Re: confectioners sugar. I'm convinced some type of (implied or undisclosed) bleaching process is used on certain brands of the product and that creates a particular funny after taste

I've had the same thing happen to me - didn't realize others have noticed it, too. I thought it was something I did. Mostly happened when I was making frosting with real butter or cream cheese or both, thought it had something to do with that.

I can't tell you how old my powdered sugar is - because I haven't used it in years - because it tastes like dirt to me. I had no idea this problem is so prevalent and it's just not me. VERY interesting thread.

I have come late to this discussion but if anyone is still out there, I've had a big problem with powdered sugar too. It tastes so chalky and unpleasant, and it's not the way I remember it tasting before. Since others are aware of it, I know it isn't just me. I remember the ATK podcast about the subject, but I can't recall what they suggested either. Bob's Red Mill doesn't sell powdered sugar, and I can't defend buying a heavy-duty blender to grind my own. I'm pretty irked about this. The ASR Group has under its umbrella Domino, C&H, and Florida Crystal sugars. Those are the big players in the US, and I'm pretty sure all three brands are processed the same way.

I baked a cake over the weekend and the frosting was so awful, I dumped the whole thing out. How discouraging!

all these comments - now it is 2020 & my granddaughter (with young tastebuds !) & I made a glaze for donuts with Domino conf. sugar & horrid tasting - thank goodness we tried it before we frosted ! - then added cocoa powder to help the flavor -still horrid ! - so finally found a recipe for cooked choc. frosting in a book with granulated sugar & it saved the day. What about wanting just a glaze & royal icing needed solely for decorating?? Just how do you make your own conf. sugar - would appreciate that if anyone knows ???. Bad enough she is gluten intolerant & we have to rethink recipes - but now frosting too ?? -

The plastic bags the confectioner's sugar is in, inside the boxes, is likely to be the culprit. Plastic picks up odors very easily. I think I have noticed perfume odors when taking confectioner's sugar out of the box, but not in the final baked product.

I too have noticed that Conf sugar just isn't what it used to be. Not only taste but seems to me it's a bit "grainier" when making frosting, I can't get a truly smooth fluffy frosting. I've used a whisk, a small hand mixer, the big mixer with a paddle and with the whisk attachment. And 2 or 3 different brands of sugar. I thought it was just me.

The off taste to powdered sugar used to be a now and then thing but lately I'm finding it's *always*, no matter the brand or age of the sugar. I wonder if it's the type/age of the corn used in the cornstarch that's causing it, but whatever it is, it's wrecking powdered sugar. I'll have to find something else to glaze/frost with, this stuff ruins whatever it touches.

well then - a problem we cannot solve - SO DOES ANYONE OUT THERE KNOW HOW TO CORRECTLY MAKE OUR OWN POWDERED SUGAR OUT OF GRANULATED ??? - would be so grateful to know !!!

According to Wikipedia, powdered sugar is just finely milled sugar, but in my experience, my very good machinery will make superfine but not powdered. Try it and see what you get.

Possible alternatives: Try an organic sugar that isn't packaged in plastic and doesn't contain cornstarch. Or even sugar that comes in a box, with a liner that feels more like waxed paper than plastic wrap.

These do exist. I just don't have a specific recommendation. I haven't had the problem. Yet.

thanks pillog - will try to find an organic !

King Arthur Flour make, make that “made”, a cornstarch free confectioners’ sugar. I bought it but I have not had an occasion to use it, so I cannot comment on the flavor.

ETA: went to the KAF site to get a link. I could not find any confectioners’ sugar at all on their website. My next search was for just “sugar.” I got some hits, but none were confectioners’ sugar.

Thank you - looking into organic conf. sugar now - quite a variance in prices - anybody tried these to have a preference In taste or performance ? - I see some have tapioca instead of cornstarch - esp. for royal icing - does it still work the same I hope ? - thanks everyone for your help and suggestions !!

This seems to explain it.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/03/organic-powdered-sugar-versus-conventional-baking-cornstarch-tapioca.html

I always thought I was doing something wrong, because my favorite frosting recipe didn't taste the same.

Thanks so very much - I read the info & will experiment with organic brands - good to know about the sifting - could prevent a royal icing breakdown !! thanks to you all !!

I'm glad I found this thread. The only time I use icing sugar (to you all - confectioners sugar) is at Christmas for my shortbread. The last couple of years they haven't been tasting quite the same as in the past, the consistency is off as is the flavour. I thought I was losing my technique.

