Let’s Sweeten Things Up!

The old sugar canister is a permanent fixture on many American countertops. Ready to sweeten a cup of coffee, sprinkle on cereal or a cup in a family recipe. The average American consumes around 152 lbs of sugar in one year. This would be the equivalent of 3 pounds (or 6 cups) of sugar consumed each week. So you might be thinking isn’t that a lot of sugar and shouldn’t I store less? Not necessarily!

What is Sugar?

First off, sugar is just a simple carb. It occurs naturally in many foods. Whole foods such a fruit, veggies, grains, and dairy. The body mainly uses carbs as an energy source. Carbs are a macro-nutrient that includes starches, sugars, and other sugars (more on that later). Sugar in and of itself refers to a broader category of all mono and disaccharides ie the simplest carbohydrates.  Monosaccharides include glucose, galactose, and fructose, and disaccharides include sucrose, lactose, maltose, and trehalose. But true “SUGAR” refers only to sucrose, a disaccharide, made up of two sugars (glucose and fructose) bound together, that are naturally made by and found in all green plants. Sugar found in the food supply is harvested from sugar beets and sugar cane.

Why Do I Need Sugar?

For one, you wouldn’t survive without sugar. Sugar provides energy for your muscles and acts as a source of energy for your brain and nervous system and helps red blood cells to function properly. This isn’t license to go ape wild on sugar. Just the brass tacks of it. You also need sugar because it helps metabolize fats and prevents your body from using protein as energy. Blood sugar, called blood glucose, gets broken down in a series of chemical reactions that create energy, which fuels your cells. A hormone called insulin is involved in the process, too it’s released when you eat sugar and tells your cells to absorb the glucose so they can use it as a source of energy.

Glucose can also be stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen. Glycogen then acts as an energy reserve that’s used when your blood glucose levels drop, such as when you exercise. You need to consume carbohydrates to keep your glycogen replenished. These backup stores are crucial to keeping your blood sugar stable. All that to say you still need to practice moderation and you want most of your sugar intake to be in the whole form. That is whole fruits and veggies as the fiber in them helps to act as kitchen scrubbies to your insides and keeps things squeaky clean and smoothly running.

Types Of Sugar.

But this article is more about the food storage aspect and storing a year’s worth of sugar in the form of fresh fruit and veg is impossible. This brings us to the next topic. What types of sugar are there, which ones should I store, and how will I use them? For simplicity’s sake, I will talk about the main four, beet sugars, cane sugars, real honey, and maple syrup.

Beet sugar: Beet sugar comes in the form of White Granulated Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Brown Sugars, Molasses, Fruit Sugar, Bakers Sugar, Coarse Sugar, and Sanding Sugar.

Cane sugar: Cane sugar comes in the forms of  White Granulated Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Brown Sugars, Molasses, Fruit Sugar, Cane Sugar, Turbinado Sugar, Muscovado Sugar, Demerara Sugar, Granulated Brown Sugar, Bakers Sugar, Coarse Sugar, and Sanding Sugar.

Real Honey: Real honey comes in every type and flavor profile of the flowers the bees had access to. But the forms are Raw, Crystalized, Creamed, and Whole comb. There are many knockoffs and fakes on the market so make you sure are buying locally sourced honey from a reputable seller or better yet a backyard beekeeper.

Maple syrup: Maple syrup comes from the boiled-down sap of maple trees. They come in 4 levels of intensity in color and taste, Golden (Delicate), Amber (Rich), Dark (Robust), and Very Dark (Strong) flavor profile. Unless it says 100% pure maple syrup you could be getting a very watered-down version and most likely is made up of high fructose corn syrup and molasses.

What Can I Use Sugar For?

As you can see from the last section beet sugar and cane sugar are both made into the same products in many instances. Cane sugar has a few different forms, but all in all, they are pretty interchangeable. So the types of cooking, baking, canning, or preserving you do will depend on which ones you will store ultimately.

Sugar is primarily used to sweeten foods up or make tart foods more palatable. If you eat a lot of prepackaged or convenience foods look and see how much sugar is in the items you love most and then look up a recipe to make them. More times than not you will find the homemade version uses far less sugar than you will find on the stores’ shelf. And it will taste a hundred times better. So from baking to cooking, you will definitely need sugar on hand. Sugar in your coffee, tea, hot cocoa, cider, or lemonade. Sugar is a must-have for drinks hot and cold alike.

