Help me solve these cooking mysteries

[KungFuPanda]

I have two questions.

I recently learned to make brown sugar.  Why didn't I know about this sooner.  Why would I ever buy brown sugar when I can just keep molasses in the house?  This revelation let to another question.  Why am I ever making brown sugar?  Why don't recipes just tell you to add white sugar and a certain amount of molasses?  Is there any advantage to combining them outside the recipe first?

My second question has to do with freezing pasta dishes.  Freezer meals have really kept me happy since I started working.  Why aren't there more freezer pasta dishes where you just add raw pasta to the recipe?  I've been waiting about a year for this pasta in the oven to come to temperature.  It cooked for almost an hour.  Surely that's enough time for liquid to soak into rigatoni. Other than "oven ready" lasagna noodles, I don't see a lot of baked pasta recipes that call for uncooked noodles.  Is there a reason for this.  Have I been adding an unnecessary step for years and risking overcooked noodles while I'm at it? If I'm honest, some of these noodles end up a little overcooked by the time they thaw and bake.  

 

[Clarita]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

Why am I ever making brown sugar?  Why don't recipes just tell you to add white sugar and a certain amount of molasses?  Is there any advantage to combining them outside the recipe first?

Seriously I have the same question. We've started making brown sugar ourselves, the only thing I can think of is the amount called for is so small (like a tablespoon or something) that it's easier to mix a cup than to mix based on a tablespoon of sugar. 

I have also wondered about the baked pasta thing... I'm nervous to just try it once even though I guess it doesn't have to be a huge loss.

[kirstenhill]

I personally find molasses a sticky pain to deal with and I hate the smell...so the convenience of brown sugar is well worth it.  We use enough of it that it never turns hard before the bag is out.  My kids like putting it in oatmeal, so it's common for us to just be using a spoonful or two at a time.

[Bootsie]

When you cook pasta, starch is released into the water.  If you add it to a dish raw, not only do you need more liquid for the pasta to absorb, the the sauce will be thickened by the starch.

[Arcadia]

I rarely use molasses. A 12oz jar can last forever. I use brown sugar more often so a 2lb bag will get used up.

[Harriet Vane]

I use raw noodles every single time I make lasagna. Turns out great.

[Katy]

The only reason you need to make brown sugar in advance is if it's for a candy recipe, something like candied pecans or caramel. Or maybe brown sticky buns.  It might be hard to combine the two before the sugar melts if you don't turn it into brown sugar first.

You can also make powdered sugar in a blender.

I always make lasagna with raw noodles too.  You could probably do that with ANY pasta as long as you make sure to add enough liquid.

[Shoeless]

There's no cost saving in making brown sugar, so I don't bother. It's a neat trick to know if I run out of brown sugar, but otherwise, why bother?

[vonfirmath]

molasses is sticky and I'd prefer not to deal with it.

 

[Lisa]

I'm curious how do you made brown sugar?

I always make lasagna with raw noodles.

[freesia]

2 minutes ago, Lisa said:

I'm curious how do you made brown sugar?

I always make lasagna with raw noodles.

You make brown sugar by mixing white sugar and molasses. I do about a Tablespoon per cup. 

OP, I stopped premixing the molasses and sugar years ago. Dh has an allergy to sulfites which makes boughten Brown sugar hard to find—if at all possible. When I learned how to make brown sugar, I wondered why no one had ever told me how to do it. I am particularly baffled by some recipes that ask for whit sugar and brown sugar and molasses. 
I recently read that mixing v not mixing can effect texture in cookies, but I’ve never experimented and my cookies come out fine—new stoves or new countries I live in effect them more. I only mix now for something like a crumble on top of a cooked fruit dish or coffee cake. 
 

[Tanaqui]

I prefer to use a fancy sugar instead of brown sugar - actually, I prefer one of several fancy sugars instead of brown sugar, all of which are not "white sugar with molasses added back" but "we never took all the molasses out in the first place, also, we're fair trade" so... that's why?

[Clarita]

28 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

I prefer to use a fancy sugar instead of brown sugar

I'd love to get my hands on some. I have never seen that. 

[KungFuPanda]

 

44 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

I prefer to use a fancy sugar instead of brown sugar - actually, I prefer one of several fancy sugars instead of brown sugar, all of which are not "white sugar with molasses added back" but "we never took all the molasses out in the first place, also, we're fair trade" so... that's why?

Like raw sugars?

[freesia]

1 hour ago, Tanaqui said:

I prefer to use a fancy sugar instead of brown sugar - actually, I prefer one of several fancy sugars instead of brown sugar, all of which are not "white sugar with molasses added back" but "we never took all the molasses out in the first place, also, we're fair trade" so... that's why?

Can you link?

[Tanaqui]

I actually buy my (fancy!) sugars at my local grocery store. I've stopped trying to figure out who, exactly, they're stocking for and just enjoy it when it suits me. (And complain when it doesn't. They totally rip us off on butter and yogurt.)

Right now I've got two brown sugars in my pantry, because for budgetary reasons I'm not stocking up on more until I use some of what I've already got stored. I've got my turbinado, which you probably can get at your grocery store, and my muscavado, which you might not be able to but which is super delish. And I've got some coconut sugar, of course, for when I really need real jaggery and not molasses sugar.