Copyright
Ken Young
2010-2015, all
rights reserved.
There are lots of
kinds of sugars in
the world. What is the difference between them?
This page is devoted to sugar as a food or cooking ingredient.
See also: Liquid sweeteners
Dextrose, aka Glucose
Your body digests everything you eat
into glucose in order to use it
for energy. It is a simple sugar, C6H12O6,
with the carbons organized into a ring.
You won't find it in powdered form, but you can buy it in a thick
syrup. Corn syrup is
75% dextrose and 25% water.
Fructose
A fructose molecule is similar to a dextrose
molecule. It has the same number and type of atoms organized into a
ring, but they are arranged slightly differently. Fructose is sweeter
than table
sugar, so use a little less.
It's sweetness changes with temperature. In hot coffee it is no sweeter
than sucrose, but in a cold drink it is twice
as sweet. Fructose caramelizes just above boiling temperature, so it
isn't as good for candy making.
The
closest thing to fructose syrup is agave
nectar or palm syrup.
Fructose has a much lower glycemic index than most other sugars (it
doesn't affect blood sugar as much). http://www.fructose.org is an information page and may be run by
the industry.
Sucrose (table
sugar)
This is what we cook with and put in
our sugar bowls. A sucrose
molecule is a dextrose and a fructose stuck together. You can make sucrose
syrup by gently heating 3 parts table sugar and 1 part water. http://www.sucrose.com and http://www.sugar.org/ are sugar
industry information pages.
A maltotriose molecule is three dextrose
molecules stuck together. It is not nearly as sweet as table
sugar.
Maltodextrin
A maltodextrin molecule is four or
more dextrose molecules stuck together. It is
technically not a sugar, but a maltodextrin (half way between a sugar
and a starch). It is not very sweet.
Galactose
A galactose molecule is similar to a dextrose
molecule. It has the same number and type of atoms organized into a
ring, but they are arranged slightly differently. It is less sweet than
table sugar. It does not dissolve easily, so
is not commonly used as a cooking ingredient. http://www.galactose.org/ has
more information about it.
This is a sugar alcohol, not a sugar.
It tastes about half as sweet as
table sugar. Sugar alcohols don't discolor or change
flavor when cooked the way sugars do. Sorbitol is highly absorbent,
much more than other sugar alcohols. Sorbitol is also known as glucitol. While it can be used as a sweetener,
it does not promote tooth decay and barely affects blood sugar.
Sorbitol and it's relatives are used in sugar free candy and gum. Mannitol is similar to sorbitol.
Other sugar alcohols with similar
properties include Lactitol,
Isomalt
(it doesn't crystallize or absorb moisture), Erythitol,
Maltitol (as sweet as sugar), Xylitol (as sweet as sugar), and more.
Brown Sugar
There are many kinds of brown sugar:
light brown, dark brown, turbinado,
demerara, muscovada,
muscovado,
etc. They are sucrose
sugars that haven't been refined all the way, so are not yet white
crystals. In some cases a little molasses is added to white
sugar, but it comes out the same. A related product is whole sugar, which is
one step less refined than brown sugar. It is sucrose
sugar crystals in molasses.
It comes in many types & flavors, and is known as jaggery,
gur, piloncillo,
papelon, and panela.
Also evaporated cane juice, dried cane juice, milled
cane, cane juice solids, etc. If allowed to dry out, brown sugar
will turn into a big rock-hard lump.
This can be softened again by sealing it up with a damp towl or apple
wedgies.
Maple Sugar
This is made by concentrating,
drying, and crystallizing maple
syrup (maple tree sap). It is
60-90% sucrose,
5-20% fructose, 5-20% glucose
and tastes like maple.
Date Sugar
This is pitted dates that are dried
completely and chopped very fine or ground coarsely (same thing). The
sugar content is mostly fructose, with some glucose and trace amounts of other sugars. Think
of this as a solid form of fruit juice
concentrate. Use 3/4 of a cup of date sugar in place of 1 cup of table sugar because fructose
is sweeter.
Coconut
sugar or palm sugar or arenga
sugar
Palm sugar is made by concentrating,
drying, and crystallizing palm tree sap. Coconut blossom sugar is made
by evaporating palm blossom nectar. It is mostly sucrose, with about 10% glucose and 10% fructose.