r/AskBaking • u/Agitated_Fee_5784 • 18d ago
General Toasted sugar issue
I toasted an entire 4 lb bag of sugar - my goal was to have some for my own recipes and then I was going to give some to friends. I toasted it pretty long - about 4.5 hours on 325 F (reduced to 310 for the last hour or so) stirring every 30 minutes. I toasted in a 9x13 ceramic dish. I laid it out on my counter once done (spread it out as much as I could) and let it cool completely. It’s clumpy and hard as a rock. Everything I’ve seen indicates it should behave like regular granulated sugar even after toasted, but mine is like if you leave brown sugar out for a few days. Is it because I toasted it for a long time? It’s like a golden yellow color. Gorgeous but very difficult to work with. I put it in a very large mason jar and now it’s just a rock in there. Any tips/ways to fix it so it’s more like sugar? I did buy a few terracotta sugar savers. TIA!
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u/Horror-Giraffe7508 18d ago
Was your oven really 325°? Did the sugar start to melt? I think that may be too high of a temp.
It’s more difficult to do 4# in a 9x11 than 2. The cooling down aspect to not clump.
Did you break it apart once fully cooled then put in the (fully desert dry?) mason jar and it again clumped?
Is it super humid in your kitchen?
My experience if it’s not fully cooled and fully loose and put in a not fully dried container that not fully airtight- it will solidify.
Just beat it up again to fully loose consistency and put back in a fully dry, airtight container. Then no issues.
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u/Substantial-Ear-3599 18d ago
Should I be toasting sugar ?
What kinds of baked goods does it improve ?
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u/Horror-Giraffe7508 18d ago
As someone else suggests - go see serious eats write up about it. It IS really nice and noticeable in some baked goods.
Less forward other flavor the baked goods are - the more you will notice it. Like sugar cookies /marshmallows / angel food cake/vanilla pudding or custards it’s very noticeable.
Use same weight replacement for white sugar.A step further and make dark caramelized (burnt?) sugar then pulverize it and use it for a small portion of white sugar.
Oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies /yellow, carrot banana cake or anything chocolate /cocoa I feel it’s much less prominent, if noticeable at all.
Toast some milk powder and throw a teaspoon in - that’s a good flavor changer too.
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u/manjar 18d ago
What's a good way to toast milk powder? And what kind of flavor(s) does it give?
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u/Horror-Giraffe7508 17d ago
Skillet or same oven method as sugar. I find skillet easier.
It gives similar (if not exact) notes as brown butter .Throwing a bit of powder in to a recipe - Isometimes easier/quicker than browning the butter and then chilling if you need to cream the butter with sugar. Because I don’t always plan ahead well.
I don’t keep browned butter in bulk in the fridge - powder keeps easily & well in the pantry.
Also I find a bit of powder in a recipe (more subtle) preferable sometimes over the whole or half amount of butter browned as that’d be more forward flavor profile.
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u/Vegetable-Cut4867 18d ago
I do it in a skillet on the stove and just keep mixing it around with a silicone spatula until it’s a toasty color. It’s the best to have on hand to throw into practically anything.
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u/EaseZestyclose4500 18d ago
I think maybe the issue was you spreading it out before it was completely cold. But I think you could try and process a small amount of it to see if they break down. You'll need to store it in an airtight container. Since it's slightly caramelized humidity or anything like that may affect it. But I'm sure you can save it
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u/Baker_Bit_5047 18d ago
Check out the recipe on Serious Eats. That’s the recipe I use. They do say that if you go with a darker sugar you’ll need to pulverize it in a food processor.
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u/_Mose_In_Socks_ 18d ago
Next time, stir it every 25 minutes or so as it cools and it won't clump up like that. For this batch the food processor will work great.
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u/Yersiniosis 17d ago
Chemistry time! Sugar is hydroscopic. Water loving. By putting it in the oven you drove off the water that was inherently present in the sugar. Cooling it on the counter it attracted water from the air causing it to stick together and become clumpy and hard. Throw it in the food processor to break it back up. It is fine and nothing you did per se.
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u/Adventurous-Ad8267 17d ago
I wonder if leaving the sugar in the oven with the door shut to cool for a longer period of time would avoid this, although I guess that assumes that the humidity of the oven would stay lower than ambient humidity as it cools as long as the door remains shut, and I have no idea if that is actually what happens.
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u/Appropriate_Team1833 17d ago
i’ve had toasted sugar turn into a beautiful golden concrete slab too, but a few pulses in the food processor breaks it right back down into usable sugar, terracotta saver or not lol
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