Glucose syrup: what is it and what is it for? Invert syrup - what is it for? Recipes for making syrup or invert sugar at home

Glucose syrup is widely used by confectioners, as it prevents products from sugaring and adds greater plasticity to them.

Previously, it was used mainly by professionals, but now the reproduction of complex recipes in home kitchens has become very popular. This article is for those confectioners who strive to achieve maximum results with minimal cost and effort.

We learn materiel!

Glucose syrup is a viscous mass, homogeneous and transparent, with an intensely sweet taste without impurities. Visually reminiscent Used in the process of preparing desserts, as it prevents the crystallization of sugar and makes products more flexible. Widely used in cooking:


On average, the working temperature of glucose syrup starts from 50 ° C - it is at this point that it becomes more fluid and pliable. Energy value - 316 kcal.

How to make glucose syrup? Basic recipe

As you can see from the information above, the syrup is indispensable if you are set on a consistently high-quality result. Yes, you can buy it in any large confectionery stores, but what about those who, due to their place of residence, are unable to purchase it? The need for invention is cunning, and it is possible to prepare glucose syrup at home, and its performance will not differ in any way from the factory version. So, you will need the following products:


Cooking

1. Pour sugar into a thick-walled saucepan, pour hot water over it. Stir to achieve maximum dissolution

2. Put the saucepan on a small fire and bring to a boil.

3. Pour into acid, mix.

4. Cover the pan with a lid and, without stirring, cook for 25-30 minutes. Focus on the color - it should become soft golden. Remove from fire.

5. Dissolve soda in 10 ml of water and pour the solution into the syrup. The reaction will immediately start from the contact of citric acid and soda - the mass will foam and increase in volume. Wait until she "calms down" completely - this usually takes up to 15 minutes.

6. Pour the syrup into a jar with a tight lid and store in a dry, dark place.

Berry Marshmallow Recipe with Glucose Syrup

This is objectively the most delicious marshmallow you've ever tasted. The recipe is flexible, and if desired, you can easily replace raspberries with fruit to taste:


step by step

How to make glucose syrup, we told earlier, so we omit it in the recipe.

1. Mix the berry puree with sugar 1 in the microwave for 30-40 seconds.

2. Beat the warm puree until the sugar dissolves completely.

3. Add protein to the raspberry mass and continue to beat - the mass should become very light and increase in size by 4-5 times.

4. In parallel, take care of the syrup. For it, mix agar-agar with water, bring to a boil and add sugar 2 along with the syrup. Boil the mixture until its temperature is 110 o C.

5. Pour the hot syrup into the berry-protein mass in a thin stream, without stopping whisking.

6. Marshmallow mass is considered ready when it clearly holds the shape given to it (the so-called "hard peaks").

7. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a star tip, pipe the marshmallows onto a silicone mat or parchment paper. Leave the blanks overnight at room temperature for airing.

8. In the morning, connect the frozen halves in pairs, gluing them with the bottoms, sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar mixed with a small amount of corn starch.

That's all! Delicious and beautiful treat is ready. With this recipe, we have proven that making glucose syrup is not a waste of food and time, but gives more scope for creativity.

Mirror glaze and glucose syrup

The first mention of glucose syrup among housewives appeared when the recipe for this glaze was made public. It differs from the usual chocolate coatings and fondants, as it has an intense shine, can be dyed in various colors, is very plastic and effective. Pre-frozen products are covered with it, thanks to which the glaze lays evenly and quickly hardens. In this article, we will give a recipe for what will allow you to use food coloring. Yes, it is very sweet, but it lays down in a thin layer, so it does not affect the main taste of the treat. So take:


Cooking

1. Soak the gelatin in half the water.

2. Mix the remaining water with sugar and glucose syrup. Bring to a boil over low heat.

3. Pour the boiling syrup over the condensed milk and chocolate. Stir without whisking. Add swollen gelatin.

4. Mix thoroughly again and add the dye. Punch the mass with a blender in order to achieve perfect smoothness and get rid of air bubbles. Leave the glaze for 7-8 hours in the refrigerator. Use preheated to 35°C.

