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Invert Sugar
Appears in
By Culinary Institute of America
Published 2015
The term invert sugar refers to a sugar (sucrose or table sugar) whose optical or refractory properties have been altered. This altering occurs when it is boiled together with a dilute acid, such as cream of tartar (in solution), lemon juice, vinegar, and so on. In the presence of the acid, the sucrose breaks down into its two components, dextrose and fructose.
There are also naturally occurring invert sugars, such as honey. However, many, if not most, of these natural invert sugars contain other components, or impurities, which make them ill-suited for use in the sugar-cooking and candy-making processes, as the impurities typically burn at a much lower temperature than is required to cook the sugar.