Revision 136814542 of "Benutzer:Slashme/Brown sugar" on dewiki

{{About|the sugar product}}
[[Image:Brown sugar crystals.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|Brown sugar [[crystals]]]]

'''Brown sugar''' is a  [[sucrose]] [[sugar]] product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of [[molasses]]. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar [[crystal]]s with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined [[sugar|white sugar]] (so-called [[Molasses Sugar]]).

Brown sugar contains from 3.5% molasses ('''light brown sugar''') to 6.5% molasses ('''dark brown sugar''') based on total [[volume]].<ref name="roses.sugar.bible
">{{cite web | url=http://www.foodarts.com/news/classics/20964/roses-sugar-bible | title=Rose's Sugar Bible | last1=Levy Beranbaum | first1=Rose | date=April 2000 | accessdate=2013-04-06}}</ref> Based on total [[weight]], '''regular brown sugar''' contains up to 10% molasses.<ref name="figoni.fundamentals.baking.science">{{cite book |author=Paula I. Figoni |title=How Baking Works: Exploring the Fundamentals of Baking Science |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2010 |page=171 |isbn=0-470-39267-3 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XqKF7PqV02cC&pg=PA171#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=2011-11-05}}</ref> The product is naturally moist from the [[Hygroscopy|hygroscopic]] nature of the molasses and is often labelled as "soft." The product may undergo processing to give a product that flows better for industrial handling. The addition of dyes and/or other chemicals may be permitted in some areas or for industrial products.

Particle size is variable but generally less than granulated white sugar. Products for industrial use (e.g., the industrial production of cakes) may be based on [[caster sugar]] which has crystals of approximately 0.35&nbsp;mm.

{{wiktionary|brown sugar}}

==Production==
Brown sugar is often produced by adding sugarcane molasses to completely refined white sugar crystals to more carefully control the ratio of molasses to sugar crystals and to reduce manufacturing costs.<ref name=newsci /> 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 simply washing to reveal the underlying white sugar crystals; with unrefined brown, inclusion of molasses within the crystal will appear off-white if washed.

The molasses usually used for food is obtained from [[sugar cane]], because the flavor is generally preferred over [[Molasses#Sugar beet molasses|beet sugar molasses]], although in some areas, especially in [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]], [[sugar beet]] molasses is used. The white sugar used can be from either beet or cane, as the chemical composition, nutritional value, color, and taste of fully refined white sugar is for practical purposes the same, no matter from what plant it originates. Even with less-than-perfect refining, the small differences in color, odor, and taste of the white sugar will be masked by the molasses.

==History==
In the late 1800s, the newly consolidated refined white sugar industry, which did not have full control over brown sugar production, mounted a smear campaign against brown sugar, reproducing microscopic photographs of harmless but repulsive-looking microbes living in brown sugar. The effort was so successful that by 1900, a best-selling cookbook warned that brown sugar was of inferior quality and was susceptible to infestation by "a minute insect."<ref name="revolution">Levenstein, Harvey. [http://books.google.com/books?id=NXULJejXRWoC Revolution at the Table] Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. 32-33</ref>

==Natural brown sugar==
[[Image:Brown sugar examples.JPG|thumb|Brown sugar examples: Muscovado (top), dark brown (left), light brown (right)]]
[[Image:Vollrohrzucker grau.JPG|right|thumb|Whole cane sugar, unclarified]]
[[Image:Vollrohrzucker braun.JPG|right|thumb|Whole cane sugar, clarified]]

'''Natural brown sugar''', '''raw sugar''' or '''whole cane sugar''' is a brown sugar produced from the first crystallization of the sugar cane. Based upon weight, unrefined brown cane sugar, when fully refined, yields about 70% white sugar.<ref>{{cite book |author=L. E. Sayre |title=Conspectus of organic materia medica and pharmacal botany |publisher=G. S. Davis, Medical Book Publisher |location=Detroit |year=1880 |page=180 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=F6t9m1l2QWQC&pg=PA180#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=2011-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=G. B. Wood |author2=F. Bache |title=The dispensatory of the United States of America |publisher=Grigg, Eliot, and Co. |location=Philadelphia |year=1849 |edition=8th |page=616 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kmsXAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA616#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=2011-11-07}}</ref> There is more molasses in natural brown sugar, giving it a higher mineral content. Some natural brown sugars have particular names and characteristics, and are sold as turbinado, [[muscovado]], or demerara sugar. Although brown sugar has been touted as having health benefits ranging from soothing menstrual cramps to serving as an anti-aging skin treatment,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.womentribe.com/health/brown-sugar-health-benefits.html|title=Brown Sugar - Health Benefits|accessdate=2013-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20513308_2,00.html|title=What's Sweet About Brown Sugar|accessdate=2013-04-04}}</ref> there is no nutritional basis to support brown sugar as a healthier alternative to refined sugars despite the negligible amounts of minerals in brown sugar not found in white sugar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/health/nutrition/12real.html?ei=5070&en=2c7b0deda8710630&ex=1186632000&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1186592818-8CJn9xUUuK6+4WQViP11tA&_r=0.|title=The Claim: Brown Sugar Is Healthier Than White Sugar|website = New York Times|date= 12 June 2007}}</ref>

