beet sugar [beet shoo g-er] noun
Sugar extracted from the root of the sugar beet plant.
Bakepedia Tips
You might think that all granulated sugar is the same, but this is not the case. White granulated sugar is made from either sugar cane or sugar beets and your success in the kitchen can depend on the source. To make matters problematic, manufacturers don’t always put the origin on labels. They are almost chemically identical, even though one source is from an underground root and the other is an aboveground grass, and most sources say the difference is a mere .05%. The variances are mainly in mineral content due to the source, but they also occur due to differences in processing.
The main distinction in usage seems to be when the sugar is used to melt or caramelize. Beet sugar does not seem to caramelize reliably and bakers have also found beet sugar to produce a coarser crumb in some baked goods. We always use pure cane sugar for both white and brown sugar. If the label doesn’t specify pure cane sugar, or mentions beet sugar, we don’t buy it. Two reputable brands are C&H Pure Cane Sugar and Domino Sugar.
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