I'm just starting a low-carb diet to see if it will help my immune system. I wanted to have some sugar substitute on hand for cooking and chocolate-making. (I use stevia in beverages but I don't like it at all in most food for some reason -- not a licorice fan).

I've heard the granulated Erythritol can be pretty grainy but the idea of cooking with powder is a little strange to me. Any suggestions? I'll probably invest in four pounds so I wanted to get the right kind.

If you can only buy E in one form, I would recommend that you get the granular. You can always run it in a blender or coffee grinder to make it a powder, when you need that for a specific recipe.

I have E in both forms, but I buy only a small amount of each at a time. I rarely use it except to mix with other sweeteners when I have to sweeten chocolate. Unfortunately for me, I'm very sensitive to the cooling effect of E. If I use more than a very tiny amount, it makes my food taste like mint.

That's really useful, thanks! I was gravitating toward Erythritol because Splenda seems kind of experimental to me, and xylitol I guess raises blood glucose levels, but are there any other obvious choices I'm missing?

Oh, yes, but many people use and like E. Just as some of us don't care for the licorice aftertaste of Stevia (I'm one of those, too ... ), the cooling effect of E can be a bit overpowering if you're sensitive to it.

If this is your first experience using E, you might want to buy a smaller amount, until you're certain you like it.

I actually recommend powdered. E. tends to recrystalize and doesn't dissolve all that well, so you really need to powder it anyway.

I also recommend mixing sweeteners because they all have drawbacks and mixing them together helps cancel them out. For instance, Truvia is a mix of E. and stevia which helps with that "cooling" effect plain E. has.

Xylitol is VERY good, but it will give you gastric issues if you eat too much. Mixing a little of that with E isn't a bad combination.

Stevia is the worst tasting of the lot, IMHO.

I have a bit of xylitol on hand and I really, really like it, but was figuring I would have to move beyond it because from what I understand, it raises BG about half as much as sugar which seems too high for a low-carb diet. But really I find the info on xylitol confusing.

Wikipedia has an excellent entry for sugar alcohols: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_alcohol

Thanks Nancy!

I use erythritol all the time, I buy 5 pound bags at a time and I also buy little packets 1000 at a time every 6 months and its granulated and I have no problem baking with it...I love it.

OK! I've decided, I want to buy the powdered erythritol in a 4 or 5 pound bag. But I'm having trouble finding a source for the powdered type. Can anyone recommend? PM if the links are not good here --- thanks!

Try this link

I think last time I got it at netrition.com, but check amazon.com too.

I'm scratching my head because I read about people saying they bought 4 or 5 pound bags of the powdered, but I can only find the powdered in 1 pound bags. And then there are vendors that advertise their erythritol as "granulated crystalline - powder sweetener." What the heck? It seems like they mean granulated, not powdered.

Or maybe the 5 pound bags are only available in granulated?

I was looking too and it was kind of confusing. They said 5 pounds of granulated erythritol powder. Huh? Is it granulated or powdered? Make up your minds people!

I got the 1 pound bags of powdered at Netrition.com.

I have found 1# bags of powdered at Netrition.com

But once I learned I can powder it in my food processor, I now just buy the granular at Honeyvillegrains.com in 4# bags. It's a little cheaper that way, buy I can't get mine quite as fine as the commercially powdered.