Ugh! How to use up 50lbs of grainy PS? - Page 2

Stitches:

 

The "X" designation has nothing to do with the cornstarch added to the product.  From the Domino's website:

 

Q.  What is the difference between Domino® 4X and 10X Confectioners Sugar?
A.  The "X" designations are derived from the mesh sizes of the screens used to separate powdered sugar into various sizes. Thus, 4X would have a larger particle size, whereas 10X would have a smaller particle size.

Thanks Cakepro - it recaps what I wrote in an earlier post. Starch is added to very finely ground sugars as a means of reducing clumping.

There seemd to be many misconceptions about what the numbers/Xs mean - these need to be debunked.

Besides, if the myth about the numbers/Xs actually was true (which it is not), there wouldn't be 10X and 14X sugars with no added starch.

Glad to know that, now the hunt is on for 50lb bags of Domino's 10X. 

"The hunt is now on..." that sounds so funny! I'm envisioning groups of drunken bakers, stalking through the store in ugly camoflage oufits (with hunter's orange redneck caps).

It figures.........I repeated what I was told by my Dawn sales rep.. Sorry!

 

It's good to know the facts now!

I should research and figure out what she was trying to tell me about varying amounts of starch...

LOL Stitches...my Dawn rep loves to talk and some of the things he says just make me smile.  The last time he was here, we got into a discussion about the production of European-style butter from grass-fed cows (which I like to use, but he wants to sell me Borden butter) and he was trying to tell me...well, I can't even recap what he was trying to tell me because it was a little too technical.  Something about how the difference is just how the fat molecules bond to some other molecules during the processing...I dunno.  I was like, look dude...just taste the two and then you'll understand.  :D

 

I don't understand why Dawn (my Houston location, anyway) doesn't carry 10x powdered sugar...or pastry flour, or the brand of cake flour I use...but the next time he's here, I'll ask him what the "x" designation means for grins.  :D 

I understand that you can't return this stuff.  Please forgive my dense head, but why not just use up this lot as regular granulated sugar?  Which it obviously is?? 

 

There are plenty of recipes for meringues that use granulated sugar, you just beat them long enough to dissolve all the grains.  Read Julia Child  for how.

Macarons though need almond meal and powdered sugar to be stirred through and hand beaten to form your batter. Regular sugar won't cut it. However, yes, you can use coarser sugar to make the melted sugar/water mix which you boil till soft ball stage. The only thing to check is the starch content (if any) in the coarse PS. Can't have any starch in it for that purpose.

How can you guys in the US determine the level of starch in your PS?

In Australia, we have Pure Icing Sugar(100% cane sugar) and Icing Sugar Mixture (with added corn starch) which is softer when set, and does not clump in the packet.

 

It's written on the label as a percentage. Usually written on the label but not always.

Sorry that I am answering this late...I was offline due to the flu.

 

If I read the first post correctly, most of your stuff did NOT pass through the sieve.  So sieve this junk, and discard the powder that passes..because it will have all the cornstarch. 

 

Then you can verify that you have granulated sugar by simply dissolving a teaspoonful in a glass of warm water.  If it makes a clear solution, you have no starch. That's the old Aussie test for cornstarch in powdered sugar.

 

The more I think about this, the more I think that the factory simply mixed granulated sugar with cornstarch.  It reminds me of the days when I had to figure out if raw honey had been contaminated by sugar by a farmer who was less of a beekeeper than he should.  And YES it did happen, the sugar crystals remained visible under low magnification.

Having lived in Mexico for the last 44 years, I can tell you there are plenty of products you can trust here, Cakepro. 10X is 10X here, there and everywhere. I'll bet the bag didn't say 10X on it. I've bought 10X sugar here for years (by the kilo at my cake supply store, so I'm not sure what brand it is), but if the bag doesn't say 10X, it probably isn't.

 

I agree with the posters who said to use what you had as regular sugar (by weight) factoring in the cornstarch content. Of course, since you were able to exchange it for what you wanted, this is now a moot question!

Edited by Marianna46 - 1/2/13 at 10:30am

 

so sorry to hear you were ill.

 

glad you are feeling better!

With all due respect, Marianna, I'm not an idiot...besides the fact that I've been doing this for 16 years and clearly know the differences between the different grades of powdered sugar, I also can read.  

 

Here's the bag of inferior crap that will go back to Restaurant Depot the next time I make a run there. I'm sticking with Domino's from here on out.