# BEET SUGAR vs. CANE SUGAR



## Uncle Bob (Mar 2, 2008)

Can you tell the difference? Does one bake better than the other? Can you taste the difference? Do you prefer one over the other? Why? Any other Pros and Cons of either....Or is there a difference?......Comments? Ideas?


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## auntdot (Mar 2, 2008)

I can't tell the difference.  They are both sucrose and if there is any residual left from either the beets or sugar cane I cannot taste it.


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## LadyCook61 (Mar 2, 2008)

Uncle Bob said:


> Can you tell the difference? Does one bake better than the other? Can you taste the difference? Do you prefer one over the other? Why? Any other Pros and Cons of either....Or is there a difference?......Comments? Ideas?


 I have no idea  sorry this is not helpful.


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## PytnPlace (Mar 2, 2008)

I can't tell the difference but I prefer Domino(Cane) cuz the texture is finer.  It seems to dissolve and blend in better.  Some of the brands out their (store brands I've tried) are rather coarse in texture.


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## Andy M. (Mar 2, 2008)

There is not supposed to be a difference because they are both sucrose. I have never knowingly had beet sugar to say if there is or isn't a taste difference.  

I guess anytime you buy sugar and it is not labeled "Pure Cane Sugar" it's probably beet sugar.


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## GB (Mar 2, 2008)

From my understanding, most sugar in the US is beet sugar. I could be wrong, but I thought I had read that somewhere. My other understanding is that the resulting sugar from cane or beet should be identical.


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## BubbaGourmet (Mar 2, 2008)

Beet sugar has become the sugar of choice for producers primarily due to the fact that it is cheaper to refine. It requires one refinement process to produce beet sugar while cane sugar requires 2 different steps in 2 different types of plants. It is true that chemically, they are both 99.95% sucrose. There are a lot of researchers who claim that it is that wee 0.05% of trace minerals that make all the difference. Th SF Chronicle allegedly performed their own tests a while back and they came to the conclusion that baked good produced with cane sugar came out consistently better in both texture and in taste than those produced using beet sugar. 
For myself, I always buy sugar labelled "Pure Cane Sugar" out of many years of habit. As I am not allowed to bake a whole lot (I am "flour-challenged") so that wouldn't matter to me and I suspect that the taste difference is probably not discernible to most people.


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## LadyCook61 (Mar 2, 2008)

BubbaGourmet said:


> For myself, I always buy sugar labelled "Pure Cane Sugar" out of many years of habit. As I am not allowed to bake a whole lot (I am "flour-challenged") so that wouldn't matter to me and I suspect that the taste difference is probably not discernible to most people.


I always have used Pure Cane Sugar too, mostly because I have not seen another besides the usual brown sugar, and powdered sugar.


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## Uncle Bob (Mar 2, 2008)

BubbaGourmet said:


> Beet sugar has become the sugar of choice for producers primarily due to the fact that it is cheaper to refine. It requires one refinement process to produce beet sugar while cane sugar requires 2 different steps in 2 different types of plants. It is true that chemically, they are both 99.95% sucrose. There are a lot of researchers who claim that it is that wee 0.05% of trace minerals that make all the difference. Th SF Chronicle allegedly performed their own tests a while back and they came to the conclusion that baked good produced with cane sugar came out consistently better in both texture and in taste than those produced using beet sugar.
> For myself, I always buy sugar labelled "Pure Cane Sugar" out of many years of habit. As I am not allowed to bake a whole lot (I am "flour-challenged") so that wouldn't matter to me and I suspect that the taste difference is probably not discernible to most people.


 
A lady I know (DW) had been baking a particular cake for years. Always perfection in every respect. All of a sudden...not so. The cake was pretty good, or average. Texture was different...it seem not to rise as well. First thought...flour. Fresh flour gave the same result. Looking for other variables...Ah ha!! The sugar. Not Domino Pure cane Sugar. It was Wally World brand...(Beet?) Next time cake was baked with Domino Cane Sugar...Voila!! Back to Excellent....I'm thinking it does make a difference in somethings!


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## AllenOK (Mar 2, 2008)

I usually buy the Wally World brand.  I've never noticed a difference between cane and beet sugar.  IMHO, I've always attributed the bit that "cane sugar is better" to hype produced by the cane sugar marketing lobby.

However, if UB says he has experienced a difference in baked goods, and the only variable is the sugar, well, I'll take his word for it.