It may have nothing to do with the sugar but next year I'll do some further checking and maybe use something else. The sugar comes in thick plastic but no box.

I also thank you for the article. I too will try Organic. I wonder how long this has been going on... with the cornstarch? Reason I ask is because I don't remember powdered sugar tasting bad in the long ago.

I think it is a combination of changes in the cornstarch and that it no longer comes in the wax paper inner liner. Plastic gives all food an off taste to me after a very little while.

@Sherry8aNorthAL, thanks for the link. I LOVE Stella Parks/BraveTart. Guess I can stop hoarding my KAF confectioner’s sugar without cornstarch. There is an acceptable alternative available!

Tigereye, thank you! That article was very informative. You would think with all the great strides in modern baking science that SOMEBODY could come up with a better powdered sugar!!

I always thought powdered sugar was fine. We used Domino's 10X for glaze and buttercream frosting when I was growing up and even later when my boy's were growing up. It came in a box and was in a wax paper liner. I am not sure when it changed. I think it was in the late 1990's or early 2000's. I think it was 2005-2006 that I really noticed a bad off taste.

Of course the companies are messing everything up. Baker's Chocolate Squares are no longer squares and are not the same texture. Nothing comes in wax paper anymore, cereal, crackers, cookies, etc, it is plastic and the plastic will give it an off taste. Even cans and bags of granulated sugar are not the same sizes.

I agree with all you just said, tigereye.

I agree with you all too. So sad that many of these companies do not make things the way they used to. Smaller quantities and cheaper ingredients. I stray from making cakes with icing because of the taste of the Dominoes powdered sugar. But why dont cakes from a bakery have that same almost stale taste. Any brands that dont have that?

Khydier, I was just now thinking about that. I had a cookie with hard white powdered sugar icing from a small local baking company and it tasted like it was supposed to. If, indeed, the plastic packaging is to blame, that might be the difference. They still sell 100# bags in multilayer paper with the sewn end.

Next time I go in to a bakery I am going to ask the brand they buy and how it comes packaged

Am also going to try one of the organic brands. Will llet you all know if it's any better 🙂

Not the same thing but I occasionally drink Diet Coke and quite enjoy it, but if somebody gives me regular Coke, it has an odd ,very unpleasant taste to me. Almost a musty, mouldy flavour. And I know it’s just me, most everybody find the artificial sweetener to be intolerant

Me too, Louiseab! I thought it was my taste buds!

Interesting Nancy! Does it have that same musty taste to you? Or something else?

That is the best description for it. Kind of a muddy flavor almost. Yuk.

I think sodas, especially colas, get that when they're old. Maybe it's also the plastic (cans are lined with plastic). I wonder if the glass bottles are the same way?

BTW, I saw a picture of a 50 lb. Domino powdered sugar bag and it said "Poly liner" I don't know if that would do the same thing to it as the plastic film wrappers.

Pillog, could be, but why don’t I get the taste from the diet?

I've experienced the "old" taste more often with diet. I don't like sugary drinks. I'd rather have diet soda and a cookie. :) I don't know if that's what you've been experiencing with the sugared coke or not, but I'd call it musty. The sugared version gets it too. Like when I'm helping friends with spring cleaning and they shove one at me and ask if it's bad/old. :) I can easily imagine if people stock coke for guests that it could happen. But there could be something completely different there.

Hie some one said some thing a bout domino 🌽 starch sugar i will say this that all ways tastes like powdered dust but the domino plan sugar tastes like actual sugar but the domino brown sugar clumps very easily so much that you must like smash it up but regular domino sugar dose not clump

Any solutions anyone? Today I tried to make confectioner sugar glaze for scones, and it had an odd taste -- Not yummy like it used to be when I baked Christmas cookies 10 years ago. I tried adding butter, salt, more milk, vanilla --- Nothing helped. I used Domino brand and it's not expired And I also used organic whole milk. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@mjammjam, was your sugar in a plastic bag without a box or was it boxed. I haven’t done any testing, but I’ve read conjecture that perhaps sugar that is sold in the plastic only (no box) is absorbing flavors through the plastic.

DH and I did a little get-away once to a rustic cabin. I had Splenda in a ziplock bag and Tide powder in a ziplock bag. Not knowing any better, I packed them side by side. The Splenda picked up the taste of Tide! 🤢 I was astounded. I had no idea that flavors would transfer between packages.

