http://www.grandpappy.info/rsugar.htm

I guess I'm thinking, How bad can it really be?  It's boiled down beet water.  From personal experience, cane sugar gives me heart palpitations.  Chocolate made specifically with beet sugar doesn't bother me like that.

Has anybody tried making beet sugar?  I'm considering growing some beets this winter anyway because the greens are good for me and the roots are good for DH.

how do you imagine that to be done?  

My Swami said beet leaves is good, but nothing about beets.. I wonder if the sugar is the issue.. like carrots to, not super

I would love such colorful sugars.. I could see it in ice-cream.. I inherited on ice-cream maker, but I think the book is missing.. how does one make it from scratch?  

how does one make sugar??? from beets?  I have a thingy to dry fruit with, but could I just cook the carrots or beets and use that water to let dry in the fruit preserver/drier?  Interesting idea.. and use the pulp in ice-cream.. I mean they make carrot cake.. or tomato soup cake!  

I love banana chips.. made in the dehumidifyer..  

It seems like beet sugar would be better for you if you haven't refined all the other nutrients out of it.

The directions for making beet sugar are in the link above.  I already drink the cooking water from beets....and I drink beets juiced with other vegetables.  How could it be any worse to boil it down until it crystallizes?

So sorry I overlooked the link..

Quoted Text

It seems like beet sugar would be better for you if you haven't refined all the other nutrients out of it.

I don't think it would do it, if one would think of ways to incorporat what we learned here.. and adapt the ways and means .. ..  

really this is sooooo fun.
99 % of all sugar in DK comes from sugar beets ( no it is not regular beets
This the most boring kind of sugar to be found on earth...so I would never ever bother making sugar out of it.

Growing sugar beets are a hazzle as well- they need to be either sprayed with peticided  a lot or weeded by hands lots of times.
Ive got plenty of sugar beet fields around me.

and no I don belive that sugar from beets are any better or worse than sugar from canes.

I think she's talking about making sugar from regular beets, not sugar beets.

Why make it? Here's a link Ribbit


http://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-Healthy-Foods-Beet-Sugar-3-lbs-1361-g/12283?at=0

Because she isn't busy enough already!  

I think agree if there where a way to use food to spice up other foods is on interesting idea..

Like making smoothies with beets added? or carrots added, not as carrot smoothies which are delsih, but some other food smoothy with 1 carrot added for sweetness?

what maybe using grated carrots, dry them and keep them sprinkled over foods at a later date in place of cheese?

I love the way things come from some idea and diversions follow..  

As for work, sometimes a new work is bette rthen the old misery.. sometimes anything to forget the reality of life.. especially some of what Ribbit experiences..  

BUYING the sugar might be easier?? purer? but does it have to be so pure?? interesting ..  

, TJ.  It's true, I have a lot going on right now.  

But if I've got a garden, which I do, and I'm going to plant beets anyway, which I am, then why not plant some sugar beets and see if I can make sugar?  Yes, I can buy it, but I'd rather use honey or agave.  BUT, if I made it myself from what grows in the backyard, it would be fun to try.  Henriette, I weed by hand anyway, and mulch heavily....and they wouldn't necessarily have the same problem here as they do there.  I have less problems than a standard farm with insects because I do companion planting, crop rotation and I plant a diversity of species.

Maybe it's the ISTJ in me.  I guess I think if something can be done myself, I'd like to learn how.  You know, just to see if it can be done.

Quoted from Goldie

As for work, sometimes a new work is bette rthen the old misery.. sometimes anything to forget the reality of life.. especially some of what Ribbit experiences..  

BUYING the sugar might be easier?? purer? but does it have to be so pure?? interesting ..  

Yes, Goldie.  Quite true.  It keeps me distracted from the reality of chronic pain and chronic illness.  I told my husband several months ago, when he said, "Why are you doing so much?" I shot back, "Because, when I stop moving, I will die."  Then we had another argument about it last night.  He thinks I'm wearing myself out.  I reiterated that it gives me something to do so I quit worrying about everything. If I'm distracted and my time is filled up making things, teaching children, putting food in the freezer and pulling weeds, I don't have to think about how bad off I really am.  And because I don't feel time passing, it gives me a sense of the passage of time when there's stuff to do, even if it's self-imposed and self-created and seemingly a waste of time to everybody else.

Even the organic beet sugar probably uses chemicals to bleach it white.  

Quoted from Goldie

As for work, sometimes a new work is bette rthen the old misery.. sometimes anything to forget the reality of life.. especially some of what Ribbit experiences..  

BUYING the sugar might be easier?? purer? but does it have to be so pure?? interesting ..  