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## Uncle Bob (Mar 2, 2008)

AllenOK said:


> I usually buy the Wally World brand. I've never noticed a difference between cane and beet sugar. IMHO, I've always attributed the bit that "cane sugar is better" to hype produced by the cane sugar marketing lobby.
> 
> However, if UB says he has experienced a difference in baked goods, and the only variable is the sugar, well, I'll take his word for it.


 
It seems that Uncle Bob's Southern Test Kitchen located on the campus of the University of Small Town Mississippi, College of Arts and Letters, School of Culinary Science, Department of Sugarology     Might just be on to something.

SUGAR, SUGAR / Cane and beet share the same chemistry but act differently in the kitchen


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## bethzaring (Mar 3, 2008)

I didn't know there was such a thing as beet sugar on the market. I had always bought sugar that clearly stated it was cane sugar, and thought nothing about it. Until a few weeks ago. On another board I learned that Dollar General carried sugar for cheap. So I bought a few bags. Have only used it in my yeasted breads so far, oh, and some hot chocolate.  But I looked at the bag and it does not say it is cane suger. Googled the brand name and came up with this link.  What knocked my socks off was the cookie recipes, oh my, do they look devine
Michigan Sugar Company - Recipes


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## Uncle Bob (Mar 3, 2008)

Pioneer Brand is Beet sugar Miss Beth....I "think" the type of sugar is not required to be on the label. Some companys however do include it on their label. Domino for instance boldly states it is 100% Pure Cane Sugar.


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## Andy M. (Mar 3, 2008)

bethzaring said:


> I didn't know there was such a thing as beet sugar on the market. I had always bought sugar that clearly stated it was cane sugar, and thought nothing about it. Until a few weeks ago. On another board I learned that Dollar General carried sugar for cheap. So I bought a few bags. Have only used it in my yeasted breads so far, oh, and some hot chocolate. But I looked at the bag and it does not say it is cane suger. Googled the brand name and came up with this link. What knocked my socks off was the cookie recipes, oh my, do they look devine
> Michigan Sugar Company - Recipes


 

Interesting link.  The first product states it is beet sugar.  The second, Big Chief, says nothing of the origin.


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## bethzaring (Mar 3, 2008)

I bought two bags of Big Chief. I'm betting it is beet sugar because the website link posted above is dedicated to beets. I use an alarming amount of white sugar just baking breads. I think I will get the pure cane sugar for my cookie baking though. I don't want to mess with my cookies


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## AllenOK (Mar 3, 2008)

I know that when I lived in MI, the Meijer stores (think Super Wally World) had their own store-brands of sugar.  The packaging was in two different color schemes.  One color was labelled as Cane Sugar, the other as Beet Sugar.


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## Wart (Mar 3, 2008)

Cane for cooking, beat is ok in coffee.

The club has a Christmas Cookie sale, they use the cheapest sugar they can and little they turn out is exceptional. Well, actually, nothing they turn out is exceptional, a couple of things they turn out are pretty good but nothing to write home about.

Anyhow, ...

Wife bought a 10 pound sack of leftover (not marked cane) sugar. I have always insisted on cane but Wife .... Well, you know how Spouses can be.

Wife roped me into making two New York cheesecakes with this cr ... beet sugar, there was something off with the batter, it just didn't seem to cook the same, there was something wrong with the cake texture, and the tops browned more than I am use to having them brown. And it seems the crust was wetter.

I make preferments, I'm sitting here thinking ... I thought I got a bad batch of yeast but thinking back I bet I used the coffee sugar. I got the sugar from the sugar bowl because I thought we had cycled through the beat sugar.

How interesting.


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## pugger (Mar 3, 2008)

*Imperial Sugar*

Several lifetimes back, I interviewed with a sugar company. While they made their name on Cane, they also had recently purchased Holly Sugar out of the Northwest - who made their name on Beet sugar. Cane grown in the south, Beet in the north basically.

I learned during my tour of the facility that they mix the 2 after processing - they don't segregate them and label as different products. I don't know how you ever would tell the 2 apart.


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## Uncle Bob (Mar 3, 2008)

Some bags say Pure Cane...a Few say Beet....Others only say Granulated Sugar (Guess what kind(s)........)

Miss Beth...Big Chief brand is Beet Sugar...


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## CharlieD (Mar 3, 2008)

I haven’t paid attention in years. But back in my previous life there were 2 kinds of sugar available in the store (well, if it was available at all). The local beet sugar and Cuban cane sugar. The beet sugar was sweeter, maybe not a lot, but definitely sweeter.


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## Caine (Mar 3, 2008)

I only buy raw sugar, either turbinado or demerara, so I am sure I only use cane sugar.


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