East West Differences

[lboeckx]

I moved to the South from California and I swear the sugar is coarser here. I don't think it's my imagination. Am I crazy?

[Wawsanham]

Maybe they use sugar made from sugar beets and not from sugar cane in the South. Does that seem like a possibility?

[paulj]

Why should that matter? The final crystallization and grinding methods are probably the same, regardless of sugar source.

C&H, I suspect comes from California and Hawaii, and does make a big deal about being made from cane. But they also grow sugar cane in the American south, Florida, Louisiana and Texas, I believe. The main sugar beet growing area is the upper midwest, for example around Grand Forks North Dakota in the Red River valley.

Generic brands of sugar don't specify whether they are using beet or cane.

[sbp]

It is coarser. CI had some recipe about 10 years ago and noted that C&H sugar, apparently the predominant brand in the West, is "superfine", and East coast is not. For their recipe, they said you could whir regular sugar in a spice grinder/food processor to get it to the same consistency.

[lboeckx]

Ahhhh. Thank you. I was indeed buying C & H. If flowed smoother, creamed smoother, and dissolved faster. Who knew?

[pinehurst]

I learned something new. Our predominant sugar brand were I live is Domino, and superfine and regular are sold, but (obv) separately and marked as such. Interesting.

[pinehurst]

Are you buying the exact same brand in the exact same packaging?

[Terrie H.]

Might be a humidity issue.