Using stevia leaves
For what it's worth, I understand that the "good" properties of stevia leaves that are helpful against diabetes, are also associated with the off/bitter taste some stevia plants have. These parts are removed in refining to make the white commercial stevia powders and commercial extracts. So with a commercial product you get a calorie-free natural sweetener but no other health benefits. The natural leaf and the commercial products I think are quite different health-wise, so we
should be clear when we're talking about "stevia" whether we're talking about the natural leaf or the refined commercial products. I prefer to get the health benefits of the leaf too, so I am oriented towards finding grow-your-own/DIY ways to minimize any bitterness in
natural stevia leaves. And just generally use stevia leaves successfully in various ways.
Drying the leaves. I didn't know this, but now that I've read it I'd have to agree with other people above who've said that any bitterness is removed or greatly reduced by drying. I almost always use the leaves dried and the last few years I haven't had any bitterness problems. I keep whole leaves for teas and such, and grind them up really fine and sieve them for use in recipes.
Combining with other sweeteners. OK, this is not a purist thing and my other ingredients are not DIY, but I have often used stevia leaves for about half the sweetening power in a recipe, and then some combination of coconut sugar, xylitol,
honey, brown sugar, or evaporated cane juice for the other half of the sweeting power. I almost never notice any difference in taste this way from the original recipe. And from there I experiment as time permits with pushing the stevia envelope and pushing the proportion of stevia higher without anyone noticing a difference in taste.
DIY extracts. This is an area I haven't tried but am interested in. Alcohol extracts, glycerines, water-based... I'd love to hear people's experiences, what extraction method to use, hot or cold, fresh or dried, how long to macerate... etc. ¿?
Improving the plant product. For best flavor. Selecting out bitterness in the plants themselves when planting from seed as described above. Experimenting with soil quality, watering regime, sun exposure, etc. Also when to harvest the leaves for best flavor. I read an article years ago about when to harvest and now have forgotten and can't find it anymore. Personal experiences, anyone?
How much to use. When swapping out for sugar in a recipe. The commercial products sometimes tell you. But no one seems to say anything about how much ground-up stevia leaf to use. At least as a guideline, because I believe different plants can have fairly different sweetness levels, they're not a "normalized" commercial product. I would love to hear what people say in this regard, and to start, I'll just throw out there a starting-off point I often use to experiment: a somewhat heaping tablespoon of powdered leaves to substitute for 1 cup of sugar.
Ways to compensate other properties of sugar. So sugar dissolves fairly easily, caramelizes when heated, can make a crusty surface when heated in another way, can add a crunchy texture sometimes, etc. Some recipes need these properties and it's interesting to hear what people do to get the characteristics they want in another way.
So there, I've got a few ideas to contribute and I wanted to revive this
thread and get ideas from other stevia leaf experimenters out there. And if any of the old hands on the thread above want to pipe in with the results of their previous experiments, I'd be interested! Thanks, hopefully this can be a contribution to our health and our self-sufficiency!
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