Brown sugar

There are two categories of brown sugar: those produced directly from the cane juice at the place of origin and those that are produced during the refining of raw sugar.  The first type includes a variety of molasses and syrups, demerara, muscovado and turbinado sugars.  The second type is coated brown or 'soft' sugars, manufactured demerara, and a variety of refinery molasses and golden syrups. Those produced directly from the cane juice at the place of origin can be made using relatively low-cost and low technology processes suitable for small-scale production. However, this level of production still requires experience, skill and knowledge to be successful.  The technology involved is based on the open pan production which is described in the Practical Action's technical briefs on gur and the open pan sulphitation (OPS) sugar processing. This technical brief explains the methods of producting different kinds of sugars.