BROWN SUGAR

gdawgs24 · January 2013

Does it matter if you use dark or light brown sugar when using to rub down your ribs?

SmokinDAWG82 · January 2013

I usually use Light Brown, but I don't think it matters

gdawgs24 · January 2013

like the name!!!!! so heart broken after the game. :((

Skiddymarker · January 2013

Some folks will tell you that different sugars caramelize in different ways, and I'm sure they do. I've never noticed the difference - usually use whatever SWMBO has in the canister.

For ribs, it has been light brown.

Z_Eggineer · January 2013

The difference is color and amount of molasses added back into the sugar.

td66snrf · January 2013

I prefer using turbinado which is also known as raw sugar in my rubs. It has the consistency if Kosher salt so the larger grains don't break down and burn as easily and brown sugar and you still get all the sugar flvor out of it.

SmokinDAWG82 · January 2013

gdawgs24 said:

like the name!!!!! so heart broken after the game. :((

Like yours too! It's like we have something in common! Yeah the game was a bummer, so close...

nolaegghead · January 2013

td66snrf said:

I prefer using turbinado which is also known as raw sugar in my rubs. It has the consistency if Kosher salt so the larger grains don't break down and burn as easily and brown sugar and you still get all the sugar flvor out of it.

I agree turbinado has a good granularity to mix up in a rub. Most brown sugars can get lumpy and make the rub tough to apply.

Seriously though - you can't really taste mustard after a low n slow. There's a hell of a lot more subtlety between brown and white sugar than no mustard or mustard. Sugar caramelizes and completely changes flavor during the cook. Using boutique sugars sounds sexy when you're describing your rub, but it ain't gonna pass any blind test taste. Go with what's easier to mix and apply, I say.

ratcheer · January 2013

It doesn't matter a bit.

Tim

500 · January 2013

If it didn't matter then why do rub recipes call for different things? I say it because of preference. Maybe a miniscule difference, but a difference just the same. My preference is turbinado or raw sugar as well for same reasons described above and also because it's a more natural product, and less processed.

Eggcelsior · January 2013

500 said:

If it didn't matter then why do rub recipes call for different things? I say it because of preference. Maybe a miniscule difference, but a difference just the same. My preference is turbinado or raw sugar as well for same reasons described above and also because it's a more natural product, and less processed.

I agree. I think that it is a personal preference based off of people developing rubs and finding "whats best" for them. The differences are "perceived" and probable only noticed when the rub is tasted on it's own. Like Nola said, sugar completely changes with carmelization; similar to the way protein changes with the maillard reaction.

nolaegghead · January 2013

Yep. Preference - it drives everything. However correct or flawed the reasoning is, we eat with our brains.

Brown and turbinado sugars are still almost pure sucrose. They have more water and minerals than refined sugar, which is extremely pure - 99.98%.

If you want to play around with tastes, try different saccharides. Mono saccharides glucose, galactose and fructose combine into dissaccharides - sucrose, lactose and maltose. When these chains get longer, you get stuff like chitin and cellulose. Probably not good in a rub.