- Imparts a delicate texture and high volume in cake products, by developing a uniform cell structure.
- Retains moisture and improves shelf life of cakes.
- In dry mixes, disperses more evenly and with less stratification, than larger-grained white sugars.
- Dissolves faster than EFG, especially in cold beverages like iced tea and bar drinks.
- Clarity, color, odor and taste
- Ash and sediment content
- Comparative absence of floc-forming substances
- Microbiological activity
Compacting — see Tableting
Compressible — see Tableting
Confectioners — see Powdered
Con AA & Con A — Extremely pure, extra-large grain sugars with the following attributes:
- Exceptionally white, clear and brilliant
- Very low ash, color, turbidity and metallic ion contents
- Nearly 100% sucrose in purity (99.9+%)
- Boiled syrups, boiled-type icings
- "Sparkle" topping similar to sanding sugar, but larger crystal size
- Candies (especially mints) and fondants where clarity whiteness, and brilliance are desirable
- Crystallized syrups
- Cordials and liqueurs where absolute water whiteness is desired.
- Cotton candy
Demerara Sugar — Similar to Turbinado
Drivert® — The finest-grain of all powdered sugars, used to produce fondants, icings and frostings with no trace of grain or grittiness. ® C& H Sugar Co.
EFG — see Granulated
FG — see Granulated
Fondant & Icing — Very fine-grain grain sugar (particles 1/100th the size of regular powdered sugar) that easily mixes with water and produces smooth, creamy icings and frostings with high gloss and little or no grittiness. May contain small amount of invert or maltodextrin.
Fruit Granulated — similar to EFG, and meets all specifications of the National Canners Association for sugar.
Gelatin — see "Gel Grain"
Gel Grain — Sugar of smaller, exceptionally uniform grain size (60 to 80 mesh), with few "fines." Used in gelatins, cookie doughs, cake mixes, quick-dissolving hot and cold beverage mixes, and other dry mixes.
Granulated — Table sugar, commonly called "Fine Granulated" (FG) and "Extra Fine Granulated" (EFG), depending on the refiner’s designation.
LCMT Sugar — see Con AA
Liqueur Sugar — see Con AA
Manufacturers — Intermediate-grain, agglomerate sugar; resists packing and clumping when dissolved. Usually available in bulk only, used by bakers, preservers, freezers, canners and syrup manufacturers.
Powdered — Finely-ground granulated sugar to which a small amount (3%) corn starch has been added to prevent caking. The fineness to which the granulated sugar is ground determines the familiar "X" factor: 14X is finer than 12X, and so on down through 10X, 8X, 6X (the most commonly used) and 4X, the coarsest powdered sugar.
Raw Sugar — The semi-refined product of plantation mills processing sugar cane; sugar extracted from cane juice without any further refining in which each crystal is coated with a heavy film of low purity molasses.
Sanding — Very pure, clear, large-grained sugar:
- Adds "sparkle" when sprinkled on candies (gum/jelly goods), cookies, pies, turnovers.
- In boiled syrups and boiled-type icings, it dissolves uniformly, with minimal foaming or discoloring.
Table — see Granulated
Tableting — A directly compressible, granulated sugar or agglomerated powder, used to make tablets and flakes. It consists of mostly sucrose, with a small amount of maltodextrin or invert sugar. Tableting sugar is used by pharmaceutical makers as an excipient, and by confectioners.
Turbinado — A semi-refined, off-color sugar containing a higher percentage of sucrose than raw sugar, but less than refined sugar.
Unigran® — Pure, uniform, larger-grained sugar containing few "fines." Primarily for use in hot drink dispensing machines. ®Trademark of California and Hawaiian Sugar Co.
USP — Sugar that meets the quality and purity standards and specifications of the United States Pharmacopoeia (an authoritative book containing a list and description of drugs and medicinal products together with the standards established under law for their production, dispensation and use.) NF refers to National Formulary, a similar book.