Alternative Sweeteners for Sausage?

[blacknwhite71]

I always used to add a little sugar to my sausage, fresh, smoked, summer, snack sticks, etc. Not enough for it to taste sweet, but i think it rounds off the flavor profile. I've started eating as low carb as possible and want to keep eating that way. I also give a lot of my sausage away to family members that are diabetic. I haven't been using any sugar in my batches the past couple of years. They are good, but I still feel like thats missing. I added a little Swerve "brown sugar" substitute to my last batch of breakfast sausage and it was very good, I wonder if any certain sweeteners can help with browning like sugar does. One of my favorite sausages to make is cane syrup jalapeno smoked sausage. I havent been making that because of the sugar content and it would need much more sweetener if i used an alternative. So I'm curious what experiences with artificial sweeteners in sausage making other people have had. Thanks

 

[SmokinEdge]

I always used to add a little sugar to my sausage, fresh, smoked, summer, snack sticks, etc. Not enough for it to taste sweet, but i think it rounds off the flavor profile. I've started eating as low carb as possible and want to keep eating that way. I also give a lot of my sausage away to family members that are diabetic. I haven't been using any sugar in my batches the past couple of years. They are good, but I still feel like thats missing. I added a little Swerve "brown sugar" substitute to my last batch of breakfast sausage and it was very good, I wonder if any certain sweeteners can help with browning like sugar does. One of my favorite sausages to make is cane syrup jalapeno smoked sausage. I havent been making that because of the sugar content and it would need much more sweetener if i used an alternative. So I'm curious what experiences with artificial sweeteners in sausage making other people have had. Thanks

This may be an interesting write up for you. Maybe it will help.

https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/diabetes/does-stevia-raise-blood-sugar

 

[1MoreFord]

Any artificial sweetener with maltodextrin in it is said to raise blood sugar. This includes Equal, which my diabetic mother used for years, and the doctor kept after her because of her A1C levels.
Yet the doc's and dieticians kept saying Equal is fine for diabetics.

 

[1MoreFord]

OP, you might look at Allulose as a sweetener for your needs.
I've seen it recommended by Keto and diabetic diet types. It's available as in a powdered form and as a liquid.

 

[tallbm]

I always used to add a little sugar to my sausage, fresh, smoked, summer, snack sticks, etc. Not enough for it to taste sweet, but i think it rounds off the flavor profile. I've started eating as low carb as possible and want to keep eating that way. I also give a lot of my sausage away to family members that are diabetic. I haven't been using any sugar in my batches the past couple of years. They are good, but I still feel like thats missing. I added a little Swerve "brown sugar" substitute to my last batch of breakfast sausage and it was very good, I wonder if any certain sweeteners can help with browning like sugar does. One of my favorite sausages to make is cane syrup jalapeno smoked sausage. I havent been making that because of the sugar content and it would need much more sweetener if i used an alternative. So I'm curious what experiences with artificial sweeteners in sausage making other people have had. Thanks

High there and welcome!

I'm not sure about browning but my guess is Allulose would be the closest option that is low carb and it is closer to the sugar family than other good alternatives.
As was mentioned already, avoid any of the maltodextrin and dextrose stuff. It is not sugar but your body will act like it is sugar so it's a tomato-tomahto situation lol

Erythritol is another great option for just sweetening and I'm pretty sure it won't brown for you AND it will/can recrystalize after dissolving if you are making something sweet that needs a smoother texture. Allulose will not recrystalize.

Both options are about 70% as sweet as sugar so when it comes to measuring and bulking they are amazing options that are not far off.
Some other alternative sweetener options are like 400x sweeter than sugar so measuring them out is difficult and if you get too much of it they things taste bitter.

Finally, with erythritol and allulose understand that they are 0 net carbs because your body doesn't absorb them a nutrition, so this means your body will get rid of it. They aren't as hard on your digestive system as something like maltitol, xylitol, or sorbitol (those are like freaking hardcore laxatives in small amounts) but if you eat a bunch of eryth or allulose you will have to go to the restroom. If you continue eating more after your 1st restroom break your body will react stronger to getting rid of it and that will be uncofortable for you and your toilet lol.

Eat normal amounts and you are good. Normal amount??? Don't eat more than like 3-4oz (yes like 1/4 pound) of the stuff in a sitting and you will be fine hahahaha.

I hope this info helps :D

 

[nomoreusmc]

I'm also a diabetic and I've been using Splenda brown sugar as a replacement for all my sucrose and sugar in all my recipes and I've had no adverse reactions that I can tell. It's a blend of Splenda and sugar and is not sugar-free but is much friendlier to the diabetic diet and glycemic index is way way lower than sugar. Been mixing sugar and diabetic sweeteners for years to try and get a low glycemic index but a good taste. This is by far the best I found.

 

[Displaced Texan]

I bought a Stevia extract at Whole Foods. It has one ingredient: Organic stevia leaf extract.

Wanting to try allulose.

 

[Fueling Around]

I bought a Stevia extract at Whole Foods. It has one ingredient: Organic stevia leaf extract.

Wanting to try allulose.

Stevia can be bitter and is very easy to over apply.

I love Allulose for sugar substitute. I bake a lot of yeast bread products.

 

[Displaced Texan]

Stevia can be bitter and is very easy to over apply.

I love Allulose for sugar substitute. I bake a lot of yeast bread products.

Agree on your stevia assessment, especially the over apply part.

