Turbinado Sugar vs. Brown Sugar


 
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Chet Johnson

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I'm new at this and I don't want to start a religious war, so be gentle. I note that a number of recipes specify turbinado sugar. Why not commonly available "brown" sugar?

In your experience, what flavor/browning/bark/??? difference would I expect when using turbinado vs. garden variety "brown sugar" and when would I use it to it's best effect? Is there a special "something"? Is it a custom of using "premium" ingredients? Could it just be a habit?
Would brown sugar be a 1:1 replacement for turbinado, or should I adjust the recipe a bit?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Chet
 
I think the recent switch from using brown sugar to turbinado is that brown sugar is quite moist and will cause a rub to clump together rather than being shakeable.

I've seen recipes that mention brown sugar to dry it first. Turbinado is already dry and has some of that molasses flavor since it's not totally refined so it's a good substitute.

While turbinado is a little more expensive than plain table sugar, I'm not sure it's that much more than brown sugar if you can find it in bulk. I just picked it up from the bulk section at Whole Foods for $.99/lb.

As far as substituting brown for turbinado, I'd say you could go 1:1 but I would recommend drying the sugar first before using it. I seem to recall this can be done by spreading out on a cookie sheet and possibly placing in a LOW oven.

Joe
 
Chet,

I am as green as you when it comes to smoking. But I haven't bought turbinado and just used light brown and the results were great. I can't find the link now, but Chris posted one for a site that has a glossary of foods, and substitutes were included. Light brown was the sub for turbinado. I haven"t had a clumping problem, but I see how it could happen as Joe pointed out.

Jeff
 
Brown sugar works fine, but the reason that you occasionally see turbinado or raw sugar (one brand is "Sugar in the Raw") is that turbinado has a higher burning point, and is thus more forgiving if you have temperature spikes during the cook. Sugar can get nasty if it burns on the meat. As you've also said above, the moisture content can affect your rubs as well. Brown sugar will blend better in your rubs if you let it dry on the counter for a few hours on a cookie sheet before blending it with the rest of your rub ingredients. I like to use turbinado when I'm blending a rub, but will also sometimes sprinkle brown sugar straight onto the meaty side of spare ribs near the end of cooking and run up the heat for about 20 minutes or so.

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
Personally I just use 1 for 1 of brown sugar. I don't even dry it, I mix the brown sugar and the salt first then ad the rest of the spices. No problems.
 
Keep in mind if you are drying brown sugar it will not taste as good as when it was moist. If I was mixing up a one use batch of rub I wouldn't worry about using brown sugar, but if I was making enough rub for several smokes(which I always do, if you make rub you might as well make a lot) I would use Turbinado instead of brown sugar.
 
When I make my rubs with brown sugar, I mix all the ingredients together and run them through a fine sieve twice and place the rub in an airtight container. This helps to remove the lumps. I then shake the container just before using and any small lumps disappear.
 
Chet,

I think if you look for turbinado you will find that it is almost as readily available as brown sugar. In my local Kroger's they sell "Sugar in the Raw" is right on the shelves near the brown and white sugars. That being said I think I like the flavor of brown sugar better but it can burn on you and be bitter if not careful.
 
Recently My wife bought Imperial Granulated Free-Flowing Brown Sugar. It really made a difference in the "flowability" of rubs.
 
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