Bbstx— Thanks for the response. I keep it in the plastic bag that it came in. I store it in a drawer with no other food — After I’ve used some from the bag, I fold it up and put the bag inside a ziplock baggie. I tried waiting a half hour after I made the glaze like a previous posted suggested but it still tasted bad.

I once had gum in my bag but also had cinnamon tea bags. And the gum tasted like cinnamon. 😀

I’m going to stop buying confectioners sugar in plastic bags altogether. I have no evidence, but I believe the sugar picks up off-tastes in the storage and transportation process that just don’t dissipate.

Someone upthread suggested buying organic confectioners sugar. I’m not near a Whole Foods, but I checked their website and saw that they carry it. The package, while plastic, isn’t the thin, lightweight plastic that Domino uses.

Well phooey. I had ordered confectioners sugar in the waxed-paper lined boxes from Walmart online a few months ago, but now both the Domino and Walmart brands of it are out of stock :-(

Wegmans has organic powdered sugar. Really good and good value. Made with tapioca starch not cornstarch. Tastes. Sooooo much better.

December 2020.... Just made Snowballs (cookies rolled in powdered sugar) and the powdered sugar was the culprit. Tasted terrible. I've made these every year for years and years and this is the first batch I've made that came out bad. First I thought I was tasting soap from my hands... odd but I couldn't figure out any explanation. Rerinsed my hands and cookies still tasted like soap or perfume. I smelled the sugar (brand new bag, not expired) and the sugar in the bag smelled like perfume. I threw it out. Very disappointing. It was Walmart brand, in a plastic bag (no box). I will never buy that again. And I will also be careful about not storing it by anything with a scent. I don't know that I did, but it was downstairs in a bar that once had a scented dehumidifier in it, so that could have been the problem. But I store a lot of food in there (flour, nuts) and have never had that problem before. Glad I found this thread. Makes me feel like I'm not crazy. (Kids thought the cookies were good, at least.) Hmmm... now that I think about it, I've always bought confectioner's sugar in a bag (not a box). So I'm just going to not store it in that downstairs bar anymore (might be picking up a smell there) and I won't buy Walmart brand again (that might not have been it, but better safe than sorry).

The fact that many of you assume that your bag of sugar picked up scents from perfumed sources tells you how insidious are these sources of perfume. If what you are assuming is true, that product could have picked up smells from all manner of perfumed household products in the shipping.

Hubs bought some bar soap that permeated the entire house with its smell....all three floors of the house! Had to get rid of that.

I will watch and taste for the off taste that some are talking about. I used some just last week on some cookies and can't say that I noticed any thing different about it.

Boxed sugar is still bagged sugar with the bag in a box. It is hard to see how smells can infiltrate through plastic. They can perfume the outer packaging, but it seems unlikely the inner product.

The bags in the boxes are a different material. It may well be that the problem with the no-box kind is that the plastic is scent permeable rather than it being the problem itself, and there's more protection overall in the box. Or it could be the starch. But who wants yucky sugar? It’s worth finding what works for you.

So glad that so many of you are having this issue. I have had this problem for so long. Replaced my powdered sugar with different brands (bags) and no help. I will try the box next time and see if that helps. Has nothing to do with it being stored by anything with perfume as mine is never anywhere close. I thought maybe it was me for so long because nobody ever seemed to have that problem. Thought my taste buds were off.

ah, the 2014 thread is back ...

I just started having this "soapy" taste last night. Opened 4 different bags of powdered sugar, 7lbs total. None of them expired. Stored in a cabinet with flour r & brown sugars.

Having trouble posting here. Keeps adding words, especially if a try to correct a typo.

Soapy problem started last night. I just used ps at Christmas with no issues. Finally, had to make my own last night for a glaze that I needed for a cake. I used a coffee grinder. It worked pretty well, but was very time-consuming. Also seemed like it took more than a cup of granulated sugar to make a cup of powdered sugar.

Has anyone found a solution?

I noticed an odd flavor while making royal icing last night. To me, it tasted like dishwasher detergent. My first thought was that my dishwasher failed to rinse my dishes and had contaminated my bowl and silicon spatula. The first batch went in the trash and I carefully washed everything and started over. Second batch, same thing. Hope they sugar companies get their act together.

I f so normal after reading this thread! i make my family special, Lemon poundcake with Lemon icing for my son’s birthday, as i do every year. Chris and his entire family were unable to eat it because the icing tasted like liquid soap or perfume. i was so sad because this happened the last time i made it! He just found this link and it has really helped me! Thank you all for uour posts. i will begin my research tomorrow!😂