Comments on The Green Phone Booth: Make your own brown sugar

Okay, but when they make brown sugar they do it by...

2011-02-05T12:08:14.328-08:00

Okay, but when they make brown sugar they do it by not removing the molasses, right? They don't process it down to white and then add back the molasses.

The only reason it matters is that perhaps in the bigger picture it's better for the earth if we buy brown sugar rather than encourage manufacturers to continue to strip the molasses out in the first place. If sales go down, production will decline. While production of white sugar -- using greater energy and other resources -- will go up.

Wow, who knew it was this easy?! I'm excited ...

2010-02-03T06:10:29.265-08:00

Wow, who knew it was this easy?! I'm excited to run out now so we can make our own

I'lljust add my voice to the crowd: No way! ...

2010-01-19T18:21:28.131-08:00

I'lljust add my voice to the crowd: No way! I had no idea. I mean, I knew it was made with molasses, but I didn't consider making it at home. (though luckily I can get brown sugar in bulk at my local grocery.)

I had no idea. Thank you. Check off another plas...

2010-01-02T08:37:26.146-08:00

I had no idea. Thank you. Check off another plastic bag at our house too.

I had no idea either. Thank you for giving me ano...

2009-12-30T23:54:24.490-08:00

I had no idea either. Thank you for giving me another way out of purchasing disposable plastic! We don't use much brown sugar in our home, but when I do I hate that the organic one is in plastic! Can't wait to try this recipe.

Excellent tip! In addition to the hard-as-a-rock ...

2009-12-29T19:34:09.364-08:00

Excellent tip! In addition to the hard-as-a-rock problem of brown sugar, there's the added complication of having only light brown sugar when the recipe calls for dark (not that I'm known for following recipes to the letter, but still...), and who wants to have *two* boxes or bags sitting around in the cabinet?! You just helped me declutter a few cubic inches of precious kitchen space!

duh! i cannot believe i've been buying brown ...

2009-12-29T19:31:49.770-08:00

duh! i cannot believe i've been buying brown sugar all this time! the light bulb just went on just like when i discovered i didn't have to buy baking soda, baking powder and cream of tartar. mix 2parts cream of tartar with 1 part baking soda and magically... baking powder. to make any quantity worth storing, add the same amount of corn starch as baking soda.

Thanks greeen sheep & green me. I'll have...

2009-12-29T16:49:02.637-08:00

Thanks greeen sheep & green me. I'll have to play around with this and see what I can do. Will report back if it works. :)

I had no idea this was what brown sugar entailed. ...

2009-12-28T22:54:59.756-08:00

I had no idea this was what brown sugar entailed. I too was whining about the plastic and the brown sugar purchases. But no more!

Genius! @Donna, I understand your husband. I can...

2009-12-28T19:57:23.484-08:00

Genius!

@Donna, I understand your husband. I can tell the difference between beet and cane sugar. It irks me to no end, because I prefer beet, but you can't buy it organic. And now it is almost guaranteed to be GMO.

While we are at it -- you can sub rice syrup for corn syrup, which I will be doing if I make this pumpkin woohpie pies, which is darn tempting!

@Donna - From Wikipedia: "Brown sugar is ...

2009-12-28T19:29:25.295-08:00
@Donna - From Wikipedia: "Brown sugar is often produced 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 to be based predominantly on beet sugar. 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."

Oh! The addition of dyes and/or other chemicals may be permitted in some areas or for industrial products. If you can find a molasses that your husband likes I would give it a try.

Delicious! I had no idea making brown sugar was so...

2009-12-28T16:23:18.172-08:00
Delicious! I had no idea making brown sugar was so easy. Thanks for sharing the tip!

I made the same discovery earlier this fall, makin...

2009-12-28T15:21:37.325-08:00
I made the same discovery earlier this fall, making a pumpkin pie. But a word of warning- when all you have in the house is blackstrap molasses- it doesn't take as much unless you REALLY like the molasses flavor.
Judy

I came up with making my own brown sugar in much o...

2009-12-28T15:14:13.754-08:00
I came up with making my own brown sugar in much of the same way. Except I was making peanut butter cupcakes not whoopie pies.

My shocker was that we had molasses in the house so I could make brown sugar. My husband put either brown sugar or molasses in his coffee - that's why we go through it so much.

That looks fantastic! I am wondering -- is it rea...

2009-12-28T15:12:34.712-08:00
That looks fantastic! I am wondering -- is it really the same stuff? I mean, is that how the manufactorers do it or does it taste so similar that you can't tell? My husband is so particular that he can tell when I've bought the generic brown sugar vs. the name brand.

Add me to the "I had no idea!" list. I w...

2009-12-28T14:17:26.464-08:00
Add me to the "I had no idea!" list. I won't be buying brown sugar again either. Thanks for the great tip!!

Wow. I will never have to buy brown sugar again! Y...

2009-12-28T11:59:43.618-08:00
Wow. I will never have to buy brown sugar again! You rock - I had NO IDEA. And I totes hate the organic brown sugar plastic packaging too.

@Erin - Brown sugar never lasts long enough in thi...

2009-12-28T09:00:04.689-08:00
@Erin - Brown sugar never lasts long enough in this house to turn hard, but I do use a water-soaked clay disc in the container to keep it soft. I also like the options making my own offers. You can customize it exactly to your tastes depending on the type of sugar and molasses used - along with the quantities. I wonder what vanilla brown sugar would taste like? Bet that would be yummy in my oatmeal!

@GB - Come on, it's pumpkin! It's like eating your vegetables, right?

It is SO wrong of you to post that recipe and that...

2009-12-28T08:16:51.895-08:00
It is SO wrong of you to post that recipe and that photo on a day like today - when I weighed myself to see the damage the last two weeks have done! I really may have to make those.

I actually stopped buying brown sugar a couple yea...

2009-12-28T07:49:42.029-08:00
I actually stopped buying brown sugar a couple years ago, but not for environmental reasons...We never seemed to go through brown sugar fast enough before it turned into a rock, so one day I just decided to stop dealing with it. I like how you can adjust the amount of molasses to fit your taste depending on if you like lighter or darker brown sugar.