Stevia?

[KOZY]

Has anyone used Stevia as a sweetner? I got some samples the other day and wondered what to add it to. Suggestions?

[sunnybloom]

I use stevia all the time! Its just like splenda except natural.

I buy the stevia liquid drops from a health food store. The drops are easier because they mix very easily with tea, coffee, cottage or ricotta cheese and cinnamon, or whatever u wish to sweeten!

I have the powder too, but if your brand contains inulin, which alot of packaged stevia does, then you may experience some gas >.<

Hope this helped

[MsChevious]

I hate the way stevia tastes. It tastes really bitter to me. Every time I used stevia, my gag reflex started. That is just me though. There are tons of people who love and swear by it. Samples are good! If you don't like it, you aren't out any money. Stevia, is expensive!

[Kisal]

I hate the way stevia tastes. It tastes really bitter to me. Every time I used stevia, my gag reflex started. That is just me though. There are tons of people who love and swear by it. Samples are good! If you don't like it, you aren't out any money. Stevia, is expensive!Sadly, this was my experience. Everything I made using Stevia ended up being thrown in the garbage. I tried using less, using more, and combining it with other sweeteners, but nothing took away that bitter taste for me. :(

[JudyW]

That's good to know - I was going to order some from a Vitamin catalog I have but after reading these posts, I may save my $$$.
My sweetener of choice is Equal. I just try to cut back and use 1 pack instead of 2.

[KOZY]

It was $13.99 in the health food store, so I asked for some samples. One of them is bitter-free. I'll let you know how it tastes. I can't have Equal or anything with Asparatame-like products. I get migrane headaches from it. I hope that doesn't happen with Stevia.

What about Blackstrap Molasses? I bought a low-carb cookbook on Amazon that has recipes with Blackstrap Molasses as a sweetener. That didn't cost too much, so I bought it unsuphur-ized.

[JLx]

I use Stevia and like it. The last recipe I tried, some muffins, mixed erythritol and stevia and they were good. I bought Nunaturals concentrated stevia on the recommendation of Healthy Indulgences blog (she posts here as LCStudent). I also have some SweetLeaf stevia in packets that I've put into a microwave muffin that I like too. Drops of Nunatural or Wisdom Sweetleaf flavored stevia is good in yogurt, but so far, in the flavors I've purchased, the flavor is not very strong. Bought them here: http://www.iherb.com/ProductsList.aspx?c=1&cid=1599

Previously I had Now brand stevia and I didn't like it as well.

[Mousesmom]

Sadly, this was my experience. Everything I made using Stevia ended up being thrown in the garbage. I tried using less, using more, and combining it with other sweeteners, but nothing took away that bitter taste for me. :(

I'm with Kisal on this. Stevia had a bitter licorice-like taste that lingered. Ewwww


Julie

[JLx]

Did you try different brands?

[MsChevious]

Did you try different brands?

I tried several brands, and it still tasted bitter and made me gag. I even tried the bulk stuff at Whole Foods thinking it would be better.. NOT! That was probably the nastiest of all!

[Caraboo109]

I think the bitterness (or lack thereof) is something some people may be more attuned to than others. I found that some brands are more bitter than others, and the powder is awful. The brand I use is Herbal Select, a Cdn brand and is glycerine based. Someone mentioned the Now brand--I've tried it and it's not good. For anyone thinking of buying liquid stevia, I don't recommend spending the money on a water based product. Go pure or glycerine based. You can add water to both and stretch it out.

[LukeA]

I use stevia, but usually mixed with other sweeteners to improve the taste. The exception is in my tea I have grown accustomed to the little bit of licorice taste in it.

[ILoveMyKit]

i tried it and HATED it. good thing it only cost me 4.00

[Lie2MeJL]

I know people have thrown out conversion charts on the board before but does anyone know what one drop of liquid stevia is equal to? And can someone clarify whether or not it helps mixing sweetners like liquid stevia and regular splenda? What ratio do you use?

[Caraboo109]

Hi
Try this one. Splenda is supposed to be equal to sugar.
http://www.stevia.net/conversion.html

You may have to experiment a bit with the smaller quantities, depending on what brand of stevia you have.

[Lie2MeJL]

yeah I know that seems to be the issue. All of the different brands. I'd like to save on cals and carbs but it's almost not worth it to me to hvae to play with recipes so much.

I do have another question about "liquid splenda" I know most people use swt freeze or whatever but does the plain liquid sf davinci count as liquid splenda? Are those measurements also = to sugar? 1 C sugar = 1 C SF Davinci?

I'm a FT student and can hardly put gas in my car let alone buy a $60 bottle of liquid splenda regardless of how far it goes.

[KOZY]

The sample I have today is the NuStevia from NuNaturals. It's White Stevia Powder and says it has a non-bitter. I'll try it later today and let you know what it's like. The Health Food store gave me several different packets to try. I'll try each one and see which one works, if any.

[JLx]

I've been collecting tips about stevia and one of them says to not use too much stevia or it may taste bitter or licorice-like.

There are also different conversion charts around. This is the info I've found to be most accurate:

Replace 1 cup sugar for 1 tsp liquid stevia, or 1/3 to 1/2 tsp. stevia extract powder, or 18-24 packets. Stevia is very sweet, please refer to the comparison chart for other equivalency measurements.

Instead of Chocolate: 1 ounce or square

It is so easy to cook and bake with unsweetened chocolate. Just add a little stevia to sweeten the recipe.

Recipe: 3 Tablespoons unsweetened, un-roasted cocoa powder plus 12 drops stevia liquid.