Turbinado and demerara sugars are made by crystallizing raw sugar cane juice, then spinning it in a centrifuge to remove water and some impurities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wholesomesweeteners.com/brands/Wholesome_Sweeteners/Organic_Turbinado_Sugar.html|title=Organic Turbinado Sugar|accessdate=2008-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/20312-Wholesome-Sweeteners-Introduces-First-and-Only-Organic-Turbinado-Sugar-in-U-S-Launch-of-Organic-Turbinado-Coincides-with-Celebration-of-Organic-Harvest-Month|title=Press release describes manufacturing process for organic turbinado sugar|accessdate=2008-09-20}}</ref> Demerara sugar has less molasses than light brown sugar.<ref>{{cite book |author=W. P. Edwards |title=The science of bakery products |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry |location=Cambridge, Eng |year=2007 |page=105 |quote=... these products are made by adding cane sugar molasses to white sugar produced from sugar beet; brown sugars can be made by partially refining cane sugar but not by partially refining beet sugar. |isbn=0-85404-486-8 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oCVPjK0mSfkC&pg=PA105#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref>

Muscovado (also moscovado), an unrefined, dark brown sugar, is produced without centrifuging and has much smaller crystals than turbinado sugar. The sugar cane extract is heated to thicken it and then pan-evaporated in the sun and pounded to yield an unprocessed, damp sugar that retains all of the natural minerals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/muscovado_sugar.htm#sugarmade|title=This is how Muscovado Sugar is made.|accessdate=2008-09-20}}</ref>  A similar Japanese version of uncentrifuged natural cane sugar is called kokuto (Kanji: 黒糖).  This is a regional specialty of Okinawa, and is often sold in the form of large lumps.  It is sometimes used to make [[shochu]].

==Culinary considerations==
For domestic purposes one can create the exact equivalent of brown sugar by mixing white sugar with molasses. Suitable proportions are about one [[tablespoon]] of molasses to each [[Cup (unit)|cup]] of sugar (one-sixteenth of the total volume). Molasses comprises 10% of brown sugar's total weight,<ref name="figoni.fundamentals.baking.science" /> which is about one ninth of the white sugar weight. Due to varying qualities and colors of molasses products,<ref name="figoni.fundamentals.baking.science" /> for lighter or darker sugar, reduce or increase its proportion according to taste.

In following a modern recipe that specifies "brown sugar", one usually may assume that the intended meaning is light brown sugar, but which one prefers is largely a matter of taste. Even in recipes such as cakes, where the moisture content might be critical, the amount of water involved is so small that it rarely will make any practical difference. More importantly, adding dark brown sugar or molasses will impart a stronger flavor, with more of a suggestion of caramel.

Brown sugar that has hardened can be made soft again by adding a new source of moisture for the molasses, or by heating and remelting the molasses.

==Nutritional value==
{{nutritionalvalue | name=Sugars, brown | kJ=1590| water=1.3 g| protein=0.12 g | fat=0.00 g | sugars=97 g | opt1n=Sucrose| opt1v=94.5 g | noRDA=yes| right=1 | source_usda=1 }}
Brown sugar has a slightly lower caloric value by mass than white sugar due to the presence of water. One hundred grams of brown sugar contains 373 [[calories]], as opposed to 396 calories in white sugar.<ref name=newsci>New Scientist. [http://www.newscientist.com/backpage.ns?id=mg18925352.300 I'm Sweet Enough] 21 January 2006</ref> However, brown sugar packs more densely than white sugar due to the smaller crystal size and may have more calories when measured by volume.

Any [[mineral]]s present in brown sugar come from the molasses added to the white sugar. Some molasses is a source of [[calcium]], [[magnesium]], [[potassium]], and [[iron]]; one tablespoon of molasses provides up to 20% of the daily value of each of those nutrients.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=118|title=Blackstrap molasses|publisher=The World's Healthiest Foods|accessdate=6 September 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
{{commons category|Brown sugar}}
* [[Caramelization]]

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

[[Category:Sugar]]

[[ja:黒砂糖]]