Raw sugar question

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jude said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Tsk!

Supposedly the chemicals used to bleach it white are toxic.....

I try not to use bleached anything - flour, paper towels, TP, etc. I
look for unbleached not only for my health after using/consuming the
product, but also the chemicals and energy that go into the bleaching
process. Perhaps its an incorrect assumption, but I'm hoping that raw
suage, being less processed, uses less energy and produces less
pollution/by-products that are bad for the environment.

Now TP, I would make an exception...
I like to experiment with growing mushrooms and Oyster mushrooms are
pretty forgiving.

They thrive if you use unbleached toilet paper rolls, but will die/rot
if you try regular TP rolls.

Don't know if that means anything but...

I just wish that unbleached TP was cheaper.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Raw sugar also has some trace minerals to make it "worth" the calories
theoretically.

Maybe not really worth the calories, but if it's got anything at all,
that's better than the nothing-but-empty-carb-calories that white sugar
gives you!!

Sugar of any type is pretty much empty carb value. :-(
You get far more bang for your buck by eating fresh green veggies.

And they won't trash your blood sugar values as much.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On the rare occasion I eat pancakes or waffles, I like raw sugar on them
for the flavor and texture. It does not taste the same as bleached. It
has more "personality".

Agreed. I initially began buying it, as I said, as a
decoratiing/sprinkling sugar for baking. Then began using it on yogurt
or fruit dips. It grew on me and I thought I'd explore other ways to
use it. See what I think.

And besides - since I have to go to the Health Food Store to get it, it
HAS to be good for me, right? <note sarcasm here>

Hee! Yah right.

That's like the statement that drives me up the wall:

"It's an herb, so that means it's natural and safe right?"

Long story having to do with unintentional child abuse and the use of
Senna leaf.... <sigh>

I convinced her to do her damned research before fooling with herbs when
I mentioned that Hemlock, nightshade and monkshood were all "just herbs".

Quoted message said:

--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

JudeThinksGoogleSucks said:

aem said:

Jude said:

[snip]
Anyone who's used raw sugar have anything to
say about how it bakes, which was my actual inquiry??

You should expect "raw sugar" to bake identically to white sugar.
Chemically, they are both sucrose.

Yes, but according to several sources I've found ( I can link them if
anyone wants). white refined sugar is 99.9 % sucrose, whereas turbinado
sugar is listed as 96 - 98% sucrose. So manye a little bit better since
it's a little less sucrose per teaspoon? Or is that just wishful
thinking, or too minute a difference to me significant?

Thats like the argument about the difference between 95% and 100%
ethanol. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is it bad to use unfiltered/uncleaned sugar? No, the impurities are
not harmful; it just costs more. Is there any benefit from using raw
sugar? Maybe it meets a psychological need....

What about less processing = less pollution and less energy use =
better for the environment? That seems to meet my psychological needs
to feel like I'm living gently on this planet.

Ok, I'll go along with that concept. :-D

Being a treehugger and all.......

But then there is product efficiency.

Processing sugar produces other products.
Molasses being one of them, so you get twice the bang for your
environmental buck.

It can be a tradeoff.
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Goomba38 said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

As far as I am concerned now, the only real difference between white and
raw sugar is the flavor and color.

And I am a real advocate of raw and organic foods so I took some
convincing!

Perhaps price too.
Common sense seems to fly out the window with some folks on this stuff.
I dunno...?
Goomba

Different strokes and all that... <lol>

I live with a food fanatic.
I'm used to it.

It's taken me for damned ever to figure out how to get him to eat beef!

He says that "aged" beef is rotten as it's hung for several days before
cutting. <sigh>

I can't get him to see the science behind it.
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Reg said:

Turbinado sugar is considerably more expensive than white or
brown sugar. That's a lot of money to spend for a miniscule
amount of additional trace minerals.

