Would piloncillo (unrefined pure cane sugar cones) be a good way to store sugar in a BOB, etc.?

Try it and see, report back, and if it's good, tell us where to get it! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Well, I've got it dirt cheap at Wally World for something like 16 cents. Most groceries should carry them in Mexican food section. I've used it some in Honduras before but never stored it hot. It says to "Store in a cool, dry place." I wonder if it would melt or anything. I guess storage in my car trunk in a ziplock would tell me that it in a few hours. I thought it would be more convenient to store than a spillable powder. It is pretty much going back to the way our forefathers used it, but it is better for you than refined sugar. Refined sugar has actually been classified as a poison in the past because it has been depleted of its proteins, vitamins, and minerals, making it a refined starch and carbohydrate that the body cannot utilize properly. Of course, anything in too much quantity is a poison. Any experts want to weigh in?

I'm no expert but I never use white sugar. When I occasionally use sugar in baking I use turbinado or sucanat, which are both minimally proccessed cane sugar with the mollasses(which is removed to make white sugar) still present, and they have some micronutrients like iron and other minerals. More often I use maple syrup or agave nectar, which are much less proccessed and probably a bit healthier than white sugar(I know agave nectar at least has a lower glycemic index, I think due to a higer proportion of fructose).
Nevertheless, its all sugar and in any form its not very good for your body, because it causes an insulin spike that ends up lowering your blood sugar leaving you tired. Ideally you want to eat mostly complex carbohydrates that will digest slowly maintaining a more stable blood sugar level.

Could turbinado, sucanat, and agave nectar be found in the Mexican section of any grocery store as well? I'd like to try baking with those as well, since they're healthier.

Gotta love that agave plant, it gives us so much. Tequila, agave nectar,..... uh.... tequila..... rope fibers..... did I mention tequila already? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You would generally find those things in health food stores, or the health food / organic section of a supermarket, I don't know if agave nectar is used in traditional mexican cooking. It's great for cooking because it has a very mild flavor and the thin syrupy consistensy is very easy to work with.

If you want to try baking with less sugar, I highly reccomend stevia extract. Its an extremely potent natural sweetener with no calories, and it comes from the stevia plant which was used for hundreds if not thousands of years, so I consider it much safer than artificial sweeteners, and better tasting too. It's pricey, but 1/3 teaspoon(powder) = 1 cup of sugar. When I bake I usually use a mixture of stevia extract and one or more of the sugars I mentioned, but if I'm using a lot of fruit or juice in the recipe I'll just use a little stevia.

P.S. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this into a baking thread.

No apologies to me, I'm learning things.

The county I originally come from is famous for sorghum molasses, even though I don't think anyone is making it there anymore on a large scale. I helped make it one summer. We strip the sorghum cane with wooden paddles.and cut the cane at the base, then run the cane through a mill to squeeze out the juice. The mill feeds a gravity pipeline downhill to a shop were we heated it into molasses and canned it in large tins with lids similar to paint cans. It is then labeled and sold. I know of one Mennonite gentleman who still peddles it from his horse buggy in jars almost daily on the side of the road.

Is the agave that you are speaking of the plant which you can obtain a needle and thread from? Break the needle, and pull a long strip of fiber connected to it from the plant and then you have an instant needle and thread?

Simon,

Here is the link to the site I order Agave Syrup from. It has a very light and sweet taste. I think somebody else mentioned turbino sugar, which you can find in most local supermarkets. As far as the Piloncillo goes, I do know some area Mexicans (Migrants, etc.) who carry it to the field in a plastic sack. They shave it into their coffee, just like regular sugar. I am not kidding as I have actually seen them do this.

Take care,
Stargazer