Examining the label of a confectionery product, in the list of ingredients you can find such a component as glucose syrup. This product is a natural sweetener and helps prevent sugar crystallization. If earlier glucose syrup was used only on an industrial scale, then recently you can find many recipes that require this ingredient to reproduce.

Glucose syrup is obtained from the factory processing of corn and potato starch. The saccharification process is carried out under pressure, due to which the fermentation of glucose occurs.

The finished product is a viscous semi-liquid mass. Most often it is transparent or painted in a pale yellow color.

The taste of the syrup is intensely sweet, it has no foreign impurities and smell. This product is used in the production of confectionery products in order to improve the taste and extend their shelf life. But recently, more and more often, glucose syrup is used to make desserts at home. You can buy it in a specialized store or order it in the online market.

Chemical composition and calorie content of the product

When raw materials are saccharified through the use of acids and temperature changes, glucose is released.

Some of it is converted to fructose, and the final product contains the following components:

  • glucose;
  • fructose;
  • oligosaccharide impurities.

The predominant component of the syrup is glucose, while fructose and impurities make up a small part of it.

The nutritional value of the product is as follows:

  • 0 g proteins;
  • 0 g fat;
  • 80 g of carbohydrates.

100 g of glucose syrup contains from 315 to 330 kcal.

The use of syrup in cooking

Glucose syrup is used in the production of desserts everywhere.

The following products contain it in various quantities:

  • caramel;
  • glaze;
  • marshmallow;
  • paste;
  • ice cream;
  • desserts intended for storage at low temperatures.

This component allows you to improve the quality of finished products according to the following criteria:

  • gives shine and smoothness;
  • maintains softness and airiness of the consistency;
  • prevents the appearance of large ice crystals;
  • delays the melting of frozen desserts at temperatures exceeding 0 degrees;
  • increases the flexibility of products and gives saturation to their taste;
  • allows you to extend the shelf life of products, while maintaining aesthetic and taste qualities.

On a note. The operating temperature of glucose syrup is 50 degrees or more. As a result of heating, the product acquires the desired consistency - fluid and pliable.

What can replace glucose syrup

Since glucose syrup is most often sold only in specialized stores, it happens that it is not always possible to purchase it.

But if this particular ingredient is needed to prepare the dessert, it is permissible to replace it with other compounds:

  1. Syrup. This product is produced as a by-product in the manufacture of sugar and starches, both corn and potato. In appearance, the composition resembles liquid honey, and, in addition to glucose, contains dextrin and maltose. Depending on the initial product, molasses is divided into light molasses, which is isolated from starch, and black molasses, obtained from sugar beets.
  2. Corn syrup. This composition is made from corn starch, and it is also divided into light and dark. In the production of confectionery products, the first option is most often used, which is close in composition to molasses. This syrup contains a lot of glucose, but there is a type of product with a high percentage of fructose. Such compounds dissolve better and have a richer taste.
  3. Invert syrups. These solutions contain equal parts of glucose and fructose, and are produced during the hydrolytic decomposition of sucrose. As a rule, invert syrups are used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages and artificial honey.

If you can’t get the desired composition, you can prepare the syrup yourself at home.

Basic glucose syrup recipe

There are varieties of pastries and other confectionery products that cannot be prepared without glucose syrup.

To make this component, you will need the following components:

  • 350 g of sugar;
  • 1/4 teaspoon citric acid;
  • a pinch of baking soda;
  • 150 ml filtered water.

How to make glucose syrup:

  1. Pour granulated sugar into a small saucepan with thick walls.
  2. Pour water in a thin stream and put the container on fire.
  3. Bring the composition to a boil, and then pour in the granules of citric acid.
  4. Wait until the mixture boils again, keep it on fire for a few more minutes and turn off the burner.
  5. When the syrup has cooled down a little, add a pinch of soda and stir.

On a note. After adding the last component, bubbles will appear on the surface of the composition. You must wait until they disappear, and then you can use the syrup for its intended purpose or store it in the refrigerator.

