Insider Logo

“Brown sugar is used to make baked goods taste better, adding a boost of flavor as well as textural complexity to meats, vegetables, and other savory dishes. But one challenge of using brown sugar is the ingredient’s tendency to clump or harden in the box before you’re able to use it. Restoring moisture to hardened brown sugar is the easy solution to this common cooking challenge, says Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of the Sugar Association.

“Brown sugar hardens because the molasses that gives it its brown color and rich flavor loses its moisture. Hard brown sugar needs more than to simply be broken up — it needs to have moisture added back into it,” says Gaine.

There are a few easy ways to restore moisture to brown sugar. You can use a microwave, an oven, or a piece of terracotta, along with water, to transfer or restore moisture to hardened brown sugar. Alternatively, you can use piece of bread or apple to soften brown sugar overnight. The method you choose will be based on the amount of time you have, as well as the materials and appliances you have available to you.

“To prevent brown sugar from getting hard in the first place, store it properly in an airtight container,” says Gaine. To further improve this method — which Gaine says is her favorite — is to add a piece of damp terra cotta inside the container.”

Read the full article at: https://www.insider.com/how-to-soften-brown-sugar

In the News

Food Business news

DGAC urged to be guided by realism

October 5, 2023

Brief comments from dozens of organizations were submitted as video presentations or delivered live virtually for the third public meeting of the DGAC held Sept. 12-13. [...]

Groups say realism needed for Dietary Guidelines

October 4, 2023

Pragmatism, rigorous science and affordability are among considerations that should be front and center for the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), according to a range of industry and other groups.[...] 

Domino Sugar plant, doubles down on local production

September 25, 2023

Baltimore’s waterfront was once the city’s economic engine, producing canned oysters, spices, umbrellas, garments, hats, ships and steel. One by one all of them shut down or moved except for Domino. The Baltimore plant survived years of demonization when sugar was variously called toxic and a poison, and blamed for obesity, diabetes and heart disease. […]

More Articles

Stay in Touch

Sign Up