<p>OK…I know someone here will have the answer. The brown sugar is hard like a rock. I thought I read somewhere to put a hunk of apple in it and put it in a ziploc bag. How long does that take?</p>
<p>Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>I think you can microwave it. Don’t remember for how long, though. You could zap it for a few seconds and check.</p>
<p>Measure the amount you want to use into a bowl and microwave on 50% power…try 30 seconds at a time, check, repeat if necessary…</p>
<p>No, no – do this:</p>
<p>Put a damp (not very wet at all – only slightly damp) paper towel in a plastic bag w/ the sugar. Leave the bag open. Microwave at 50% power for one minute.</p>
<p>I’ve done this with the same batch of sugar over and over, separated by a few months, and the sugar always gets soft.</p>
<p>I’ve tried the microwave method. Didn’t like the smell of burnt sugar (maybe I cooked it too long) and it didn’t really soften. </p>
<p>The only real solution I’ve found is to go to the store and buy a fresh box.</p>
<p>I’ll try the microwave thing. Any way to soften the bag so I don’t need a pick ax to cut off what I want to use?</p>
<p>cut a quarter of an apple and leave overnight in with the sugar. Not the quickest method, but it works.</p>
<p>Soften the entire bag. After you take what you need, just put it back in the pantry and repeat in two months when needed. The sugar won’t mind.</p>
<p>I use a slice of bread. It’s less messy than an apple. I take a plain slice of white bread and put it in with the brown sugar, and by the next morning, it’s soft. Now, I keep my brown sugar in a ziploc bag. If I make sure and remove all the air, it doesn’t get hard.</p>
<p>How about a Tupperware container? Would that be ok?</p>
<p>I put a few pieces of orange peel in the brown sugar bag, and the sugar stays soft for a long time in its own bag.</p>
<p>I used to have a terra cotta disc you could soak and put in with the brown sugar. There’s nothing magical about fruit and probably a small danger of other contaminants from them. I do the microwave thing, short burst until it’s soft enough. Storing in a tupperware or other tightly sealed container definitely helps.</p>
<p>Mine is in a tall Snapware container and never hardens. I’d just buy a new bag and a container for it.</p>
<p>Ok…I tried the paper towel and microwave on 1/2 power. The plastic bag melted to the sugar. I scraped it all off. Remarkably, the remaining sugar was soft enough for me to break up with a fork. I did that and put it all in an airtight Tupperware container with 1/4 apple…I’m trying to cover ALL the bases here!</p>
<p>I have never had any trouble microwaving it in the bag. Well, actually I did have some trouble once … I didn’t realize there was half a twist tie still on the bag, and it arced and sparked. Talk about a scare … so glad I didn’t walk away from the microwave after I started it!</p>
<p>I’ve used the bread in the plastic bag method many times. I’ve bought brown sugar on sale and forgotten about it I’ve had to tear the box and waxed paper off the sugar brick-- piece of bread worked great.</p>
<p>Put a piece of bread in with the brown sugar overnight. That is what my mom always said to do. The bread becomes hard as a rock and the brown sugar becomes soft.<br>
My mom actually makes her own brown sugar now just to avoid such problems. She just mixes it up as she needs it.</p>
<p>Granulate it with a hammer.</p>
<p>I’m going to give the apple a chance. If that doesn’t continue the softening, I’ll try bread tomorrow night. We only have multigrain.</p>
<p>My MIL taught me the bread trick and I have never had to discard brown sugar since. I go months without using brown sugar so used to buy a new box any time that I planned to bake. I have no idea why the bread does not mold but am thrilled with the results. I just tear off a one to two inch square of bread and leave it inside the tightly-sealed (scotch tape) bag.</p>