Invert syrup at home

Invert syrup is obtained by heating sugar dissolved in water using acid. The last component under the influence of high temperatures allows you to split sucrose into glucose and fructose. In industrial production, for these purposes, not only citric, but also hydrochloric, acetic or lactic acids are used.

To make invert syrup at home, you need the following ingredients:

  • 350 g of granulated sugar;
  • 1/3 teaspoon citric acid;
  • 150 - 170 ml of water.

How to prepare invert syrup:

  1. Pour the sugar into a heavy bottomed saucepan and pour in the water.
  2. Put the dishes on a small fire and cook, stirring constantly.
  3. After boiling the mixture, pour citric acid into it and stir.
  4. Reduce the heat to a minimum, cover the container with a lid and cook its contents for half an hour.

Advice. After cooking, it is worth checking the quality of the resulting product. To do this, you need to take a small amount of the mixture into a spoon, drop ice water into it, and then quickly squeeze the syrup with two fingers, and then sharply open them.

If a thick “thread” is pulled, then the product is made correctly.

Glucose fructose syrup

Glucose-fructose syrup is a mixture of these components in almost equal proportions, and according to the main characteristics it is equated to an invert composition. This product is also known as isoglucose. It is a viscous liquid, colorless and odorless, with a sweet taste. It is obtained from starch-containing raw materials.

To make glucose-fructose syrup at home, you will need to purchase fructose, which is freely sold in pharmacies.

For the manufacture of the composition, the components are used in the following proportions:

  • 150 g of sugar;
  • 150 g fructose;
  • 120 - 150 ml of water.

How to prepare syrup:

  1. Mix sugar with water and put on fire.
  2. Wait for the composition to boil and the sugar to dissolve, then introduce fructose.
  3. Constantly stirring the composition, boil it for a quarter of an hour, and then remove from heat and cool.

Attention! You can store such a syrup for no more than three days, pouring it into a tightly closed container.

Knowing how to prepare glucose syrup, you can not waste time looking for this ingredient at specialized points of sale. Following the above recipes, it is not difficult to make it yourself, and in terms of quality and characteristics, such a product will not yield to a purchased one.


Glucose syrup is the thing without which baking is almost impossible, especially when it comes to gingerbread and gingerbread cookies, and today I will tell you how to make such a syrup yourself.

I think that for those housewives who often make various pastries on their own, this recipe for making glucose syrup should be familiar. As I said, most often this syrup is used for gingerbread dough, making cookies, as well as various creams and sweets. The peculiarity of this simple glucose syrup recipe is that when heated, the sugar in it is split into glucose and sucrose, hence its name. As a result, the syrup turns out to be viscous and transparent, it is stored for a rather long time and is not subjected to sugaring, which is very important.

Servings: 1

A very simple homemade glucose syrup recipe step by step with a photo. Easy to cook at home in 1 hour. Contains only 243 kilocalories. Author's recipe for home cooking.



  • Preparation time: 18 minutes
  • Cooking time: 1 hour
  • Amount of calories: 243 kilocalories
  • Servings: 1 serving
  • Occasion: For kids
  • Complexity: Very simple recipe
  • National cuisine: home kitchen
  • Dish type: Dessert, Syrup

Ingredients per serving

  • Sugar - 300 Grams
  • Water - 130 milliliters
  • Citric acid - 1.7 grams
  • Baking soda - 1.2 grams

Step by step cooking

  1. To begin with, take a not very deep pan and pour sugar into it.
  2. Pour the granulated sugar with the specified amount of water.
  3. We put the mass on the fire and bring it to a boil.
  4. After the syrup boils, add citric acid to it and again bring the mass to a boil.
  5. Then we make the weakest fire under the pan and cook the syrup for 30-35 minutes.
  6. When our syrup has cooled down a little, soda should be poured into it, after which small bubbles will appear on the surface of the syrup.
  7. When the bubbles are almost gone, the syrup is ready to use. You can immediately cook something with it, or you can pour the syrup into a jar and put it in the refrigerator, the syrup is stored for quite a long time.