I don't have an issue with the price. I pay 79 cents for it in bulk,
and I pay $2.19 for a 4-pound bag of white sugar. The turbinado comes
to $3. 16 for 4 lbs. Not a significant difference in my budget.

BTW, I might buy the car that got .001 MPG more.....that adds up over
a few years. Not financially, but in saving just a tiny bit of
petroleum and possibly being just a tad better for the environment, in
the long run.

"Jude" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

BTW, I might buy the car that got .001 MPG more.....that adds up over
a few years. Not financially, but in saving just a tiny bit of
petroleum and possibly being just a tad better for the environment, in
the long run.

Some idiot in rec.boats just told me that nobody thinks this way about cars.
That's why he's an idiot. Thanks for restoring my faith in humanity, for
maybe a few minutes.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jude said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Tsk!

Supposedly the chemicals used to bleach it white are toxic.....

I try not to use bleached anything - flour, paper towels, TP, etc. I
look for unbleached not only for my health after using/consuming the
product, but also the chemicals and energy that go into the bleaching
process. Perhaps its an incorrect assumption, but I'm hoping that raw
suage, being less processed, uses less energy and produces less
pollution/by-products that are bad for the environment.

Now TP, I would make an exception...
I like to experiment with growing mushrooms and Oyster mushrooms are
pretty forgiving.

They thrive if you use unbleached toilet paper rolls, but will die/rot
if you try regular TP rolls.

I've found some mushrooms that will grow in a mix of newspaper and
coffee grounds for an indoor mushroom garden. Fungi Perfecti in
Olympia, WA sells the spores in a sawdust mix for about $20.

SD

Jude said:

I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
around here, esp in baked goods.

I've been buying Turbinado (raw) sugar recently. I love using it to
sprinkle over baked stuff, because it keeps its large crystal shape and
looks like those nice professional bakery sugar crystals. Very nice
look on shortcakes, shortbread cookies, etc.

My question is, does it work the same way as white sugar in baking? Or
does the larger crystal affect they way it cooks? Could I swap it out
in recipes with little worry? Should I try crushing it down some in the
food processor or blender, like my mom used to do with granulated suger
when she was out of powdered sugar, to make a resaosnable substitute?
Or does it not matter?

Even switching from granulated to light brown sugar can affect the result
of a recipe. Brown sugar has that molasses flavour, and the size of the
crystals definitely affects the way it works in most recipes.

Doug Kanter said:

"Jude" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

BTW, I might buy the car that got .001 MPG more.....that adds up over
a few years. Not financially, but in saving just a tiny bit of
petroleum and possibly being just a tad better for the environment, in
the long run.

Some idiot in rec.boats just told me that nobody thinks this way about cars.
That's why he's an idiot. Thanks for restoring my faith in humanity, for
maybe a few minutes.

=) ) ) HUGE [censored]-eatin grin.

See? My goal is accomplished. I'm still a hippie at heart - it makes
me feel good to give people faith in humanity and goodness. Mission
accomplished! = )

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

Raw sugar is less chemically processed than white refined sugar. Some
of us prefer to not ingest unnecessary chemicals [comment directed at
the ill informed DK].

What are these chemicals that remain in refined white sugar? In what way
are they harmful to you?

David

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Wrong, raw sugar has minimal chemical processing as opposed to the heavy
use of chemicals to process white refined sugar.

That is as maybe but what of them remain in the white refined sugar that one
consumes and in what way are they harmful?

Some of us prefer to

Quoted message said:

avoid unnecessary chemicals. All you have done whenever this topic
comes up is try to debunk it. What you don't get is all these chemicals
and preservatives and bleaching agents in relation to any food in
general are totally unnecessary!

They may well be unnecessary in mnay circumstances but that doesn't mean the
resulting product is necessarily harmful.

Why do you think people want organic

Quoted message said:

foods? It is to avoid all this [censored] along with the growth hormones,
pesticides, etc.