 

[jcam222]

Allulose is a very nice sweetener and doesn't have the bitter taste Stevia does. The caution with allulose in baking is it browns quickly. Most of the "pro" keto bakers use it 50/50 with erythritol when baking. It really shines in liquids like sauces, caramel etc. because it doesn't recrystallize like erythritol. For brown sugar my go to is always brown swerve. If you Google alldayidreamaboutfood homemade brown swerve she has an easy recipe to make it from bulk erythritol and a touch of molasses. The molasses sugar is negligible and same as the commercial stuff. While not natural I've been using liquid sucralose for my coffee. Unlike the granular Splenda that packed with maltodextrin it's pure sucralose. I also just ordered a liquid Splenda pure monk fruit to try. Monk fruit is another great natural sugar sub. You have to be careful though as most granular sold is mostly erythritol with just enough monk fruit to call it that. Lots of great choices for sure.

 

[1MoreFord]

Allulose is a very nice sweetener and doesn't have the bitter taste Stevia does. The caution with allulose in baking is it browns quickly. Most of the "pro" keto bakers use it 50/50 with erythritol when baking. It really shines in liquids like sauces, caramel etc. because it doesn't recrystallize like erythritol. For brown sugar my go to is always brown swerve. If you Google alldayidreamaboutfood homemade brown swerve she has an easy recipe to make it from bulk erythritol and a touch of molasses. The molasses sugar is negligible and same as the commercial stuff. While not natural I've been using liquid sucralose for my coffee. Unlike the granular Splenda that packed with maltodextrin it's pure sucralose. I also just ordered a liquid Splenda pure monk fruit to try. Monk fruit is another great natural sugar sub. You have to be careful though as most granular sold is mostly erythritol with just enough monk fruit to call it that. Lots of great choices for sure.

I really like Allulose and believe for my taste buds it's the closest taste to real sugar. Problem is it's only ~70% as sweet as sugar and, of course, it's more expensive. The 70% problem can mostly be neutralized by using Lakanto Monkfruit with Allulose. It's my current favorite 1:1 sugar replacement although I haven't tried baking with it. Plan on trying to make my own clone version but haven't gotten off my butt yet.

Sucralose is said to be bad for your gut bacteria and gut health in general by lots of the healthy advice folks. I've found and gone to Sweetz Monk Fruit & Stevia liquid sweetener. There can be a bit of a bitter taste if ya get carried away. Just don't try to get things super sweet.

Victor Prince, of Southern Keto, on YouTube also has a home brew brown sugar copycat of Brown Swerve. Haven't tried it because for my minimal uses of brown sugar I'll probably just buy Brown Swerve.

 

[dward51]

I have not tried an alternative in sausage making. But.....

At one time or another I think I've tried all the alternatives in my coffee. Allulose is not the same sweet flavor, and monk fruit blend was sort of "meh". I always seem to come back to a sucralose liquid (not the splenda brand though). I found some years ago online from a company called Sweetzfree, and the most recent I've bought is off of amazon. It's Capella brand and it's got the plain sugar taste. I put a few drops of that and a few of their Irish Cream flavor drops in my coffee in the morning and I'm super happy!

Back to the OT of sausage making... Also it depends on how much the recipe calls for. If it's a 1/4 cup of brown sugar in 5 pounds of meat, that's 53 grams of carbs but it is spread over the entire 5 pound batch. So if you are making a stuffed 1/4 pound link from the 5 pounds (that's 20 links), you only end up with 2.65 grams of carbs from the sugar in each link. That's not really a problem on a low carb diet, even if you eat 2 links.

That is the way I've been looking at it. I just use regular sugar or brown sugar but consider the total amount in the batch and try to figure the "per serving" off that. Now if the recipe calls for 2 cups, that's another story!

 

[Fueling Around]

Great observations.

...
At one time or another I think I've tried all the alternatives in my coffee. Allulose is not the same sweet flavor, and monk fruit blend was sort of "meh". I always seem to come back to a sucralose liquid (not the splenda brand though).
...
Back to the OT of sausage making... Also it depends on how much the recipe calls for. If it's a 1/4 cup of brown sugar in 5 pounds of meat, that's 53 grams of carbs but it is spread over the entire 5 pound batch. So if you are making a stuffed 1/4 pound link from the 5 pounds (that's 20 links), you only end up with 2.65 grams of carbs from the sugar in each link. That's not really a problem on a low carb diet, even if you eat 2 links.
...

All taste buds are different in perception of sweet.
I like Allulose because it doesn't have the harsh sweet flavor as sugar.
I use erythritol very sparing as it gives me gas. Well, extra gas as I already produce enough.
Some people on restricted diets need to eliminate as much hidden sugars because they don't read labels and wonder why their A1C is 8.
The annoying part of sugar substitutes is that they get passed in your urine.

 

[Hapagrrrl]

I have not tried an alternative in sausage making. But.....

At one time or another I think I've tried all the alternatives in my coffee. Allulose is not the same sweet flavor, and monk fruit blend was sort of "meh". I always seem to come back to a sucralose liquid (not the splenda brand though). I found some years ago online from a company called Sweetzfree, and the most recent I've bought is off of amazon. It's Capella brand and it's got the plain sugar taste. I put a few drops of that and a few of their Irish Cream flavor drops in my coffee in the morning and I'm super happy!

Back to the OT of sausage making... Also it depends on how much the recipe calls for. If it's a 1/4 cup of brown sugar in 5 pounds of meat, that's 53 grams of carbs but it is spread over the entire 5 pound batch. So if you are making a stuffed 1/4 pound link from the 5 pounds (that's 20 links), you only end up with 2.65 grams of carbs from the sugar in each link. That's not really a problem on a low carb diet, even if you eat 2 links.

That is the way I've been looking at it. I just use regular sugar or brown sugar but consider the total amount in the batch and try to figure the "per serving" off that. Now if the recipe calls for 2 cups, that's another story!

We've switched to Coconut Sugar in our coffee. Its similar to brown sugar, a little nuttier, and has a lower glycemic level (slower sugar spikes). I can see it working well in a brine or marinade...but havent tried it myself yet.