What's happened to dark brown sugar - anyone else notice this?

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
I use dark brown sugar exclusively and after a trip to Coscto where I was disappointed they didn't have *any* brown sugar, hit-up Smart n Final, but lo and behold, their C&H sugar, in the 2 lb plastic see through size, was the same color as the golden brown sugar. Thinking this must be some packaging issue I went across the street to the new Walmart grocery store...and it was the same thing. Both were C&H, the only options in those stores.

What the heck happened to dark brown sugar, anyone know?

 
I just bought a box of Imperial dark brown & there is a big difference in theirs

I've noticed that lots of light brown looks lighter & dryer than it used to. Maybe they are saving money by leaving/adding less molasses. You can add a tablespoon or two of molasses to plain or light brown to make your own dark brown.

 
okay, this is what I have learned about brown sugar (more)

C&H brown sugar is refined and the molasses is added back.
More for dark, less for light...
C&H may be changing the amount of molasses.
Billington's (and maybe other high-end brands) are unrefined sugar. The molasses is not removed.
It's like leaded vs unleaded gas...the refineries removed all the lead and then added some back to make the leaded gas.

I asked a sweetener company what was the difference and was told---Refined sugar and added molasses does not blend, it's like white sugar with a coating of molasses on each molecule. Unrefined sugar has the molasses and white sugar combined and melts differently and taste different (in m opinion, better)

 
Yes, it's all about the industrial food complex...

Brown sugar really doesn't exist anymore. They refine it and stir in some molasses and call it brown sugar. The less they stir in, the more money they make.

Use Turbinado in place of the brown sugar. If you want a more pronounced brown sugar taste, stir in a couple spoonful's of molasses.

 
I have been buying the big bags of raw sugar from Costco.

If I want the sticky brown sugar for recipes, I use white sugar with added molasses. I noticed that in nlb's Pineapple Cream muffins, using the plain raw sugar results in a very slightly less moist muffin, so I add molasses to that sometimes.

I love the smell of raw sugar - it reminds me of childhood visits to the sugar silo in Durban.

 
Interesting, thank you. I've been getting a lot of variations lately and wondering

why for example Malawi is a good place to get sugar from and the difference between "raw can sugar" and "natural cane sugar." Other terms: Demerara, Muscovado, Turbinado, Sucanat which to my understanding represent different methods of the process of getting the sugar to its form.

 
I just used C&h's contact page and told them: . . .

Hear is what I wrote. . . not expecting an answer. . . :

"I really like C&H Sugar. I try to buy it every time I purchase white sugar.

"I *used* to like C&H Dark Brown Sugar, but I don't like to buy it now as it is *no longer* dark brown!

"Your Dark Brown sugar is just "somewhat" darker than your light brown sugar; there is hardly any color differential and for sure there is not much flavor difference from your Light Brown sugar.

"When I use dark brown sugar, it is because I want that nice, warm, DARK brown sugar flavor!

"Please consider making your Dark Brown Sugar actually DARK BROWN sugar, please?"

 
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