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Sugar is everywhere.
Would you say that's a fair statement? We humans love to put sugar in just about everything. I even know a couple that likes to put sugar in their scrambled eggs!! **BLECH**
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| Stolen from https://www.micheletaylorfitness.com |
There also happens to be an epidemic of diabetes rampaging across the Western side of the world.
Coincidence????? Many people think not.
There is a growing movement of folks who are trying to reduce the amount of sugar in their lives. Some take on a special way of eating such as Adkins, Primal, Paleo, LC/HF, Keto, etc to help them limit their sugar intake. Other's are simply trying to use other sweeteners in their foods.
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Whatever the reason or method you are using to try and reduce your sugar intake you are probably having difficulty with it. You have most likely found that you can't simply exchange sugar with another type of sweetener and everything be OK.
Why??
Well, sugar can do a whole lot more than sweeten things. Sugar has some really awesome properties that chefs have been exploiting for thousands of years. Let's take a look at five of them.
1. Moisturizing
No, I don't mean like the stuff you put on your face at night to keep your skin flexible. Well, maybe I do. The effect is similar. But, don't let anyone try to eat your face. Not a good time.
Sugar is hygroscopic. That means that it quickly and easily attracts, absorbs, and holds on to water.
When you add sugar to your baked goods you're also adding the ability to keep moisture in your baked goods.
When you remove sugar from your baked goods you're also removing some of the recipe's ability to hold onto moisture. Sugar-free recipes need to have something else added to make up for the loss of liquid absorption.
Sugar is hygroscopic. That means that it quickly and easily attracts, absorbs, and holds on to water.
When you add sugar to your baked goods you're also adding the ability to keep moisture in your baked goods.
When you remove sugar from your baked goods you're also removing some of the recipe's ability to hold onto moisture. Sugar-free recipes need to have something else added to make up for the loss of liquid absorption.
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2. Spreading
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| Stolen from: https://howtonestforless.com |
If you'll notice in many of your favorite sweets recipes, sugar is treated like it's a liquid instead of a solid. It's mixed in with the milk and vanilla instead of the flour and salt.
The reason is that sugar reacts to heat more like a liquid than a solid.
Because of sugar's hygroscopic properties (see point 1) it will absorb the liquid that you're mixing it with. So, when you're mixing up your batter, it will be a bit thicker than it really needs to be.
Also, if you've ever tried to mix sugar into your iced tea at the table, you know that sugar doesn't dissolve well in cold liquids. It takes a bit (but not a lot) of heat to get it all melted.
These two factors mean that when you put your mounds of cookie dough in the oven to bake, the sugar will melt long before the flour and eggs start to set. All of a sudden, your cookies will have a lot more liquid in them than they did before and will start to ooze out. (In a yummy way, not an icky way.)
Leaving sugar out of your cookies results in them being more like blobs and less like cookies.
3. Browning
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| Stolen from: https://www.seriouseats.com |
Caramel is burned sugar.
Super yummy burned sugar.
Whether it's the chewy caramel in your candy bar or the crispy caramel on top of your Creme Brule. It's all burned sugar. There's really no substitute.
Even if you're not making caramel, sugar still plays a role in browning.
Consider the wonderful brown coloring of a honey baked ham. That color is the result of the sugar in the honey getting a touch over-done. That is one of the reasons that you will often see sugar pop up low on the list of ingredients for items you never thought would have sugar in them. Sugar is the least expensive way we have to get the Golden Brown in "Golden Brown and Delicious."
4. Structure
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| Stolen from: https://img.leafcdn.tv |
Sugar has some pretty strong crystal structure for something that is normally liquified in our food.
If you've ever made divinity candy then you've used the power of sugar to hold up a super soft, super delicate cookie.
Like many strong things, it can also be very brittle if used in small enough amounts. The aforementioned divinity candy can crumble just by being picked up. However, Rock Candy (which is just flavored sugar) is strong enough to cause Lego level pain if stepped upon. (All of you that have had 3-year olds, represent!!)
5. Melting / Boiling Point
When used in large enough quantities, the mass of sugar can alter the melting or boiling point of whatever it's in.
OK, so, that's technically true of everything, not just sugar.
You may have heard some TV chefs talk about how adding a bit of salt to water changes the boiling point of the water. This is true, but not in any meaningful way. You can't even measure the difference without expensive, specialized equipment.
What makes sugar different than salt isn't a property of sugar but how much of it we tend to use! Typically we only use a pinch to a tablespoon of salt. With sugar, we're talking cups. There are 16 TBS (or 48 tsp) in a cup. That's a huge difference!
This state-changing alteration is due to the mass of sugar. If you use some of the alternative sweeteners that measure cup-for-cup like sugar you'll notice that a cup of the non-caloric stuff is much lighter than the sugar is. Without all that mass, it can't affect the boiling or melting points of your dish like sugar can.
OK, so, that's technically true of everything, not just sugar.
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| Stolen from: https://owenduffy.net |
You may have heard some TV chefs talk about how adding a bit of salt to water changes the boiling point of the water. This is true, but not in any meaningful way. You can't even measure the difference without expensive, specialized equipment.
What makes sugar different than salt isn't a property of sugar but how much of it we tend to use! Typically we only use a pinch to a tablespoon of salt. With sugar, we're talking cups. There are 16 TBS (or 48 tsp) in a cup. That's a huge difference!
This state-changing alteration is due to the mass of sugar. If you use some of the alternative sweeteners that measure cup-for-cup like sugar you'll notice that a cup of the non-caloric stuff is much lighter than the sugar is. Without all that mass, it can't affect the boiling or melting points of your dish like sugar can.
More...
That isn't all that sugar can do for and to your food. Here is my video with a much more comprehensive list.
In Conclusion:
Sugar is kind of a wonder material. It does so much. The brilliant folks who developed so many of the recipes that we base much of our Western way of eating on really delved into all the things sugar does.
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| Stolen from: http://www.heart.org |
Back in the days before lounge chairs and where walking was the main source of transportation, most people burned off all or most of the calories from all of the sugars in the recipes they were concocting fairly easily. However, today's desk-jockey lifestyle is less tolerant of such high-calorie intake.
Most of us are trying to cut back on our sugar intake, which is great! We just need to understand that removing sugar removes much more than sweetness.
The most important thing to keep in mind as you alter any recipe to fit your way of eating is: Things that are different are not the same!
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