“How to Keep Granulated Sugar Without Lumps: Tips and Tricks for Effective Preservation”

Sugar absorbs and holds moisture. Using effective tricks we avoid this inconvenience

In our kitchens we store many foods for a long time. Some may not be used every day and remain in the pantry for several weeks.

The problem is that the kitchen is an environment where humidity accumulates daily, given that steam is produced during the cooking of foods, especially those that require water and liquids during cooking, and steam inevitably increases the humidity in the environment. Using the dishwasher also helps create humidity in the kitchenbecause when we open the door at the end of the wash cycle, a lot comes out vapor in the environment surrounding.

All this humidity, however, certainly does not help the food preservation in our pantries, because it not only favors the proliferation of bacteria and molds, but also affects the organoleptic properties of foods, such as taste, texture and appearance. It can therefore happen that due to humidity, crunchy foods become soggy and dry foods absorb humidity.

Even food that we keep in airtight containers can be affected by the humidity rate. One of them is it caster sugarwhich from fine dust risks thickening into hard lumps due to humidity. By its very chemical nature, sugar in fact absorbs and retains moisture.

The marshmallow trick

However, there are some tricks that we can adopt to avoid this phenomenon. One of these methods is very simple: it is about insert a couple of marshmallows directly into the sugar jar. This unusual solution works thanks to the properties of marshmallows, those soft and colorful sweets that children like so much and that are widespread especially in the United States.

In fact, marshmallows are mainly made of sugar, gelatin and air trapped in the structure of the candy. The high amount of sugar present in marshmallows absorbs moisture from the surrounding environment, in this case the one present in our sugar jar.

The action of mini-dehumidifiers

In this way, the marshmallows will prevent moisture from reaching the granulated sugar as they will act as “sponges”, preventing the thickening of the sugar and the consequent formation of lumps and preserving its fine consistency. The marshmallows therefore act like gods mini-dehumidifiers which will keep the sugar in good condition for a longer period of time. We can just lay them on the surface of the sugar, no need to push them deep into the jar.

In order for this trick to work, it is important to make sure that the sugar jar has a lid that closes tightly, otherwise the humidity will continue to enter from the external environment and it will all be useless. For the same reason, we shouldn’t leave the sugar jar open for a long time. Of course we will have to periodically replace the marshmallows because over time they will have absorbed a lot of moisture and will gradually lose their effectiveness.