This has happened to everyone of us: opening a container only to find brown sugar that has hardened. This is annoying because this may occur even if the sugar is stored in an airtight container. Brown sugar that is hard as rock is still safe to consume. But how are you going to use it in that state? There is no way you can measure it accurately. You have to soften hard brown sugar first, right? Fortunately, there are several ways to soften it. But before that let’s take a look at how brown sugar hardens.
Sugar used as a sweetener usually come in two forms: white and brown sugar. These two sugars go through similar manufacturing process. However, white sugar undergoes a further process. In this extra step, the sugar is refined to remove molasses.
Molasses is a viscous brown syrup naturally found in sugar beets and sugar cane. Varying adjustments or settings during refining produce different varieties of sugar. Molasses can be produced by heating syrup of crushed sugarcane or sugar beets.
Doing away with purification produces brown sugar. Common varieties of brown sugar such as light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, and Muscovado. The more molasses that there is, the darker the sugar. Light brown sugar contains 3.5% molasses, whereas dark brown sugar contains around 6.5% molasses. Some sugar may even contain up to 10% molasses. But molasses more than just adding color. It also gives caramel or toffee-like flavor to baked goods, especially cookies and cakes.
Another distinct characteristic of brown sugar is its soft and moisture texture. This is due to the hygroscopic nature of molasses; it attracts water even more quickly than sucrose and gives baked goods a moisture and chewiness that cannot be matched by granulated sugar.
WHY BROWN SUGAR HARDENS?
Yes, molasses can attract water, but it can also lose it rather quickly, especially when brown sugar is exposed to air for too long. When molasses lost most of its moisture, it dries out. This will end up in brown sugar that hardens because the sugar crystals stick together. This is why it is highly recommended to keep brown sugar in an airtight container. Another way to keep it moist is putting it inside the freezer to keep the moisture from escaping.
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But what if you did not do either? No worries, though. Do not throw that solid brown sugar just yet. Here are some things that you can do to soften hard brown sugar.
PUTTING BACK MOISTURE IN
So the problem with hard brown sugar is the lost moisture. One method that works really well is placing a piece of bread together with the brown sugar in an airtight container. The sugar should be soft and moist while the bread becomes hard after 24 hours.
What happens exactly here is moisture migration from bread to sugar. To better explain this, a little science should help. The so-called Water activity (aw) according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refers to the ratio between the vapor pressure of the food itself, when in a totally undisturbed balance with the surrounding air media, and the vapor pressure of distilled water under the same conditions. When water has an activity of 0.80, its vapor pressure is 80% that of pure water.
In the case of bread and brown sugar, there is moisture migration because moisture tends to move from an area of high water activity (bread) to an area of lower activity (brown sugar) until equilibrium is achieved.
If you do not have a piece of bread, other moist foods can also be used as a substitute. Others have tried to soften brown sugar with apples or marshmallows. This trick is helpful if are not in a hurry as it takes a day or two to totally soften brown sugar.
But if you are, use a microwave oven to make it soft again in a few minutes. Simply place the hardened brown sugar in a small bowl. And then cover it with a moist paper towel. After each 20-second interval in the microwave, stir the sugar with a fork to bring it back to its soft texture.
