Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I didn't know that the Sugar Beet Processing plant here in Bay City is the third largest in the nation. We know it's fall here when we see all the trucks hauling Sugar Beets to the plant. I have used both Beet and Cane sugar and I can't tell the difference. I guess some pastry chefs notice some slight differences. Sugar

Beet sugar that has been stored too long picks up a distinctive and unappetizing funk. I've even noticed in fresh bags on occasion, which is the main reason I avoid it.

There was a wee bit of a debate on the issue on TOBB.

For whatever reason beet sugar is not found in any of my usual stores. I know Jenny from Vancouver from TOBB uses it almost exclusively for all her baking and she said it's the sugar of choice in Europe. She had issues making Marilyn's Toffee and butter separation and in research found people pointing to the beet sugar as the culprit. I'd always used cane and a particular brand of butter, so she bought the cane and had no problems.

Maybe because I grew up with sugarcane, but I can tell the difference between cane and beet sugar. DH bought beet sugar by mistake once, and it did not work well in my baked goods which is where I primarily use sugar. I ended up throwing the remainder away. I prefer C&H pure cane for white, and TJ's organic for brown.

As a Louisiana native, I have known only cane sugar. Many of us also prefer cane syrup to maple syrup.

I thought beet sugar was just a small player, but I read recently that the US produces more beet than cane sugar.

USDA says: "Since the mid-1990s, sugarcane has accounted for about 45 percent of the total sugar produced domestically, and sugar beets for about 55 percent of production."

One doesn't see beet sugar much in grocery stores here in the West. I always presumed that that vast majority of beet sugar went to processed foods.

Amusingly, one place you do see beet sugar is health food stores, since some people are convinced it's "healthier" than cane sugar.

Beet sugar is in all the stores here. It is popular due to being cheaper.

Around here, beet sugar is called "sugar." If it's cane it says cane sugar.

I saw beet sugar for the first time this weekend at Teavana where they sell rock sugar made from beets.

Here too.