Glucose is one of the most easily digestible sources of valuable nutrition that can increase the body's energy reserves and improve its functions. How to prepare a glucose solution and why, read further in the article.

What are glucose solutions?

There are isotonic and hypertonic solutions of this substance.

  • 5% isotonic glucose solution is used to replenish fluid reserves in the human body. In addition, this glucose solution is a serious source of nutrients, the metabolism of which releases a huge amount of energy in the tissues - the energy that is so necessary for the full functioning of the body.
  • In turn, a hypertonic glucose solution (10-40%) is used for intravenous injection into the body, and allows you to increase the osmotic pressure of the blood, improve the metabolism and antitoxic functions of our liver, increase the flow of fluid, which is directed from the tissues to the blood.
  • In addition to the above functions, the use of hypertonic glucose solutions also contributes to vasodilation, an increase in the volume of urine excreted by the body and activation of the contractile activity of the myocardium (heart muscle).
  • As a general tonic, glucose can be used in chronic diseases accompanied by physical exhaustion.

How to prepare a glucose solution at home?

Today, glucose solution has found the widest application in the medical practice of doctors of absolutely all specialties. This remedy is prescribed to patients with various infectious diseases, with hepatitis, as well as all sorts of possible intoxications. How to prepare a glucose solution, often other drugs that are injected into the body intravenously are diluted with a glucose solution.

Remember for yourself that in everyday practice, doctors in most cases prescribe 5% and 40% glucose solutions. However. In certain cases, there is a need for other dilutions of glucose - these are 10% and 20% concentrations of this substance.

How to prepare a glucose solution and make a calculation?

To know how to prepare a glucose solution yourself, read and study the method for preparing 1 liter of glucose solution (40%), which usually acts as the basis for preparing similar formulations of other concentrations.

You need to take sterile measuring utensils, glucose powder and solvent. Often, water is used as a solvent, which must comply with GOST FS 42-2619-89. Glucose should be taken in large quantities, with a margin, given that it will evaporate during the preparation process.

How to prepare a glucose solution - an alternative formula

Calculate the required mass fractions of each of the components in order to prepare a glucose solution, following the formula:

  • (A*100)/(100-B),
  • where A is the mass of anhydrous glucose,
  • B is the water content in it (as a percentage; this will be the correction for evaporation).

Thus, 440 g of glucose, having a moisture content of 10%, should be placed in a volumetric flask and filled with a small amount of hot water. Leave the solution until glucose is completely broken down and cooled. After that, this volume must be brought to 1 liter and filtered.

When the quantitative content of the substance, and hence the concentration of the solution turned out to be higher than required, the situation can be corrected with the help of the same water. The required volume of water to prepare a glucose solution can be calculated as follows:

  • X \u003d (A * (C - B)) / B,
  • where X is the volume of water required for dilution (expressed in ml);
  • A is the volume of the resulting solution, in ml;
  • B is the required solution concentration (in %);
  • C is the actual concentration of the solution (in %).

When the required concentration of the glucose solution is reached, pour the solution into a vial, attach a label to it indicating the concentration of the solution and its name (preferably also the date of manufacture and batch number).

Store the glucose solution in an airtight container away from direct sunlight at a temperature not exceeding +25°C.

A lot can be said about glucose syrup. The topic is so capacious and complex that you can write a dozen pages. Therefore, I will consider and touch on only the most important points, without going into deep theory. After all, using certain products, you must understand why they are needed in the recipe.

So, glucose, or glucose syrup, is a natural sugar substitute. Like all sugars, it belongs to the group of carbohydrates. Culinary products may contain the following carbohydrates:

