About the same, or slightly more of fresh. The crystalized ones, when fresh, are flexable and soft. Older ones get hard and crispy. I would eityher grate or finely chop fresh, but make sure you peel it first. For my ginger needs, I buy a hand or two and peel, then slice thin, and place in sugar sweetened white wine, dry sherry, or rice wine. This method helps keep it for years in the fridge without spoiling. Once in a while a recipe calls for sherry and so I use some of the ginger liquid and replace it with fresh wine or sherry.

I did find crystallized ginger in the spice aisle at my local WalMart but decided to try the fresh ginger any way. The recipe I used was the recipe from the insert in the Sure.Jell Lower Sugar Fruit Pectin. I just added the fresh grated ginger. I looked at the Kraft recipe which calls for 1/4 cup of crystallized ginger. I definitely didn't have a 1/4 cup after grating. Since I made two batches of jam, one with low sugar and one with Splenda, I just halved the ginger for each batch. It came out well. The ginger is very subtle and not overpowering. As for using Splenda, I'm not sure about that. The directions in the insert said to use 1-1/2 cups. I used maybe a tablespoon less to cut down on the aftertaste. When I added the Splenda, the peaches had more bubbles throughout than the batch with sugar. I wasn't happy about that. I could not get all of the bubbles out of the jars. I stuck a knife in the jar and tapped jars on the counter before sealing and there were still bubbles. I went ahead and did the BWB and the jars sealed. I'll test one before I give them away for Christmas. I'm also going to try one more batch with the low-sugar pectin without adding any kind of sugar. I'm just curious about how it will turn out. Ginger PS. This is the first time I've used fresh ginger and it smelled divine. I even dabbed a bit of juice behind my ear. It will be a staple in my house from now forward.

This is what it says at the Cook's Thesaurus. ginger = ground ginger = powdered ginger Notes: Recipes for baked goods often call for ground ginger. Don't confuse this with fresh ginger root, which is used mostly in Asian dishes. Substitutes: crystallized ginger (Substitute 1/2 cup minced crystallized ginger for every 1 teaspoon ground ginger called for in recipe. Rinse sugar off ginger first. This is an excellent substitution in many baked goods.) OR ginger root (Substitute 2 tablespoons grated ginger root for every teaspoon ground ginger called for in recipe. For best results, substitute only half the ground ginger in recipe with fresh ginger.) OR cardamom OR allspice OR cinnamon OR mace OR nutmeg Personally, I think a 1/2 c. of minced crystalized ginger for 1 t. ground ginger would be WAY too much. \-Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: [The Cook's Thesaurus \- European Spices](http://www.foodsubs.com/SpiceEur.html)

I found that lentil sprout salad recipe with the mayo & ketchup dressing too. My thoughts exactly -- Yuck! Thanks for responding. I like the idea of a tahini in the dressing, and I do love falafel, so I bet the patties taste good.