Drying brown sugar in the oven for rubs

[McEvoy AZ]

I saw on Triple D last night that 2 of the resturants featured used brown sugar that had been dried in the oven and ground fine in a food processor. Has anyone tried this? Does Turbinado sugar the same if ground fine? What is the science behind this? Does it help prevent the brown sugar from melting together?

[yakdung]

Brown sugar is regular white sugar with molasses added in. Turbinado sugar is just a little less refined sugar with the molasses still in. Sounds like nothing more than a gimmick to me.

[Big slick]

Go turbinado. I use to wonder the same thing about brown sugar. Ten I tried turbinado sugar. Haven't looked back since then. Plus turbinado can withstand higher temps so you don't get a burnt sugar taste on your final product. Try it just one time and see for yourself.

[MattCom]

He was just taking the moisture out of it so it doesn't clump when mixing the rub. I've heard of people spreading it out on a cookie sheet and let it dry that way. Me?, I just break up any clumps.

[adively26]

Just buy brownulated brown sugar if you want a clump free version of it. It's available at most grocery stores.

[schmitty28]

for those of you that use turbinado do you grind it into smaller grains

[Bob13]

I've dried out brown sugar several times for rubs; both in the oven, and in the nuke-rowave. It does indeed prevent clumping...

[boogiesnap]

it works.do it.

[superlazy]

I used to to it but don't bother anymore

[yakdung]

Originally Posted by schmitty28

for those of you that use turbinado do you grind it into smaller grains

Yes. When I make rubs, I pulse in a food processor 1-2 minutes with the other seasonings to make them approximately the same size.

[DriverWild]

I've done it, turns it into a more manageable powder and will prevent clumping in the shaker. If it's going to sit on the shelf dry it, if you're going to use it right away don't bother.

[El Ropo]

Originally Posted by schmitty28

for those of you that use turbinado do you grind it into smaller grains

Good question. Yes, I run it through my spice grinder (spare coffee grinder) on coarsest setting. I also use the same grinder to mix most of my rubs. Just toss all the ingredients in hopper and run it through on super coarse a couple times. Gets it mixed up and all same size.

I wouldn 't recommend a blade type grinder for this. Only a decent burr style grinder.

On the original question, yes I've dried out brown sugar in the oven before. It works to keep it from clumping. But I no longer use brown sugar in anything. Turbinado is easier to work with and seems to hold up to heat better than brown.