Friday, January 18, 2008

A Little Cooking Tip

Brown sugar isn't something I need on a regular basis, but it's a rather common ingredient. Here's the problem: I would buy a package of it and use a few tablespoons, a quarter of a cup, or maybe a half of a cup. I would seal up the rest. The next time I'd need brown sugar, it would be hard as a rock. A tip on the side of the box suggested microwaving part of it with a damp paper towel to soften it. However, then I'd have to use all of it right away. Chiseling part of it off was nearly impossible. I read another tip that said you can freeze the brown sugar to keep it from hardening. Then, I got a good idea!

The last time I bought a package of brown sugar, I used just a little. Then, I put the rest in resealable sandwich bags -- a quarter cup in each bag. (Snack size resealable bags work too.) You could measure out different amounts, but I've found quarter cup is the most common amount. Plus, you can just open several bags if you need more (i.e. 4 bags for 1 cup). Then, I put all of those little bags into a larger freezer bag and put the whole thing into the freezer. Whenever I need brown sugar, it's ready: measured and soft!

I no longer have to throw out the unusable brown sugar "brick" after only consuming a very small portion.

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3 comments:

Kate said...

That is GENIUS! The only other ideas I've gotten before are some little terra cotta disk or a piece of bread. Huh? Bread in Houston, that's a recipe for disaster!

Betsy said...

Thanks, Kate!

I forgot to mention another little way to save with this tip. Once you use one of the little portions of sugar, you can zip up the empty sandwich/snack bag. Stash it back in the larger container that is holding all of the little bags of sugar. Once you use them all and you buy a new package of brown sugar, refill the sandwich/snack bags.

Kate said...

Oh yes, smart and better for the environment! In this climate they'd probably eventually get kind of gross, but you'd still get a few uses out of them.