Piloncillo and Mascabado

[Frijoles]

Are they the same thing? If not, which is the healthier option? If anyone knows... Thanks.

[Carnivore]

Piloncillo is a raw form of pure cane sugar that is commonly used in Mexican cooking and is sometimes referred to as Mexican brown sugar. It is high in calories and has no vitamins or minerals.

Muscovado sugar is a natural form of sugar made by evaporating the liquid from cane juice without removing the molasses.  It has a dark brown colour and contains small amounts of minerals and antioxidants.

I've used both in baking and more commonly in barbecue sauces,  Muscovado wins hands down......incredible flavour and aroma!

[bmh]

In CHiapas piloncillo  is known as panela and t s used in coffe de olla and gives it a unique taste.. It is also offerd at wakes alongside cofee. and the forever present cocacola..

It has its unique taste..and is unlike brown sugar.

[bdlngton]

4 hours ago, bmh said:

In CHiapas piloncillo  is known as panela and t s used in coffe de olla and gives it a unique taste.. It is also offerd at wakes alongside cofee. and the forever present cocacola..

It has its unique taste..and is unlike brown sugar.

Panela is what piloncillo is called in Colombia too.  There is comes in bricks, not the cond shape here.  What form is it sold in in Chiapas?  In Colombia they make agua de panela, which is just hot water with panela melted in it, so essentially sugar water.  It is common to drink agua de panela at breakfast.

[slainte39]

I like mascabado better too because of the flavor as piloncillo always seems to taste sweeter to me.

[ComputerGuy]

Not fond of the smell of the mascobado... too much like molasses.

[bmh]

In Chapas panela  is sold in various sizes from small comnes to large ones packed in dry cane leaves and it is common to bring that cone that s about 30 cm to the house of the people who have a wake.

It is use to sweeten the chilacayotes  , also used in camotes del cerro.

[More Liana]

In parts of Oaxaca, piloncillo is called panela, which is sold in 2" thick disks.  Piloncillo and panela are used interchangeably.  

I took the top photo at the Mercado de Jamaica in CDMX.  You can see the flat round ends of large cones of both dark (on the right) and light (on the left) piloncillo.  In the middle is a big stack of smaller cones.  I took the photo of a disk-shaped, extremely dark panela that I purchased on a Saturday market day in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca (in the Mixteca), where I was visiting friends.  The disk weighs about a kilo (2.2lbs).

[CHILLIN]

That's a remarkable lump! If I were shopping, especially in Oaxaca, and I saw a lump like that so dark and delicious looking, I wouldn' t be thinking sugar. ( sorry - lame hashish joke)

https://www.google.com/search?q=nepalese+dark+hashish&prmd=ivn&sxsrf=ALeKk01J8SBweSjXweUKi8xz6_NMd8KLAA:1587234298162&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLqZHEzPLoAhVCnKwKHUAPCrgQ_AUoAXoECAsQAQ&biw=962&bih=601

[Frijoles]

On 4/17/2020 at 3:24 PM, Carnivore said:

Piloncillo is a raw form of pure cane sugar that is commonly used in Mexican cooking and is sometimes referred to as Mexican brown sugar. It is high in calories and has no vitamins or minerals.

Muscovado sugar is a natural form of sugar made by evaporating the liquid from cane juice without removing the molasses.  It has a dark brown colour and contains small amounts of minerals and antioxidants.

I've used both in baking and more commonly in barbecue sauces,  Muscovado wins hands down......incredible flavour and aroma!

Thanks for this. Gotta say I'm disappointed. I thought they were more nutritious than regular sugar. :-(

[ComputerGuy]

Don't be. From everything I've read, there is no nutritional difference to speak of between whites, brown, and raw sugars. We are just programmed to think there is.

[More Liana]

I recently wrote this as a PM.  

They both are regular sugar, albeit a different color from white sugar.  Piloncillo is raw cane sugar; mascabado is more refined than piloncillo, but is also cane sugar.  The antioxidant and B-vitamin content of both piloncillo and mascabado is negligible in the quantity that most people eat sugar; you'd have to eat a LOT of it--to the danger point in cane sugar consumption--to get any nutritional value.   The biggest difference between piloncillo, mascabado, and white sugar is their moisture content.  White sugar has far less moisture than the other two.  

Standard "brown sugar" as used in the USA and Canada differs from piloncillo and mascabado in that it has far more moisture than either of the latter--because molasses is added to it for the moisture factor.  That's why it's so difficult to substitute either piloncillo or mascabado in a recipe that calls for, for example, "1/2 cup packed brown sugar".  "Packed" means scooped out of its bag and into a measuring cup, then packed down until the brown sugar can be tipped out of the measuring cup in a solid clump.  Piloncillo and mascabado will not "pack".  

Neither piloncillo nor mascabado is "better" than either regular white sugar or typical USA-style brown sugar.  They're basically identical in composition.

Added:  Mexican white sugar comes in two different varieties, estandar and refinada.  Estandar is slightly beige in color; refinada is pure white and a slightly smaller crystal than estandar.  Estandar is less expensive than refinada.  I buy estandar; it's just fine for all my uses.
 

[CHILLIN]

Turns out that sugar consumption, while important to monitor, is not as important as the hidden sugars we consume. I am not talking about the added sugar like in cakes or candies, but the fast carb glycogens from processed foods including wheat and corn flour. They are so highly processed they bypass your entire digestive system and go straight to glycogen. One bagel, ordered from New York Bagel and coffee, contains the glycogen equivalent of 23 teaspoons of table sugar. It is making us sick and fat. We have to eat slow carbs, which takes full use of our upper and lower intestines to squeeze the goodness out of our foods.