Sweet and thick, molasses is what's left when sugarcane or sugar beets are processed to make refined sugar. It has a bold flavor that's dark-roasted and tangy. The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen usually uses unsulfured molasses; our recipes should specify whether to use light or dark.
- Light molasses comes from the first boiling of the sugar syrup.
- Dark molasses comes from the second boiling. It's darker and less sweet.
- Blackstrap molasses comes from the third boiling. It's thick, dark, and bitter, and should not be used in cooking.
- Sulfured molasses comes from green sugarcane that has been treated with sulfur as a preservative during the juice extraction process.
- Unsulfured molasses is the purest of all. It comes from the juice of sun-ripened, mature sugarcane that hasn't been treated with sulfur fumes.