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Sugar at the Coopby Nate Horwitz One of the products that I'm asked about most frequently these days is sugar. Members and shoppers want to know the difference between the varieties available at Honest Weight. Currently, we're carrying three kinds of sugar: Rapadura, Sucanat, and an organic bulk sugar from Multiple Organics, a California importer who get their product from South America. Where sugar comes from About 70% of the sugar sold worldwide comes from sugarcane, a very tall grass with big stems that grows in tropical climates. The rest comes from sugar beets, a root that grow in more temperate regions. When you buy white sugar crystals at the typical grocery store, you generally don't know what you're getting, as the composition will vary depending on which sugar source is cheaper at the time of production. Sucanat and Rapadura are very clear about the product being made from cane. The bulk sugar doesn't tell you what it's made from. However, it does say that it's made in Mexico, where they primarily grow cane, as it's too warm there to grow the beets. Making sugar from cane First, leaves are removed from the stalks. This is often done by burning them, although both Sucanat and Rapadura let you know that the leaves are cut, not burned in the making of their sugars. Then the canes are pressed and crushed until juice comes out. This juice is clarified, filtered, and usually boiled to evaporate the water out. The final step is crystallization. What separates the sugars sold at Honest Weight from the sugars sold elsewhere is-other than the fact that HWFC sugars are organic-is the way that they are filtered. What's the best sugar? It's hard to know much about the bulk sugar. The sack it comes in says little more than "Made in Mexico" on it. The website for Multiple Organics also has very little information. I'm fairly confident that the bulk sugar is at least somewhat less processed than typical white sugar, if only because it's darker. It's also organic. Darker still are Sucanat and Rapadura. Sucanat claims to be "The most natural . . . cane sweetener available." Rapadura claims that it is "The only whole, dried juice of sugar cane" and "The only sugar where the sugar stream is not separated from the molasses." On the Sucanat website, and on the back of the Rapadura package, there's a nutritional comparison of the different types of sugars. It turns out that none of the sugars are exactly nutrient rich. But you will find some nutrients in Rapadura and Sucanat, compared to just about none in plain white sugar (see chart below). Taste testers decide I made lemonade using these three sugars, plus a generic white supermarket variety (GWSV), and had about 15 people try them. The organic bulk and the GWSV lemonades looked like typical lemonade. The other two were dark brown, and looked more like cider or tea. Coop members who tried them generally preferred the Sucanat lemonade, although most agreed that the taste was not quite like lemonade. Some noted the strong molasses flavor, while others thought there might be maple syrup, honey or cider in it. Most of the people who liked the Sucanat lemonade also liked the Rapadura lemonade, but only one person preferred the Rapadura. Non-Coop members tended to prefer the bulk organic. I also made sugar cookies with all four sugars. The difference in flavors here was very muted, in comparison to the difference in flavors between the lemonades. All the cookies tasted very similar. There was still a visible difference, with the Rapadura cookies being somewhat darker, and the Sucanat cookies being darker still. Being sugar cookies, they tended to be on the bland side. Here, the molasses flavor gave the Rapadura and Sucanat cookies a little more character. Most tasters agreed that these two had more flavor, although some detected it more as an aftertaste. The winner though, was clearly the bulk organic sugar cookies, which were picked as the best cookies by more than half of the tasters. Many of the tasters, including most who selected the bulk organic as their favorite, found these to be the sweetest cookies, even though the same amount of sugar was used in each recipe. I also tested how well they dissolved in hot tea. All dissolved quite nicely. I believe that the Rapadura sugar is probably the least processed of all the sugars. I called the number on the side of the Rapadura package-and I actually got to speak to a person!-and I asked, if their sugar is the least processed, why does the Sucanat have such a stronger molasses flavor and darker molasses appearance? The man on the phone wasn't exactly sure, but felt that it may be because Sucanat has molasses added to it. So, to wrap up: Environmentally, both Sucanat and Rapadura are ahead, as they are nutritionally-but keep in mind that no sugars are very nutritious. All three substitute for white sugar in baking quite well. The bulk sugar may be a tiny bit sweeter than the others, while the other two have more flavor, although some detected it more as an aftertaste. The winner though, was clearly the bulk organic sugar cookies, which were picked as the best cookies by more than half of the tasters. Many of the tasters, including most who selected the bulk organic as their favorite, found these to be the sweetest cookies, even though the same amount of sugar was used in each recipe. I also tested how well they dissolved in hot tea. All dissolved quite nicely. I believe that the Rapadura sugar is probably the least processed of all the sugars. I called the number on the side of the Rapadura package-and I actually got to speak to a person!-and I asked, if their sugar is the least processed, why does the Sucanat have such a stronger molasses flavor and darker molasses appearance? The man on the phone wasn't exactly sure, but felt that it may be because Sucanat has molasses added to it. So, to wrap up: Environmentally, both Sucanat and Rapadura are ahead, as they are nutritionally-but keep in mind that no sugars are very nutritious. All three substitute for white sugar in baking quite well. The bulk sugar may be a tiny bit sweeter than the others, while the other two have some molasses flavor. All dissolve well in hot drinks. Finally, be careful with them when sweetening non-baked foods, like lemonade, as they're likely to strongly affect the color and flavor. Nutrition? How sugars compare
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