  • Polysaccharides- complex carbohydrates, consisting of more than 10 monosaccharides. Polysaccharides are carbohydrates that are insoluble in water, have no sweet taste, and are broken down into oligosaccharides. For example, polysaccharides include starch - a white powder, tasteless and odorless, partially soluble in water heated to 60-80°C.
  • Oligosaccharides- complex carbohydrates containing from 2 to 10 monosaccharides.
  • disaccharides- carbohydrates, consisting of 2 monosaccharides. Disaccharides are divided into two groups: those with reducing ability and those without it. The reducing disaccharide has all the properties of monosaccharides, that is, high hygroscopicity, anti-crystallization abilities, and a shift in the freezing point. Sucrose has no reducing ability! This is necessary to know to determine the properties of sugars and calculate the dry residue of sugar in the final product (GOST 5903-89 "Confectionery products. Methods for determining sugar"). Disaccharides include sucrose, lactose (milk sugar present in milk), maltose and others. So, speaking of sucrose, we mean ordinary sugar - sweet white sand of crystals. Sucrose is made up of two monosaccharides: glucose and fructose. It has been assigned a sweetness ratio of 100%.
  • Monosaccharides- simple carbohydrates, consisting of one molecule, for example, glucose, fructose, galactose. They are not subject to hydrolysis (do not break down in water) and do not dissolve in alcohol.

The most commonly used monosaccharides in confectionery are fructose and glucose.

Fructose is found in fruit juices. It is the sweetest of all carbohydrates. Paired with glucose, it is part of honey (37%) and invert sugar (50%). Fructose is not thermostable: when heated, it decomposes, forming dyes. It is perfectly absorbed by the body, which allows it to be used by a wide range of consumers without impact to health. It has a high sweetness, which allows to reduce the mass of sugar in the final product without loss of quality and taste. It is a “sponge” that retains water (hygroscopicity), which is very important for products with a low fat content (prolongs their shelf life, preventing them from staling), saves products from drying out and cracking (body of sweets, ganache, fudge, etc.). An excellent preservative that quickly penetrates tissue walls. Does not crystallize. But obtaining fructose is quite expensive production, respectively, the cost of the product rises sharply, which is not always justified in the food industry.

Glucose, or sometimes referred to as "grape sugar", is present in honey and fruits. It has less sweetness than sucrose (74%). Dry glucose (dextrose) can be an excellent substitute for regular sugar in products where sweetness needs to be reduced without sacrificing dry matter. Replaced 1:1.

How is glucose syrup obtained?

Very often on confectionery forums you can find the question "How to make glucose syrup at home?". There is only one answer: do not cook it at home!

To obtain glucose syrup, starch is boiled with dilute sulfuric acid for several hours. In order to remove sulfuric acid from the resulting solution, chalk is added to it, which forms calcium sulfate with sulfuric acid, the solution is filtered and evaporated. It turns out a thick sweet mass, called molasses, which is used in the confectionery industry. Molasses, in addition to glucose, contains various impurities of starch hydrolysis (the process of decomposition with the help of water). To obtain pure glucose, the boiling process is continued. The solution obtained after neutralization and filtration is concentrated until glucose crystals begin to fall out of it.

As you can see, it is much easier to buy ready-made glucose syrup in specialized confectionery stores.

Sweetness of glucose syrup

Glucose syrup is a clear, sweet liquid with a slight taste and no smell. Glucose syrup has 75% of the sweetness of sucrose (sugar).

Below is a comparative table of the degree of sweetness of sugars:

When substituting one carb for another in a recipe, don't forget to count the sweetness!


What does DE mean on a glucose bottle?

As a rule, the “DE” indicator and the numbers in percentage terms are written on a jar of glucose syrup. This is done so that we know what kind of product it is and what properties it has. Basically, all the syrup that is sold in Russia is a syrup with the equivalent of 42-43%.

DE is a dextrose equivalent, an indicator of the level of glucose in a substance, the degree of its purification and the level of impurities.

I repeat that in the process of starch processing, the breakdown of many substances contained in it occurs, they are purified, split into constituent parts, and so on until glucose molecules appear. This is where the fun begins: the degree of purification of glucose syrup can be different. The more glucose content in the syrup and the less impurities, the higher the DE. Conversely, the lower the glucose content and the higher the amount of by-products, the lower the DE.

The modern enzymatic method of starch processing by means of hydrolysis and the reduction of pollution by by-products allows obtaining a product with a high DE index.

With the help of DE, we can find out the depth of starch hydrolysis: for starch, DE is 0, and for glucose this indicator is 100. That is, a high DE indicates a quality product with a high glucose content, and a low DE indicates a low glucose content and a large amount of impurities in him.