It's true that many of us try to avoid hormones, pesticides etc but that has
nothing really to do with what is in white sugar or why it is more harmful
than raw.

Good food does not need any of this [censored] and if you

Quoted message said:

want to try saying something heavily refined is just as good as
something minimally refined then you have a serious comprehension
problem.

This is a generalisation that may or may not be true in some or many cases
but it does nothing to tell us what specifically is wrong with refined white
sugar.

David

In article <[email hidden]>,

SD said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jude said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:

> Tsk!
>
> Supposedly the chemicals used to bleach it white are toxic.....

I try not to use bleached anything - flour, paper towels, TP, etc. I
look for unbleached not only for my health after using/consuming the
product, but also the chemicals and energy that go into the bleaching
process. Perhaps its an incorrect assumption, but I'm hoping that raw
suage, being less processed, uses less energy and produces less
pollution/by-products that are bad for the environment.

Now TP, I would make an exception...
I like to experiment with growing mushrooms and Oyster mushrooms are
pretty forgiving.

They thrive if you use unbleached toilet paper rolls, but will die/rot
if you try regular TP rolls.

I've found some mushrooms that will grow in a mix of newspaper and
coffee grounds for an indoor mushroom garden. Fungi Perfecti in
Olympia, WA sells the spores in a sawdust mix for about $20.

SD

I've seen those on that website.
It's a type of Oyster mushroom.
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

"Jude" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
around here, esp in baked goods.

I've been buying Turbinado (raw) sugar recently. I love using it to
sprinkle over baked stuff, because it keeps its large crystal shape and
looks like those nice professional bakery sugar crystals. Very nice
look on shortcakes, shortbread cookies, etc.

My question is, does it work the same way as white sugar in baking? Or
does the larger crystal affect they way it cooks? Could I swap it out
in recipes with little worry? Should I try crushing it down some in the
food processor or blender, like my mom used to do with granulated suger
when she was out of powdered sugar, to make a resaosnable substitute?
Or does it not matter?

Thanks for ideas/tips!!

First, to answer your question:
You can use it in baking and cooking as you would white sugar, but I recommend
processing it a bit because the size of the crystals inhibits melting and blending
into doughs and batters, which then can have an effect on the finished product.
Not, a little information for you:
Turbinado is not true raw sugar. Raw sugar is illegal in the US, because it can
contain impurities that could conceivably cause illness. That being said, turbinado
sugar is less processed than white sugar. The benefit to this being that you wouldn't
be ingesting the sulphur dioxide used to "bleach" the sugar white. Most turbinado
sugar (like Sugar in the Raw, for example) is evaporated cane juice. It does contain
trace nutrients, contrary to a couple of the posts I've seen here. The problem lies
in choosing the right one, since there are ones out there that are processed, then
have colors added back to them to make them look like turbinado.

Other "raw" sugars are Demerara, Muscovado, and Sucanat. All of them are made without
bleaching and their color comes from the natural molasses in the sugar, not by adding
caramel coloring later.

Another interesting option is Jaggery sugar, if you can find it. It's sold in Indian
markets. It's unprocessed, unrefined evaporated can juice (though sometimes it also
contains palm sugar). It contains the most nutrients and is the least processed.

kimberly

Quoted message said:

"David Hare-Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

Raw sugar is less chemically processed than white refined sugar. Some
of us prefer to not ingest unnecessary chemicals [comment directed at
the ill informed DK].

What are these chemicals that remain in refined white sugar? In what way
are they harmful to you?

David

David, that question was answered several hours before you asked it. In your
news reader, are you seeing all the messages in this discussion threaded
together?

Jude said:

I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
around here, esp in baked goods.

My brother-in-law works in the sugar industry. His employer
manufactures
sugarcane harvesting equipment, so I consider him to be far enough
upstream
of the refining operation as to have no financial stake in whether
sugar is raw
or white.