When it comes to food storage and home processing you will be reaching for sugar to can and preserve your fruits and veggies. Making pickles, relishes, jams, jellies, compotes, syrups, juices, and more you’ll need sugar for them. And remember when I said storing a year’s supply of fresh fruit and veg was impossible? Well canning and preserving them is how you will make that happen.

How To Store Sugar.

Storing sugar is much like how you store other dry foods. You want to store it in a cool dry space. For long-term storage, I found a great article and page by a family that does food storage The Provident Prepper. In their article, they recommend several ways to store sugar. Such as Polyethylene bags, Mylar-type bags, food-grade plastic buckets, glass canning jars, repurposed plastic PETE bottles, and #10 cans are all acceptable containers for storing white sugar. If you really want to dig into food storage this is a great website to learn more from. They recommend not using an oxygen absorber in your long-term sugar storage.

As we are doing a beginners food storage I’m trying to get to the meat of the matter in bringing you the most straightforward approach and give you all the recourses I can find that are pertaining to the one subject of focus. This being simple food storage and what I consider the most cost effect bang for your buck. For my family, we are doing the $5 to $10 a week food storage plan. This week we purchased our sugar. I ordered two bins one will be for the sugar I purchases at Sams Club this week. I also ordered Mylar bags from Lehmans. As I need more bins and bags I will purchase what I need.

Other Uses For Sugar.

There are other uses aside from making baked goods, meals, canning, preserving, or making a glass of sweet tea. Sugar has more uses than even I knew about. Here are just a few I found in this article, 25 Unexpected Uses For Sugar.

For first aid, you can sprinkle a little on your tongue when you burn yourself from sipping a hot beverage. Sprinkle a little over a minor cut is another remedy. Apparently, sugar has antiseptic qualities and acts as a mild disinfectant, and helps prevent infection while aiding the blood clotting process.

In beauty products, you find sugar in all types of scrubs for the body and face. Lookup any DIY body scrub recipe and you’ll find sugar is the main ingredient. Even a temporary fix for hair when you find yourself short on hair gel. Or you want to remove some facial or body hair you can use a sugar-based remover.

Even in-home and garden sugar has many uses. One I have seen many times in mixing sugar and water with borax to kill ants. You can also get rid of Wasps, Nematodes, Flies, and Cockroaches by doing different concoctions with the sugar. For more specifics refer to the linked article.

A Sweet Ending

So now you can see the importance of having sugar in your food storage and the know-how to store it. And as this is the fall season I figure I’d leave you with a simple recipe that you can eat right out of the pot or can if it makes it that far. As it’s apple season I figure a great applesauce recipe is in order.

Instant Pot Applesauce

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 12-14 Apples
• 2 tbsp Cinnamon
• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup White Granulated Sugar

Method

 

1. After you wash, peel, core, and quartered your apples you're going to put them into the instant pot and make sure that are below the fill line. I try to get as many as I can in there.
2. Add your cup of water. And sprinkle the cinnamon on top. I plug my instant pot in so when I close the lid it lets me know when it's locked in place. Make sure the vent is closed.
3. Set to manual and for 10 mins. When done let it naturally release for 20 mins. Then quick release for the remainder till the petcock drops down.
4. Using an immersion blender blend until smooth or till it's the consistency you prefer. You can also spoon into a blender or mash with a potato masher if you like a more rustic texture.
5. Now you may add in the sugar if you choose. Omit if you want sugar-free or reduce or add more to get the desired sweetness you want.
6. Now serve up the warm apple sauce or let it cool and store in the fridge. This recipe is also suitable for canning. Enjoy!

Resources:

The Sugar Association

Importance of Sugar in the Human Body

Does the Body Need Sugar

8 Big Lies About Sugar We Should Unlearn

15 Types of Sugar

Types of Honey: All You Need to Know

Forms of Honey

What are the Different Maple Syrup Options?

Food Storage: What is the Actual Shelf Life of Granulated or White Sugar

25 Unexpected Uses for Sugar

How to Build Your Food Storage on Only $5 a Week