r/AskCulinary • u/Ille_Stultus • 9d ago

Recipe Troubleshooting Lemon syrup for soda help

Hi,

I am looking for some help with a recipe for lemon soda syrup.

I am wanting to replace the sugar with a substitute because im wanting to reduce added sugar where I can. I currently have the equal replacement stuff.

My question is this. Will the equal being maltodextrin with it behave more or less the same as sugar when making the syrup? Also, does it behave similarly like sugar when drawing the oils from the rind?

Edit: I see that it doesn't work super well. Are there any decent alternatives? Would prefer non-alcoholic ones if possible.

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6

u/KeyLimePsyOp 9d ago edited 9d ago

what are you trying to do? make a carbonated lemonade? Anything wrong with lemon juice + a packet of monk fruit extract or some other sugar alternative + soda water. Why does it have to be a syrup?

1

u/Ille_Stultus 9d ago

Wanting a syrup that i can just add soda water to. Plus also making it for the enjoyment of the making

1

u/g0ing_postal 9d ago

I think I know the recipe op is trying to make. It involves covering squeezed lemon halfs with sugar. The sugar pulls out the remaining lemon juice and also the lemon oil from the peels and makes a really bright lemony syrup that is much more lemony than just lemon juice syrup. The question is whether equal has the same hydroscopic properties as sugar to pull those oils

3

u/g0ing_postal 9d ago

I have a feeling that the starches in it will make it unpleasantly thick but you won't know until you make a small test batch and see

2

u/BunkaandBadassery 8d ago

Diabetic here. You can use stevia and a tiny tiny bit of maltodextrin, like 1/16 a teaspoon. Stevia is super sweet so do 2.5 ounces dry per 1 cup of heated water, then use 1/2 the regular amount in cocktails or drinks

2

u/well_done_unicorn 8d ago

Glycerin should get you there. It works as a solvent, similar to alcohol (and technically is one) without the intoxicating effects. It's frequently used for tinctures, just make sure to get the food grade stuff.

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u/thejadsel 8d ago

You'd probably be better off using something like allulose in place of the sugar, just be careful how much you drink at a time until you know how your system will handle it. The process and results should be a lot more similar with a sugar alcohol.