He won't eat raw sugar because he's seen the piles of raw sugar
awaiting
refining, and the rats that infest them. He'd rather have his sugar
without
rat turds.

Cindy Hamilton

"Cindy Hamilton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jude said:

I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
around here, esp in baked goods.

My brother-in-law works in the sugar industry. His employer
manufactures
sugarcane harvesting equipment, so I consider him to be far enough
upstream
of the refining operation as to have no financial stake in whether
sugar is raw
or white.

He won't eat raw sugar because he's seen the piles of raw sugar
awaiting
refining, and the rats that infest them. He'd rather have his sugar
without
rat turds.

Cindy Hamilton

Where does he find turd-free sugar?

Cindy Hamilton said:

Jude said:

I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
around here, esp in baked goods.

My brother-in-law works in the sugar industry. His employer
manufactures
sugarcane harvesting equipment, so I consider him to be far enough
upstream
of the refining operation as to have no financial stake in whether
sugar is raw
or white.

He won't eat raw sugar because he's seen the piles of raw sugar
awaiting
refining, and the rats that infest them. He'd rather have his sugar
without
rat turds.

Cindy Hamilton

But rat turds are "natural." ;-)
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

The Cook said:

Cindy Hamilton said:

Jude said:

I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
around here, esp in baked goods.

My brother-in-law works in the sugar industry. His employer
manufactures
sugarcane harvesting equipment, so I consider him to be far enough
upstream
of the refining operation as to have no financial stake in whether
sugar is raw
or white.

He won't eat raw sugar because he's seen the piles of raw sugar
awaiting
refining, and the rats that infest them. He'd rather have his sugar
without
rat turds.

Cindy Hamilton

But rat turds are "natural." ;-)

so is arsenic.

--

saerah

http://anisaerah.blogspot.com/

email:
anisaerah at s b c global.net

Adam Bowman said:

I always wonder when someone brings up a point about Bush, and you
then bring up something that Clinton did, are you saying they are both
wrong? Because that's all it points out to me, places where they both
messed up. It doesn't negate the fact that Bush did wrong; was that
your intention?

That type of argument is like

"Bob shot someone"

"Yeah, but don't you remember when Don hit that guy with a bat?"

"sarah bennett" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The Cook said:

Cindy Hamilton said:

Jude wrote:

>I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
>Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
>around here, esp in baked goods.

My brother-in-law works in the sugar industry. His employer
manufactures
sugarcane harvesting equipment, so I consider him to be far enough
upstream
of the refining operation as to have no financial stake in whether
sugar is raw
or white.

He won't eat raw sugar because he's seen the piles of raw sugar
awaiting
refining, and the rats that infest them. He'd rather have his sugar
without
rat turds.

Cindy Hamilton

But rat turds are "natural." ;-)

so is arsenic.

....and mercury and lead and fugettaboutit.

On Thu 30 Mar 2006 07:05:20a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Cindy
Hamilton?

Quoted message said:

Jude said:

I know there are a few people on here who try to avoid refined sugar.
Obvoiusly that's a good idea, and I know we go through a lot of sugar
around here, esp in baked goods.

My brother-in-law works in the sugar industry. His employer
manufactures
sugarcane harvesting equipment, so I consider him to be far enough
upstream
of the refining operation as to have no financial stake in whether
sugar is raw
or white.

He won't eat raw sugar because he's seen the piles of raw sugar
awaiting
refining, and the rats that infest them. He'd rather have his sugar
without
rat turds.

Cindy Hamilton

Don't they strain those out? :-)

Lord only knows how many we've probably eaten in restaurants.

It's probably safe to say that if we watch many processes in the commercial
food industry, we'd probably stop eating.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

Cindy Hamilton said:

He won't eat raw sugar because he's seen the piles of raw sugar
awaiting
refining, and the rats that infest them. He'd rather have his sugar
without
rat turds.

How's he feel about flour and other items like that??