How to keep brown sugar from getting hard?

Question

I love to whip up sweet desserts for my two kids once in a while. Because of this, we often have leftover sugar. I want to know how to prevent them from becoming rock hard during storage.

Answer 1

It is easy to keep brown sugar from getting hard. What you should do is store it in a clean, dry, and air-tight container. The reason brown sugar becomes hard is the loss of its moisture due to exposure to the air. Keeping the container tightly closed when not in use will lock the moisture inside and keep the sugar soft. Even a resealable plastic bag can do the trick, if you don’t have a tightly closed container around. Just make sure to keep it locked until the time to use the sugar. Another important thing is to only use a clean and dry spoon or scoop when taking the sugar out. Any liquid or excessive moisture inside your jar of sugar will ruin it as well.

Answer 2

I will vouch for the effectiveness of a slice of bread as I have seen my mom use it too. Another trick that I want to share is how to soften already clumpy and hard brown sugar. What I do is throw the sugar into the microwave with a moist paper towel for approximately 20 seconds! Yes, that’ the very simple solution if you need the sugar right away and don’t want to use a hammer to break it up. The sugar will absorb the moisture from the paper towel and soften the sugar. For really hard clumps that stubbornly refuse to let go, just repeat the process for a few times until they are soft enough to break with your fingers.

Answer 3

My mother’s secret to keeping brown sugar soft is a slice of bread. I am not sure why, but this simple trick is really effective as we never had lumped brown sugar in the kitchen. What she does is take a slice of fresh bread and put it inside the plastic bag or jar where the sugar is stored. The result is always fresh sugar even after a few days. Other claims that marshmallows or a slick of apple can achieve the same result so feel free to try them if you have any of them lying around the kitchen.

Comments

Awesome trick! Now I know how to keep brown sugar from getting hard.