On 1/10/08, Robert Seeberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 1/10/2008 6:13:29 PM, Lance A. Brown ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > Perhaps. The use of corn to produce ethanol is already driving the > > cost > > of corn higher, impacting food costs already[1]. I don't > > think we want > > to use corn _or_ sugarcane for producing ethanol in the long term. > > The problem with corn is that it produces a lower energy ethanol. > Sugarcane *is* much better in that regard. > But why are you worried about sugarcane? We don't use it all that much > in the US, even for making sugar. Last I heard, sugar beets was the > big resource in that industry. (In the US that is.)
True, but you *can* taste the difference between sugar from sugar beets and suger from sugarcane, contrary to what Wikipedia states. That's why the old C&H sugar jingle makes a big deal of it -- "C and H, pure cane sugar, that's the one." While sugar from both is just sucrose, it's only 99.95% sucrose. That 0.05% difference doesn't sound like a lot, but it sure makes a difference in baking. There is a great page about this at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgifile=/chronicle/archive/1999/03/31/FD91867.DTL or http://tinyurl.com/8ljgg This page includes info about blind taste tests of foods baked with cane sugar and the same foods baked with beet sugar. It also includes recipes so you can try it for yourself. Sorry, I got sidetracked for a minute there. The original point I wanted to make is that, as corn prices rise, the price of high-fructose corn syrup will rise. Eventually, it will be less expensive for manufacturers to go back to using good old-fashioned sucrose, whether from cane or beet. And while that might be better from a culinary standpoint, there is a downside. As demand for sugar increases, the price will increase. Some days you just can't win. -- Mauro Diotallevi "Hey, Harry, you haven't done anything useful for a while -- you be the god of jello now." -- Patricia Wrede, 8/16/2006 on rasfc _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
