Text 20977, 103 rader
Skriven 2009-02-16 21:25:14 av bill swisher (1:124/311)
     Kommentar till en text av Dave Drum
Ärende: Re: Catz (2 of 3)
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More blather from me...

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       Title: Cane & Beet Sugar Differences in the Kitchen, Pt 2/3
  Categories: Tips, Chron, Baking, Cakes, Candy
       Yield: 1 Servings

            Sugar

   Brown sugar from C & H Sugar Co. and other cane refiners uses the
   process, but beet sugar is different. It's made by refining the sugar
   all the way to the final white granular stage, stripping off all the
   molasses because beet molasses is unfit for human consumption (it's
   recycled as cattle feed). Then cane molasses is added back into the
   sugar through a process called ``painting.''

   Painting coats the granules but does not necessarily penetrate them
   ~- the molasses can sometimes be rubbed right off.

   As with white sugar, these different types of sugars act differently
   in the kitchen.

   PROOF IS IN THE BAKING

   The Chronicle Food staff baked five batches of bar cookies in our test
   kitchen, each using a different brand of light brown sugar. Tasters
   didn't know which was which. The cookies made with cane were far
   superior in taste and texture to those made from beet (see related
   story).

   We then made a second batch, using just one brand of sugar -- C & H
   Light Brown Sugar -- to see if results would be consistent between
   different packages. We used a new bag, right off the store shelf, and
   a partly used one that had been stored in a home pantry for several
   weeks. Again, there were differences, but they were slight compared
   to the ones in the first tasting.

   Moisture differences, industry experts say, may account for the
   variation in both instances.

   The effect is less dramatic with white granulated sugar.

   ``I'm sure I've used beet sugar for baking cakes, and there have not
   been any problems that I know of,'' says The Chronicle's baking
   columnist Flo Braker.

   However, when we baked four versions of her Butterscotch Pound Cake --
   using white granulated beet sugar, white granulated cane, light brown
   beet and light brown cane -- the differences in crumb texture,
   appearance and flavor were apparent, although subtle (see related
   story).

   They weren't subtle in creme brulee, however. In our testing of white
   beet sugar we found that it refused to caramelize on top (see photo
   on cover page).

   We prepared several ramekins of creme brulee, topping them with either
   beet or cane granulated sugar. When caramelized with a small blow
   torch -- the traditional way of browning the topping -- the cane
   sugar became brown and bubbly and the beet burned in seconds.

   These are reasons that some professionals specify a type or even a
   brand of sugar. Because of her own experiences at The Bake Shop and
   as a cooking teacher, Weil always requests C & H. In fact, Weil has
   become so devoted to the brand that she became a spokesperson for the
   company after research for this story began.

   San Francisco confectioner Joseph Schmidt, nationally renowned for his
   chocolate truffles and other candy, also prefers cane sugar. ``I
   always order C & H,'' he says. ``When I make caramel, it seems to be
   cleaner. And it `snaps' better when I make brittle and things like
   that.''

   Most manufacturers who specify a type or brand of sugar will not
   reveal what it is because their recipes are proprietary. But C & H's
   Flores says that some caramel popcorn and cinnamon roll producers as
   asking for his company's brown sugar because of its molasses content
   and uniformity. Consumers, however, don't have the luxury of knowing
   what they're getting. Labeling law doesn't require a cane or beet
   designation. C & H is the only mass-market producer to do so; other
   refiners decline. The question is why.

   MORE THAN MARKETING

   The Sugar Association's Baker suggests that some manufacturers may
   consider the beet or cane designation simply ``a marketing tool.''
   oodwin of the state's beet growers' association says he's puzzled.

   ``I don't know why beet sugar producers don't label their sugar.'' He
   theorizes that perhaps beet producers can't compete with the ad
   program of a company like C & H, which has been touting its ``pure
   cane'' product for years.

   ``Cane sugar has a long tradition and beet sugar is starting from
   scratch,'' he says. ``I guess the beet sugar people are able to sell
   the product through other channels without building consumer
   loyalty.'' But Cunningham argues that the source should be on the
   label regardless.

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