Crystallised Ginger

Just made some, and it is great!

I used lemonade instead of water, and the relatively unrefined brown sugar for the cooking. You can taste both of them in the finished product. I used normal sugar for the last bit but there wasn't quite enough of it (this stuff used all of the sugar in the house, white and brown) so it's all really sticky, but who cares as long as it tastes good?

mmm...
The pan/container/pot must be lid while boil/cook?
(Sorry about my english)

Covering would reduce evaporation, whihc would lengthen the time needed to reduce the liquid. Also, the possibility exists to boil over when it's covered.

Hey, how come your July comment is posted as a reply to my October comment? (Glitch)

I'm going to try this this weekend and I'm pretty excited aboutit.  I also homebrew and am curious as to what type of beer youended up putting this into.  Was it a porter, stout or some Belgianale?  Thank you.

a great bonus is that ginger is great at preventing sea sickness but unlike sea sickness tablets it wont make you lathargic it also tastes great

Sounds great. I can't wait to try it!

can any one say diabetic coma (i almost got diabetes once)

my doctor said i was very close to diabetes so i had to cut down on consumption for the whole of 5th grade diets suck :( but it least im healthy now

ha-HA, very easy indeed!

What a difference to the store bough stuff, this ginger is so fresh and soft mmmm! I tried boiling my ginger with a few limes, hard to say if it made much difference the power of ginger overpowers everything.

You can't really go back to store bought stuff after making this, the difference is amazing. Maker beware!

*belly rumbles with delight*

Maybe I should do some baking with mine?
You mean with the left over sugar? I thought I read that you were going to use it for home brew? I saved all my extra and will probably do the same, there's an outside chance I'll change my mind and use it when making some tasty pies!

Sadly, it's been 3 days since I made my ginger and I had the last piece last night (shared with 3 friends). How long the ginger lasts is inversely proportional to how tasty it is!

Great recipe. I start with a fruit juice though, enough to cover the root pieces and boil for awhile with out the sugar. The ginger takes on just a hint of the type of juice and after I add the sugar the remaining syrup is excellent. Pineapple ginger syrup over plain yogurt, or a bit of the raspberry ginger syrup in a salad dressing.

Yes, Lemon and Orange both good choices.
Robert

Smoke it.

I'm going to try this tonight Lemonie. Will post some pictures if it goes well!

Oh and for other people's reference:

TESCO: ~£2.50/kg
SAINSBURY: ~£4.50/kg
Spice superstore near my house: ~£3.50/kg

Me too! My mum loves crystallised ginger. It's going to be part of her birthday present.

Just peeled it all, seems like a waste to throw away all that skin, so I've washed it and am going to boil it up with some sugar in another pan then strain it and add it to the juices from the main batch to make stronger/more gingery syrup. Goes great on icecream!

Right! I thought I'd share some of my tips with you for the benefit of anyone else that was thinking about making this.

1) It's delicious! And hotter than the stuff you get in the store. (HURRAH!!!)
2) Mine I boiled for about 3.5 hours. I thought it was too crunchy when I drained it, but it's fine now. I wanted to boil it for another hour but I really needed to go to bed. *yawn*
3) After coating in sugar, leave on a tray or plate to cool and dry. Putting it in a tin caused it to go soggy and I had to recoat it with sugar in the morning.
4) Granulated sugar's a lot cheaper than caster sugar and worked fine for me.
5) The peelings I boiled didn't turn out as well as hoped. I got plenty of syrup from the main batch and the stuff from the peelings was cloudy, dirty looking and had an earthy taste. I threw it away instead of boiling it up with more sugar to thicken it.

I'll be doing this again. Despite paying three times what you did for my ginger, £2.50 a kilo was still cheap. Julian Graves charge £3 for 400g of crystallised ginger, and I much prefer the stuff I made. And I got free syrup for in/on ice cream.

Here is a work in progress. On the left, the simmering ginger chunks. Darkening and beginning to become more translucent. I just tried one but it's a little crunchy still (and damn hot!). On the right, my ginger skins. Straining over a pan.

Think if I do it again I'll boil the ginger for 10-15 minutes first then ditch the water to get rid of some of the kick, then make crystallised ginger.

Think I might strain the skins before the lumps. I just tried it and it's soooo fiery and sweet! *gleeful giggle*

This is awesome.

I have been buying crystalized ginger wholesale for years...11# bags for $22.00, but this sounds better! I always strain out the extra sugar in the bottom of the bag and put it aside to sprinkle on top of muffins before baking. We eat 1 piece after each meal for digestion. Also give it to friends undergoing chemo, for upset stomach. Many uses for it... but we only eat 1 piece, maximum 4 pieces a day.

Max 4 pieces...why so frugal? I sometimes eat a 200g bag in an evening !!

Where did you find the ginger so cheap ?

Managed to get some at £1 a lb...still cheaper than ready done, will have a go later.

I'd never thought of making crystalised ginger - my dad loves it.

Ginger syrup sounds good though - it ought to make really good ginger beer. I must try it!

Though I'm also going to try ginger & chili beer next...

omg you could prob make a heap of cash from selling this stuff (as long as you dont eat it first)

you have a very valid point there

next step cover it with chocolate - that is my favorite treat from my local co-op at 1.50$ (US) an ounce

Chocolate sounds fabulous!

The way I learnt how to crystalise stuff is a little different in process but easily added to this set of instuctions Perhaps you could try it next time you're making crystalised ginger and see if there is a difference?
basically it was 1kg sugar to 1L water ratio. Bring your syrup to a rolling boil and add fruit, let boil for 30 min.
Turn off and leave for 24 hrs.
Bring to boil then immediately turn off and leave for 24 hrs
Repeat previous step again
bring to boil one more time then remove and dry either in a dehydrator or very low oven then roll in castor sugar.

I have cooked it before and the sugar syrup recrystallizes. I usually cut it up a bit smaller. So, no need to drain, or add more sugar. In fact, the leftover sugar is very ginger flavored and perfect for tea.
Candy is very fresh, very intensely flavored, and perfect for baking or just eating.

Wow, Looks good, Bet it taste even better. Next time try same prep but use Honey in place of sugar Lower Cal. Count & as far as the Med Use, Don't knock it till you try it. Like any other Herb, It may take some time to work but it does & is better than all those Chemicals the Rx sell.
Thanks for the recipe.