What;'s happened to granulated sugar?

[JoolsToo]

I rarely use the stuff but bought a new bag a couple of weeks ago. Had visitors who take sugar in drinks and they queried the sugar 'is it caster?' they asked. Well I thought I'd made a mistake to bought another bag of granulated and it's just the same - very fine

????????????????????????

the flageolet beans in tins have disappeared from sainsburys shelves - that really pisses me off as they are my main veg with lamb dishes (which we have a lot)

have you ever tried the sugar cubes Jools? maybe that's where all the normal granulated has gone

www - M&S do a fab extra strong English mustard that is excellent

flageolet? isn't that some ancient perversion?

Jools, would you like a Chemical Engineer's explanation of this phenomenon?

LTH, golden granulated is often just white sugar coated with molasses!

No, I just want to know why they've changed it

I'm no good at science!

I want to know why it exists as a variety in the first place. If it was a creature it would have died out by now.

OK, but I am going to tell you anyway - now sit up straight and pay attention!

sugar beet is chopped up and boiled to take out the juice. The mush is filtered out (like when they press grapes for wine).
The juice is then heated up in a big kettle like contraption called a crystalliser. The crystals of sugar are removed then washed and filtered.
Depending on how long the juice spends in the crystalliser affects how big the crystals are. The longer the time, the bigger the crystals.
Tate and Lyle have probably had production changes to get more sugar out, so the faster the time through the crystalliser, the smaller the crystals.

where is that tumbleweed emoticon?

I think you asked for that, Gingerbear!

Oh hello purpleturtle! Haven't seen you for ages. How's the family?

We're doing very well, thanks. Ds2 is sleeping fantastically at night, and beginning to nap in the day on occasion. it's his christening this weekend, so we're in the middle of a mad busy week preparing for that, as well as a couple of pre-CHristmas events. The older 2 are enthusiastically rehearsing for Christmas concerts - you must be enjoying/enduring the same?!

lol. mine's whitworths.

so can we have a poll. has it only happened to whitworths?

this is interesting beyond words,

Oh yes! DD is an angel (but not the 'main man', lol, as she calls him) and is singing a strange song about Melchior and Balthazzar coming from Af-ree-car.

Dd is an angel, too. Was glad to find out today that the grumpy sheep is a smiley sheep in the end.

To return to the great sugar debate, i use that fairtrade stuff with the zebra on the packet, and that's coarse as anything.

That's very interesting gingerbear. It is.

ohhh GB...MY golden sugar isn't coated in molasses.

I buy posh sugar, don'cha know??!!

So, Gingerbear, how does the process differ to produce demerara etc - is it not like bread ie the browner it is the more 'natural' stuff it contains?