Making Invert Sugar. How To Neutralize Acid? Is There An Upper Limit To The Cooking Temp?

[bwible]

Thanks all!
I think I've found the answers I needed on this and on confectionery forums. Stumbled there upon some really nice hints on making the inverted Hard Crack.
Invertion, it turns out, occurs at any temperature above 110. If I need an invert syrup, I should not go past 115C. If I want a Hard Crack, I just need to reach 154C. The main thing is that the total simmering time above 110C should be no less than 30 mins at pH2 for completing a full invertion.

Now I will go and make me some nice hard invert sugar.

I was going to suggest a candy making forum or article. Temp is everything in candy making. Temp is the difference between carmel, taffy, toffe, or hard candy,

 

[InspectorJon]

From Ragus Website:
Brewing sugar is a candy sugar made from invert sugar syrup, cane molasses, and dextrose. Producing this bespoke sugar product requires extensive sugar expertise and world-class manufacturing equipment, brought together via advanced techniques. As a result, it is only produced commercially in large inversion pans and cannot be made domestically.

So I guess we are just wasting out time.

This is what I understand so far from following this. Please correct if I got something wrong.
Inversion happens as the result of low pH, a minimum temperature and an amount of time, all three factors being variable and each affecting the outcome. Darkening happens as a result of time at a given temperature or the addition of other already darkened sugar (molasses).

So I suspect that darkening not from the introduction of molasses is the result is either caramelizing or Maillard reaction and not the inversion process. Since Maillard reactions are said to occur in a high pH environment it looks like darkening is primarily caramelization. Caramelized sugar is no as fermentable as plain sugar so to much (say a black sugar) of that might not be desirable.

Perhaps we can say that inverted brewing sugar is darkened, more flavorful inverted sugar.

 

[Protos]

So I suspect that darkening not from the introduction of molasses is the result is either caramelizing or Maillard reaction and not the inversion process.

Yes. That's right. As far as I understand now (after a massive search and read on various forums) invertion and darkening are different processes driven by different reactions. Also, I learned there's different kinds of darkening: one from Maillard reaction (which needs adding alkaline substances to the boiling sugar) and another from Caramelization, which is essentially a preliminary stage of burning and which produces different flavours.

I'm agree it requires a professional expertise to produce a real Invert Caramel Sugar, where those different processes are combined and balanced.
However, I don't think anyone trying inverting or caramelizing his sugar at home just wastes his time.
Because, empirically and practically, all the theories behind the process are proven to work in the real world, whether one understands them or not. Table sugar does really significantly change its brewing properties after invertion. It does really darken (Caramelization) when held at a proper temperature for a promer length of time, and does get a different flavour when lye is added to it (Maillard reaction).

 

[cire]

Brewing Sugars​

Brewing Sugars are produced from Raw Cane and Demerara Sugars, with colours ranging from light brown amber to dark brown, and with flavours ranging from mellow to robust treacle. They are fully inverted products; in liquid form they consist of 95% invert and 5% sucrose, while in crystalline block form they contain 75% invert, 5% sucrose and20% dextrose. Brewing Sugars are used for either economic reasons to produce the correct balance of colour and flavours, or as a nitrogen diluent to help clarify beer. They are 95% readily fermentable; lighter coloured types are used in brewing lager and pale ale, medium coloured in bitter and strong ale, and darker ones in mild ale, stouts and porters. Overuse of sugar, or using a mash with high levels of maltose, will produce thin beer. Adding dextrose or glucose can impart body and a nutty flavour. The higher the concentration of unfermented dextrose, the fruitier the beer will taste. When fermentation is complete, additional ‘priming’ sugar can be added to start secondary fermentation and increase flavour.

Caramelised Syrups​

These are produced by controlled heating of a sugar solution, at approximately 170°C. As the water evaporates, sugar molecules break down into difructose anhydride, creating compounds that contribute to flavour and a very dark brown appearance – this process is called caramelisation. Caramelised Syrups are used for colour and flavour development in dairy products, drinks, ice creams, puddings, savoury sauces and toffee. The required declaration for use in colour development is caramel E150a or Plain Caramel, and for flavour development is Caramel or Caramelised Sugar.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Commercial invert apparently uses strictly Hydrochloric and/or Sulfuric Acid, and appears to be carried out at temperatures in the neighborhood of only about 160-180 degrees F. Anything above that appears to merely be done whereby to induce caramelization (which is a separate subject altogether).

Since retail AMS (known to commercials as CRS) is a proprietary blend of HCl and H2SO4 it seems to be a logical acid choice. I surmise (based upon people claiming inversion success with merely a wedge of lemon) that for 1 Kg. of Sugar to be inverted, 1 mL of this acid should likely be more than adequate. Doing this in my head it appears that post-invert neutralization would require roughly 1/3 gram of Baking Soda.

AMS (CRS) is about similar to 30% Phosphoric Acid as to the latter's mEq H+ strength at a (highly specific) pH range of roughly 5.3-5.4. But since (unlike weak acids such as Phosphoric, Lactic, Citric, and Tartaric, etc...) both HCl and H2SO4 are claimed to fully dissociate at effectively any pH, AMS (CRS) presents much the same mEq acid strength at essentially any pH.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

The above post presumes distilled water.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Confirmation of inversion requires that one measure the polarization of the solution before and after. It may be that much of what is presumed to be invert sugar is merely caramelized sugar.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I've been reading some peer reviewed articles from the late 1890's to the early 1920's on 'Wiley Online' regarding sugar inversion. The amount of acid required is such that neutralization is not considered to be required per a number of these articles, albeit that neutralization was discussed, so clearly we are not talking about a lot of requisite acidity here.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Back in the days of yore mentioned in my post above, when neutralization was undertaken the neutralizing substance of choice was Calcium Carbonate. Baking Soda was never mentioned. But the poor solubility of Calcium Carbonate was discussed, as was filtration.