# Hard Brown Sugar **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400 "2009-04-08T15:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/1 "2009-04-08T15:39:58Z")
It’s like a rock. Are there any tricks to get it back to its granulated state? ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/2 "2009-04-08T15:41:36Z")
Put a slice of red apple into the bag. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/3 "2009-04-08T15:47:50Z")
Microwave for 10-15 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/4 "2009-04-08T15:50:17Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > Put a slice of red apple into the bag. Or any other benign source of a little moisture. My grandma used to use a leaf of lettuce. You can also spend money on a [gadget](http://www.brownsugardiscs.com/shopfront.htm) designed for the purpose. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/5 "2009-04-08T15:52:14Z")
Throw a couple of slices of bread in there. Like the apple, the moisture from the bread will go into the brown sugar and soften it. The reason I prefer bread is that is becomes a humidor of sorts, absorbing moisture when there’s excess and giving it off when it’s too dry. Within reason, of course. Plus, it’s less likely to mold than an apple. If you need the sugar right now, you can either microwave it or grate it with a cheese grater. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/6 "2009-04-08T16:47:44Z")
I use the bread method, as well…it works wonders, but it does take a few days. Microwaving will work, as mentioned, if you need to use it right away, but my experience with that is if you don’t use it all up right then, it kind of wrecks the texture of what’s left over. Never heard of or thought of the cheese-grater method! I would definitely try that before microwaving. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/7 "2009-04-08T17:02:29Z")
[Ten different methods](http://tipnut.com/10-ways-to-soften-hard-brown-sugar/) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/8 "2009-04-08T17:15:19Z")
Beat the shit out of it with a rolling pin. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/9 "2009-04-08T18:12:56Z")
This is why I keep hanging around here. Just this week I was holding a rock hard lump of brown sugar wondering if there was a method to un-rock it, the viola, here’s the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/10 "2009-04-08T18:29:33Z")
There are also little [discs](http://www.brownsugardiscs.com/) you can buy to leave in there, to prevent this form happening again (IME, microwaving works but often still leaves a few indestructible lumps). ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/11 "2009-04-08T18:40:56Z")
How come that brown sugar tastes so good? The only way I’ve ever loosened up brown sugar is by pounding it. I’ll have to try the bread trick should the need arise. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/12 "2009-04-08T19:54:08Z")
I don’t have much to add to the above, but the apple/lettuce/bread/ceramic bear methods all work like magic over time. It’s pretty amazing (to me, anyway) to have essentially a brown rock one day and a couple days later, beautiful granulated sugar. Amazing! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/13 "2009-04-08T20:29:50Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > How come that brown sugar tastes so good? Molasses. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/14 "2009-04-08T20:30:54Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > This is why I keep hanging around here. Just this week I was holding a rock hard lump of brown sugar wondering if there was a method to un-rock it, the viola, here’s the thread. I prefer the cello. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/15 "2009-04-08T20:37:16Z")
Am I the only one who’s mind went straight into the gutter with this thread title? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/16 "2009-04-08T20:39:30Z")
The bread trick is absolutely amazing. I use it with cookies, too. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/17 "2009-04-08T20:40:58Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > How come that brown sugar tastes so good? Because it’s [Jaggery](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggery)? ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/18 "2009-04-08T20:42:35Z")
Ok, so lots of ways to go from hard to soft. What about the opposite? I always pick out the nuggets when I’m cooking so I can eat them myself… ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/19 "2009-04-08T20:51:30Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Ok, so lots of ways to go from hard to soft. What about the opposite? I always pick out the nuggets when I’m cooking so I can eat them myself… Just leave it open to the air. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400/20 "2009-04-09T03:36:31Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Am I the only one who’s mind went straight into the gutter with this thread title? No, I initially skipped over the thread because mine went straight to the gutter, and then I said, hmmm, maybe I’d better mouseover first… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-brown-sugar/492400.md?page=2)