Instead of Chocolate, semisweet: 1-2/3 ounces

Recipe: 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate plus 12 drops stevia clear

Please remember when cooking and baking with stevia that for every 1 cup of sugar that is replaced by stevia there should be 1/3 cup of a liquid or other “bulk” added to the recipe. The liquid is needed to create the bulk affect that the sugar normally would. A few liquid substitutions include:

Yogurt
Apple sauce
Apple butter
100% Fruit juice: apple, pineapple, grape etc.
Fruit puree
Egg whites
Water
Any liquid that pertains to the recipe will work just fine, for example, use extra banana puree for the liquid in a banana bread recipe.
http://www.steviainfo.com/?page=cooking_tips

To eliminate weird tastes, many people recommend cooking with a combo of sweeteners. Lauren on this blog always uses erythritol and stevia and has recipes written that way. (She posts here sometimes as LCStudent).

http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/search/label/stevia

[mumbo]

Something I like to use, which I hope doesn't make me a traitor, is SommerSweet by Suzanne Sommers. It is something like 10x sweeter than sugar, reacts well to heat, has no carbs, has no aftertaste (at least for me), and doesn't raise your bs levels. You can find it on her sight.

[ruthla]

I use stevia in my coffee and hot cocoa. I don't really use sweeteners in anything else.

[awriter]

I do have another question about "liquid splenda" I know most people use swt freeze or whatever but does the plain liquid sf davinci count as liquid splenda?
Sorry, no. Davinci is mostly flavor and a little liquid splenda. Real liquid splenda is extremely concentrated. One drop = 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. DaVinci is great when you want to add flavor without carbs to something that's already mostly sweet.[/quote]

I'm a FT student and can hardly put gas in my car let alone buy a $60 bottle of liquid splenda regardless of how far it goes.
So how about a $20 bottle that will last over a year? :) I'm not sure why so many folks here spend so much elsewhere, but I buy all my liquid splenda at American Health Foods: https://www.ahfni.com/store/sucralose.php where I spend $20 for a 4 oz bottle. And it's glass, with a real glass dropper, so it's easy to measure and use. I got my bottle last November - and it's still half full!

NuStevia from NuNaturals. It's White Stevia Powder and says it has a non-bitter.
Based on the recommendation of LCStudent on her blog, I bought some of that. Not only is it bitter - it actually seems to kill my taste buds for 24 hours after using. I baked her brownie recipe with it, and every time I have a brownie, nothing tastes right (or even good) for the next 24 hours. Needless to say most of it is still in the freezer. :(

Maybe I have an extreme sensitivity to the stuff (I never tried it until LCStudent insisted that unlike all other stevia, this stuff was not bitter), but I'm now convinced that it's awful stuff, at least for me. I have two bottles I bought from iHerb, so if anyone wants it for about the cost of shipping, send me a private message! Meanwhile, I'll stick to liquid splenda, erythritol, and Slimsweet, which I use together to create a sweet 'synergy'. :)

Lisa

[Lie2MeJL]

Thank you Lisa! I will definately be ordering a bottle of the $20 liquid splenda. $60+ is just ridiculous imo.

[pecan]

i've tried many, many brands...and kal is the only one i think is worth buying

look for the red lid (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013K7PCC?smid=A33ASZQO9ZB6X2&tag=nextag-hpc-20&linkCode=asn)

[Blondie888]

I love stevia!

I prefer the liquid. Currently, I have the Whole Foods brand. I don't really notice any bitterness when I use it in things (occasionally in coffee or to sweeten greek yogurt.) I'm not much of a baker, so I don't know how it holds up to cooking. The one recipe I tried it in (pumpkin cookies) seemed to stay sweet enough.

Whole Foods also sells a vanilla stevia in a packet. That tastes good as well. I used to use Sweetleaf stevia in packets. They taste good, and are convenient. However, they don't mix well with cold beverages or hot beverages without lots of stirring.

Anyway, I know a lot of people don't care for the taste, but I think it is worth a try if you're on the fence. I feel much more comfortable using a bit of stevia than the other AS options out there.

[Kisal]

I do have another question about "liquid splenda" I know most people use swt freeze or whatever but does the plain liquid sf davinci count as liquid splenda? Are those measurements also = to sugar? 1 C sugar = 1 C SF DavinciIn fact, DaVinci's and most of the other sf syrups are a dilute form of liquid Splenda, so most people count them as 0g carbs, if that was your concern. Most people use the measurements you listed: 1 cup syrup = 1 cup sugar sweetness. I have found, however, that some of the flavors seem a tad less sweet than others, so may require that you add a bit more to your recipe.

The advantage of using a very concentrated form of liquid sucralose, such as Sweetzfree or any of the many other brands on the market, is that you can fully sweeten your recipes without the worry of having to adjust for so much extra liquid. :)

[NixCarbos]

I use stevia in my coffee and tea (the liquid). I don't buy the packets because it has fillers and I wasn't sure what it was, so I stuck to the liquid.

Lisa

[lcstudent]

Awriter, I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience with the stevia product! You are the only person I have ever encountered online or IRL that didn't love NuNaturals stevia.

NuNaturals stevia is the only kind that isn't bitter! No one has ever tasted my recipes and complained that something was off. You have to use a very small amount though. It only takes 1/16 of a teaspoon to sweetener a big mug of coffee. 1/4 of a teaspoon is plenty for recipes. It's so potent, but very "clean" tasting if used properly.

Pick up a packet at Whole Foods and you will become a convert (doesn't it sound like I work for them? LOL). :thup:

[Kisal]

You are the only person I have ever encountered online or IRL that didn't love NuNaturals stevia. http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Others/others-015.gif http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Others/others-015.gif Here's another one! http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Others/others-015.gif http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Others/others-015.gif
:lol: :lol: :lol: