Store Brown Sugar Properly And Never Deal With Clumps Again

For swirling into a warm bowl of oatmeal, mixing into a batch of extra chewy chocolate chip cookies, or infusing savory sauces and marinades with rich, caramel sweetness, brown sugar is a pantry must-have. The only downside? The frustration of reaching for the bag, only to be forced to ice pick your way through a rock-hard brick of caked sugar.

Brown sugar is simply a mixture of white sugar plus sticky, sweet molasses, giving it that rich flavor and chestnut hue. But its pesky tendency to go lumpy is due to moisture evaporating from the molasses, leaving the granules dry and clumped together. Luckily, all it takes is a little effort and a tiny bit of science to ensure that your sugar stays fresh. And, no, loosely securing it with a twist tie and hoping for the best won't cut it.

To keep brown sugar soft, you must battle the same forces responsible for the degradation of many other dry goods; fluctuations in moisture levels and exposure to oxygen over a period of time. Safeguard your sweetener by always storing sugar in an air-tight glass or plastic container with a well-fitting lid, or a resealable plastic storage bag. Transfer the sugar out of the bag it came in, or — if you want to remember the type of sugar it is and its expiration date — simply stash the entire original package in the new container.

Another effective way to keep sugar supple is with a decidedly quaint terracotta sugar saver. It just might be one of those useful kitchen tools you haven't heard of yet, but should definitely own. These low-tech life savers — often sold in whimsical shapes like teddy bears, cats, or flower designs — are an affordable, effective solution to the clumping conundrum. Soak the natural clay knickknack in water and add it to your sugar. The natural porosity of the clay acts as a sponge to slowly reintroduce moisture, keeping sugar soft for months.

Not only does it maintain brown sugar's texture from the get-go, these little trinkets can even revive impenetrable blocks of sugar that you thought were beyond repair. Before you toss that long-forgotten bag in the back of your fridge, learn how to soften brown sugar using techniques like microwaving it with a wet paper towel or using a piece of bread to soften your sugar back up. For the sake of reducing food waste, these efforts are always worth a try even though the effectiveness of each method can vary. But for guaranteed soft and scoopable sugar when you need it, the best strategy is preventing it from drying out in the first place.