Turbinado Sugar

i use it when sugar is called for

I would agree that you should start with equal as the rule of thumb. You may need to adjust up or down to your liking. I've found that I tend to use more turbinado compared to dark brown sugar as it tastes milder IMO.

When replacing reg. processed sugar, I swap it 1:1.

I personally substitute 1 for 1 and have recently began grinding it. Turbinato sugar is usuallly pretty course which works well on larger cuts of meat but I have found good results in grinding it up for our chicken and ribs.

Brown sugar and Turbinado are 2 different animals. So this makes a flavor difference too.

Brown sugar, is refined white sugar with molassas added 3-4% for light and 6-7% for dark. All sugar in its rawest state has molassas on it but it is removed in the refining process.

Turbinado, (or Raw sugar or natural Brown sugar), is brown sugar where some of the natural molassas is retained instad of spun off during refining. the percentage of molasas left in turbinado is substantially less than in the lightest Brown sugars. The molassas makes the brown sugars more robust/complex in flavor compared to the sweeter turbinado.

Its the amount of molassas in the 2 sugars that come into play in our craft.. Turbinado will hold up to the longer heat exposure in butts and brisket where a brown sugar will begin to carmelize much sooner in the cook. Brown sugars on the other hand when used on shorter cooks like ribs and chicken will carmelize in the 4-5 hours where turbinado may not unless you pump the temps up.

Great analysis... Great explination...

seth711 said:

Great analysis... Great explination...

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Yep, I agree with what was said!

I would think that you would need more turbinado by volume because the crystals are bigger that in brown sugar. Same as Kosher salt and regular salt. Now if you are going by weight, then by all means keep it equal.

I use turbinado sugar along with 'Brownulated' sugar in my rub. I think when I replaced white sugar for turbinado I did it equal by weight.

I like the equal by weight comment ......

.... just a 'newborn' at BBQ, but pretty decent artisan bread baker. I was taught early to pay lots of attention to weights in formulas due to some of the issues just mentioned here.

Differences in shape, size and and related volume of sugar crystals can really change the net effect. Moving early to Turbinado sugar was already planned and your post just pushed me over the edge.

T_B

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Moving early to Turbinado sugar was already planned and your post just pushed me over the edge.

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Turbo is great for long cook items (butts and briskets) where scorching of brown sugar can be a problem. For shorter cooking items (specifically ribs) I continue to use brown sugar for its more robust flavor.

Just as one wood isn't the answer for every cook (well except cherry:wink: ) one sugar isn't alway the best answer either.

Is turbinado sugar readily available in the grocery stores? I've not seen it, but have never really looked for it.

What other uses does it have?

You should be able to find it in a supermarket. It's often marketed under the name "Sugar in the Raw"...don't know if that helps any.

Thanks, Phil. I have used raw sugar for a while now and have wondered if its the same as Turbinado.
BTW I also use granulated pure maple sugar in some of my rubs .... what a different kick that gives!

Bigmista said:

I would think that you would need more turbinado by volume because the crystals are bigger that in brown sugar. Same as Kosher salt and regular salt. Now if you are going by weight, then by all means keep it equal.

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Ditto, what he said.