Yes, Goldie.  Quite true.  It keeps me distracted from the reality of chronic pain and chronic illness.  I told my husband several months ago, when he said, "Why are you doing so much?" I shot back, "Because, when I stop moving, I will die."  Then we had another argument about it last night.  He thinks I'm wearing myself out.  I reiterated that it gives me something to do so I quit worrying about everything. If I'm distracted and my time is filled up making things, teaching children, putting food in the freezer and pulling weeds, I don't have to think about how bad off I really am.  And because I don't feel time passing, it gives me a sense of the passage of time when there's stuff to do, even if it's self-imposed and self-created and seemingly a waste of time to everybody else.

Even the organic beet sugar probably has chemicals to bleach it white.  I can't imagine that white crystals come out of red beet juice.  I can think of another analogy where that's true, but probably not with beets.

Quoted Text

Henriette, I weed by hand anyway, and mulch heavily....and they wouldn't necessarily have the same problem here as they do there.

to be honest I think it is tooo much hazzle

Why not keep some bees instead

Quoted from Ribbit

Yes, Goldie.  Quite true.  It keeps me distracted from the reality of chronic pain and chronic illness.  I told my husband several months ago, when he said, "Why are you doing so much?" I shot back, "Because, when I stop moving, I will die."  Then we had another argument about it last night.  He thinks I'm wearing myself out.  I reiterated that it gives me something to do so I quit worrying about everything. If I'm distracted and my time is filled up making things, teaching children, putting food in the freezer and pulling weeds, I don't have to think about how bad off I really am.  And because I don't feel time passing, it gives me a sense of the passage of time when there's stuff to do, even if it's self-imposed and self-created and seemingly a waste of time to everybody else.

Even the organic beet sugar probably has chemicals to bleach it white.  I can't imagine that white crystals come out of red beet juice.  I can think of another analogy where that's true, but probably not with beets.

I get it Ribbit...sometimes the distraction of making something, doing something or simply
living in the moment changes the dialogue we're having with ourselves.  As someone who has
battled chronic Lyme for so long, I totally get where you're coming from...  Yes, it's probably easier and cheaper to buy beet sugar.... but how satisfying it would be to actually make a batch from scratch.  If you make it, let us know how it turns out.

Quoted from Ribbit

Even the organic beet sugar probably has chemicals to bleach it white.  I can't imagine that white crystals come out of red beet juice.

Sugar beets have mostly white flesh instead of red.

But the syrup from sugar beets does not appear white.

Sucrose crystals are white if they are free of contaminants.
White refined sugar from the grocery store is 99.9% pure sucrose.
No bleach is necessary to make it appear white.

Quoted from Goldie

My Swami said beet leaves is good, but nothing about beets..

SWAMI should have three different ratings for beets:

** Beet Greens (Live foods)
** Beets (Live foods)
** Beet juice (Under beverages)

Note that one should not ordinarily drink beet juice by itself-instead mix it with other juices.

Also note that beets are high in oxalic acid-so do not combine beets or beet juice with things high in calcium.

--

I assumed rating for beet juice was a rating for beetroot juice rather than juice made from the greens, but I may be wrong.

When you are buying sugar beet seed you should check that is not GMO.

I have some that I bought sitting in my cupboard.  I read too that it was GMO.  I was like.  

Quoted from TJ

I think she's talking about making sugar from regular beets, not sugar beets.

In order to get a high quantity of sugar, you need to use sugar beets...  

Full grown sugar beets can be as large as 12 inches in diameter.

When grown in a field, the seeds are sown rather thickly and when about 3-4 inches tall, thinned to allow the beets to grow to optimum size.  To harvest, the tops are cut off, then the beets are dug and put in a truck for transport to the sugar factory.  As C-sharp said, they are a white beet.  When you suck on a slice of the beet, you can taste the sugar seeping out of it.

I've heard of sugar beets, but have not seen them in stores. And why isn't beet sugar red?

Quoted from Drea

I've heard of sugar beets, but have not seen them in stores. And why isn't beet sugar red?

Sugar beets aren't typically sold in the produce section because normal people aren't interested in making their own sugar when they can go a few aisles over and buy it for $1/lb. or less.

Sugar beets are white, not red...

Ahhh, that explains it!

Quoted from C_sharp

Note that one should not ordinarily drink beet juice by itself-instead mix it with other juices.

I agree, but I can not explain why, even beetroot, carrot and ginger juice can give me a nauseous rush... beetroot and pineapple juice would do the same, why is this?

Several issues on the beetroot.

Beets detoxify the blood, liver, kidneys and bladder-you should only detox to much at once.

Beets contain a lot oxalic acid and this binds minerals like magnesium and calcium. Sometimes there is a side effect to this.

Nitric acid in the beetroot juice causes the blood vessels to dilate and alters blood flow in the body.


There is also the possibility of beet allergies.