but no "liquidness". (Is that even a word??)

Here in the midwest we have Dark Brown Sugar and Golden or Light Brown Sugar. I use them interchangeably, but am teachable on the subject.

[phatch]

I don't know for sure. What I recall is that honey adds liquid to the recipe.

Phil

[JerryG]

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

Here in the midwest we have Dark Brown Sugar and Golden or Light Brown Sugar. I use them interchangeably, but am teachable on the subject.

Same here in the PNW. My experience is that the dark and light brown sugars are interchangable. I wouldn't exchange white for brown though. Both flavor and moistness of final product would be compromised.

[Jayme]

Light and dark brown sugar can be used interchangeably. And I believe turbinado can be used in place of brown sugar- but it is drier. I have seen reciepes that use turbinado to carmelize over creme brulee vs. drying out brown sugar (Cook's Illustrated, I believe). I have definately noticed a taste difference between sea salt and table salt- anyone w/ a chemistry background got more info? (sorry my chem was too long ago- sodium chloride should be the same regardless of the size of crystals- unless it has to do w/trace minerals??)

[Suzanne]

I have definitely found that when I use Turbinado instead of another type of sugar, the end result is gritty because, as Phil said, the crystals are bigger and don't dissolve as easily.

Light brown versus dark brown sugars make a slight difference in flavor -- dark is a little more bitter than light, and both are more butterscotch-y than white. I'm not sure that the difference in moisture content is all that important, especially if you are using the granulated form of brown sugar (brand name "Brownulated").

And I'm chicken when it comes to replacing any dry sugar with wet honey. The chemistry of baking still scares me, no matter how much I read.