Sugar Production:
-Produced in 121 countries
-about 8000 yrs ago was cultivated in New Guinea, migrated east to India, China, then Persia
-Arabs one of first groups to manufacture sugar
-explorers from Spain, Columbus
-Arabs called it “the grass that gives honey without the help of bees”
-sugar was used for medicines- to make them more palatable
-was a commodity
-during Napoleonic wars there were shortages of sugar cane- discovery of sugar beet
Beet and Cane-Cane grown and cultivated in tropical regions- warm/humid/sunny- southern U.S., Central South America, Africa, India, South East Asia
-Beet grown and cultivated in temperate climates- Canada, Northern U.S., Southern South America, Europe, Northern Asia
Sugar Cane
-70% of world’s crop
-very tall grass with large stems
-prefers sun and lots of water
-6-12 months to reach maturation
-content in cane in lower portion of reed
-re-grows from root
-has many life cycles
Beet-grows very large, cream white
-temperate areas
-30% of world crop
-Margraf- chemist, discovered sucrose levels pretty identical in beet and cane- 99.9%
-allowed greater access to sugar for those who couldn’t afford “white gold”
Cane Production
-Harvesting- chop at root level
-Extraction- large mill, juice separated from fibers, cleaned with calium carbonate
-reduced to thick syrup
-boiling- boiled until right for crystals to grow
Science of Sugar
-sucrose: 12 atoms of carbon, 22 atoms of hydrogen, 11 atoms oxygen
-disaccharide – comprised of 2 sugars
-fructose – levulose
-glucose – dextrose
Sugar Cookery
-sugar dissolved in water referred to as a solution
-mixture with bonds
-cannot dissolve infinite amount sugar into fixed amount of water
-when as much sugar has been dissolved into a solution as possible, solution is concentrated
-unstable solutions
-saturation point different at different temperatures
-thread, ball, crack, and caramel- has less water as heats up
-different saturation/concentration levels
-higher temps- more sugar in solution than normally possible
-super saturation- very unstable- don’t stir or jostle- will crystallize
Crystallization
-in supersaturation state sugar crystals- molecules- lock into each other
-if add acid- inverts it- breaks up bonds evenly
-even dispersion of glucose and fructose
-break bonds with acid
-Invert sugar- trimoline, corn syrup- have different molecular shapes- interferes with sucrose locking in together
-inverting sugar- sucrose with acid added- heat applied
-wash sides of cooking vessel
-don’t agitate solution
-have clean sugar
-fresh sugar- from a new bag
-about 50% of sugar in U.S. is beet
-Isomalt
-water- tap may be used, ideal is filtered- can interfere with sugar, can lead to crystallization
-amt 25-40% to weight of sucrose
-too little water – not dissolve all crystals
-more than 40% increase boil time- will turn a golden hue- polymers
Acid
- Acid helps slow down crystallization and lends pliability to sugar
-Tartaric acid- inverts sugar- slows crystallization
-pliable- can pull, make ribbons, blow
-Cream of Tartar- acid salt- usually don’t need glucose- add at very beginning- slow acting acid salt- needs time to invert
-Tartaric- very fast acting add right at end- 5 degrees before product comes off- if done at 320 degrees, add at 315 degrees
-comes in granular form- by weight 1:1 ratio, acid and boiling water
-too much acid leads to sugar difficult to manage
-too little- sugar becomes brittle, not pliable enough, needs to be controlled
-Glucose derived from starch acid and helps break down crystallization
-goes through process to convert from starch to sugar
-starch=> water, acid, enzymes- hydrolysis process converts it
-can’t substitute with corn syrup- not the same- has a lot of water in it
-want medium dextrose equivalent of 20-37%
-level tells how much starch has been converted to sugar
-lower number- thicker substance- glucose
-glucose retains water around sucrose crystals and prevents forming of clusters
-hygroscopic
-makes it shiny
-very hot
-if too much- too sticky
-if too little- susceptible crystallization
-use 10-15% glucose to weight of sugar
Isomalt-is a polylol
-sugar alcohol- gluco-mannitol and gluco-sorbitol
-derived from sucrose
-50% less sweet than sucrose
-doesn’t contribute to tooth decay
-absorbed more slowly into body
-laxative properties
-resists humidity better than sugar
-takes long time to caramelize
-reheats, can turn stove off then on again
Showpieces
-height- striking
-dimension- add interest
-texture- adds dimension
-focal point
-movement- life, interest
-color in harmony
-air- not heavy looking
-sturdy
