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Re: Brown vs. White Sugar results

Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:00 pm
by Yummyrum
As I understand it , sugar needs to come to the boil in the presents of an acid to be inverted . I’ve done a few tests at work using Benedicts reagent to test for the glucose and unless you reach boiling , it doesn’t invert. Also once its reached boiling , thats enough . ... its done , don’t have to keep it on the boil for 1/2 hr or anything .

I actually do invert my sugar for a neutrals . Not because I want to invert it but simply because I need to bring water to the boil to get an initial start temp. I need to dissolve the sugar one way or other and most sugar recipes call for a bit of citric acid .... so it just makes sense to do it all in a big pot and then transfer it into fermenter with cool water .

Re: Brown vs. White Sugar results

Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:31 pm
by NZChris
rubberduck71 wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 5:45 pm Ok, dumb question: if i just maintain high temps (call it 190F or above) for 20 min or so with citric acid & dumped white sugar, does that count as inverted "enough?"

I'm lazy. Usually I have a run going when I'm running an inverted sugar process on the induction plate.
I'm lazy and a cheapskate. My condensers are temperature controlled and the water comes off too hot to hold my finger under and I have run the condenser water onto the sugar. I don't know if it's hot enough to get much conversion, but it saves on water and heating bills.

Re: Brown vs. White Sugar results

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 7:01 am
by Demy
Yummyrum wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:30 pm
Demy wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:13 am Once I saw it in the supermarket, it already had a strong aroma even with closed packaging and had a "pasty" consistency in the sense that if you press with your fingers, the mark remains. Do you confirm this?
That sounds like what we call brown sugar here ... IE. its caster sugar with molasses mixed through it hense the smell and the way it mushes or clumps .
Raw sugar is just crystals like white sugar .
Brown sugar is also readily found here, it's grainy and straw-colored in color but I guess it's not entirely authentic in the sense I've read it's made from white sugar with a sprinkle of molasses added. There are actually varying degrees of refinement and I thought the "mellow" one should be authentic but maybe it's just more enriched. It's crazy, but all the raw stuff here costs a lot more than the one with refinement. A contradiction, but the industry marches on it. Same thing for brown salt, brown rice etc ...

Re: Brown vs. White Sugar results

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:31 pm
by JesseMarques
Demy wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 7:01 am
Yummyrum wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:30 pm
Demy wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:13 am Once I saw it in the supermarket, it already had a strong aroma even with closed packaging and had a "pasty" consistency in the sense that if you press with your fingers, the mark remains. Do you confirm this?
That sounds like what we call brown sugar here ... IE. its caster sugar with molasses mixed through it hense the smell and the way it mushes or clumps .
Raw sugar is just crystals like white sugar .
Brown sugar is also readily found here, it's grainy and straw-colored in color but I guess it's not entirely authentic in the sense I've read it's made from white sugar with a sprinkle of molasses added. There are actually varying degrees of refinement and I thought the "mellow" one should be authentic but maybe it's just more enriched. It's crazy, but all the raw stuff here costs a lot more than the one with refinement. A contradiction, but the industry marches on it. Same thing for brown salt, brown rice etc ...
white sugar, white flour... they take longer to spoil, that's why it's cheaper, even here in Brasil unrefined sugar are more expensive, I have a small jar that my uncle made, but I don't buy in the market because of the price

Re: Brown vs. White Sugar results

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:12 pm
by Yummyrum
The straw coloured grainy stuff is what we call raw sugar . Yes it is more expensive than refined sugar here too ... hence , I don’t use it :D

Personally I don’t see the point in adding anything other than refined sugar for neutral and since I make Rum with only molasses , don’t see need for raw or Brown .

Re: Brown vs. White Sugar results

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:19 pm
by Saltbush Bill
Correct the grainy straw colour stuff is sold as raw sugar and is more costly to buy than the more refined white stuff.

Re: Brown vs. White Sugar results

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:32 pm
by Demy
Yummyrum wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:12 pm The straw coloured grainy stuff is what we call raw sugar . Yes it is more expensive than refined sugar here too ... hence , I don’t use it :D

Personally I don’t see the point in adding anything other than refined sugar for neutral and since I make Rum with only molasses , don’t see need for raw or Brown .
Exactly, a white sugar is much cheaper (money and flavor) for a neutral.