Types Of Sugar

You can put a bit of sugar in everything you say and take everything that you hear with a pinch of salt. Coming down to the nitty gritty of sugar, it comes loaded with a variety of images - ants, bees, sugarcane, diabetes, and calories. Leaving the last two behind, sugar is always associated with things that are nice, innocent, and good. And of course, tasty. The army of sugar haters is always dwarfed by the army of sugar lovers. And sugar, in its various forms, has always ruled the taste buds of man. It has been used as a preservative and a taste enhancer since centuries. Now, it is quite hard to believe that sugar, which has more or less a uniform taste, should have a wide range of varieties. But, it is true! There are various types of sugar and they are categorized based on their uses, crystal size, and color, rather than the amount of sweetness, as is mostly believed. To know more about them, go through the lines that follow.

Different Kinds Of Sugar

Granulated Sugar

Based on the color and size, the granulated sugar is further classified into various types.
The colors are divided into four grades, which are designated as 30, 29, 28, and 27.
The grain size is in five grades, namely A, B, C, D, and E.
Granulated sugars are mostly used by food processors and professional bakers.
The size of the sugar crystal determines the type of its use.

Fine Sugar

The regular sugar is known as fine sugar.
It is used in home food preparations.
In this type of sugar, the crystals are ‘fine’, so they are not susceptible to caking.

Fruit Sugar

This type of sugar is finer than the normal sugar.
Fruit sugars are very good in dry mixes, like gelatin desserts, pudding mixes and drink mixes.
The crystal size is more uniform.

Bakers Special

In Bakers special, the sugar crystals are finer than fruit sugar.
It is used extensively in the baking industry, for sugaring doughnuts and cookies and also in cakes, to give a fine crumb texture.

Bar Sugar

Bar sugar is the finest amongst all types of granulated sugar.
It is used to texture cakes and sweeten fruits and ice drinks.

Confectioners’ Sugar

Confectioners’ sugar is the sugar that is ground to a smooth powder.
It is often mixed with 3% cornstarch to prevent caking.
According to the different level of fineness, it comes in three grades.
It is used in icings, confections and whipping cream.

Coarse Sugar

The coarse sugar crystals are larger than regular sugar.
It is processed from the purest sugar liquor.
Coarse sugar is highly resistant to color change.
It is less likely to breakdownin to fructose and glucose.
Coarse sugar is used to make fondants, confections, and liquors.

Sanding Sugar

Sanding sugar crystals are quite large.
It is used in baking and confectionary.
Sanding sugar has a sparkling appearance.

Brown Sugars - Turbinado Sugar

This is a partially processed sugar.
It is used in tea and has a mild brown sugar flavor.

Brown Sugar (Light & Dark)

Brown sugar crystals are coated in molasses syrup.
It can be produced by boiling the special molasses until the sugar crystals form in them.
The darker the brown sugar, the stronger is the molasses flavor.
Light brown sugar is used for making butterscotch, condiments, and glazes, while dark brown sugar is used in making gingerbread, mincemeat, baked beans, plum pudding, etc.

Barbados Sugar

Barbados sugar is very dark brown in color, with a strong molasses flavor.
It is a British specialty brown sugar.
The sugar crystals are coarse and sticky.

Free Flowing Brown Sugars

Free-flowing brown sugar is powdered brown sugar, very fine in texture.
It is moister than the regular brown sugar.
It doesn’t lump and is free flowing.

Demerara Sugar

Demerara sugar crystals are golden in color.
The sugar is also slightly sticky.
It can be used in tea, coffee or to top hot cereals.

Liquid Sugar

Liquid sugar is the earliest form of sugar.
It is available in various forms, like liquid sucrose and amber liquid sucrose.
Liquid sucrose is the liquid form of granulated sugar.
Amber liquid sucrose has a sugarcane flavor and is dark in color.

Invert Sugar

Invert sugar is the result of the breakdown of sucrose.
It is an equal mix of glucose and fructose.
the sugar is available only in liquid form and is sweeter than granulated sugar.
It is mostly used in the carbonated beverage industry.

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