With the growth of DE, the hygroscopic ability of the product, anti-crystallization properties, and freezing point shift increase. Therefore, it is customary to divide syrups into several categories depending on the content of DE:

  • Low DE syrup (20-38%)- syrup has a high viscosity, not very sweet.
  • Syrup with an average DE (39-58%)- well-prepared syrup with reducing sugars, but still with impurities. It has a moderately sweet taste, transparent, colorless, odorless, medium viscosity, binds water well, reduces the degree of freezing, acts as an anti-crystallizing agent. Such a syrup is often used to prepare a glaze (mirror glaze): because. the syrup is moderately viscous, the freezing point drops, and when defrosted, the product behaves perfectly. Also, this glucose syrup is suitable for making ganache, marmalade, caramel, fillings for eclairs and other desserts. Remember: frosting can only be frozen based on fats!
  • Syrup with high DE (more than 59%)- Syrup with a high content of glucose. It has a low viscosity (fluid), moderately sweet, excellent moisture retention, hygroscopic, successfully binds water. It is well suited to products saturated with water. The syrup acts as a “sponge”: it absorbs water and retains it, which prevents the product from drying out (candies, nougat, marshmallows, marshmallows, etc.). And anti-crystallization properties help from the formation of a “dry crust”, winding of the product.

What is glucose-fructose syrup?

Glucose-fructose syrup (equivalent to invert syrup) is a mixture of glucose and fructose. The syrup has gone by several names: isoglucose, high fructose corn syrup, and glucose-fructose syrup. Indicators of the content of substances are approximately the following: glucose 51%, fructose 42%, oligosaccharides (impurities) - 7%.

Such syrups are widely used in the production of soft drinks, jams and preserves. They allow you to increase bacterial stability, fruit flavor. Adding glucose-fructose syrup during canning will help prevent crystallization of sucrose and preserve the natural color of fruits and vegetables.

Currently, the United States is producing third-generation syrup, in which fructose is about 90-95%. One of the ways to obtain such a syrup is to create conditions for the partial crystallization of glucose and its subsequent removal from the glucose-fructose syrup.

What is glucose syrup for?

  • With it, you can lower the freezing point of the product, i.e. the temperature at which the product with syrup will begin to crystallize water into ice.
  • Helps reduce the sweetness of the product.
  • Glucose syrup reduces water activity. Water promotes the reproduction of microorganisms. Therefore, glucose in this case acts as a preservative, which allows the final product to extend the shelf life (ganache, candies).
  • Glucose syrup is hygroscopic, i.e. has moisture-retaining properties. It is recommended to use it when there is a liquid in the product that must be bound to prevent the final product from drying out (marshmallow, marshmallow, nougat, marmalade), the formation of a dry crust on the surface (marshmallow, for example), when there is a lot of liquid in the recipe that needs to be stabilized. Glucose is also used to bind water in the filling to prevent the dough from getting wet. Drying ganaches in candy cans can cause cracking of the candy body.
  • Glucose helps prevent crystallization in the final product.
  • Absorbs and retains moisture in the final product (especially high DE syrups).

Often, experienced confectioners use two syrups at once to achieve the desired result and combine several properties: inert and glucose syrup.

Features of working with glucose syrup

  • Microwave glucose slightly before use (BUT: do not heat above 90°C - this will dry out the glucose!).
  • Collect glucose with a wet hand.
  • If you are preparing gelatin mastic, then you will need glucose syrup, and not dextrose (glucose powder).
  • Glucose syrup is added to the dough in a proportion of 2-4% to flour to prevent staleness, and in an amount of up to 8% to reduce the crystallization of sugars.

Can I replace glucose syrup with invert sugar?

Remember: glucose syrup and invert sugar are completely different syrups! If you want to replace one with the other, then you must understand what goals you are pursuing and what you want to achieve. And if you are not familiar with confectionery chemistry, then it is better to rely on the recipes of professional confectioners, where everything is adjusted to a percentage and a gram :)