Stevia

[stella]

Cooking with Stevia

Hi does anyone use the herb Stevia for cooking in cakes for example or in drinks. If so how much do you use

[julesapple]

I don't use the herb itself, but I do use the white NuNaturals Stevia. You need about 1/8th teaspoon in place of 1 tsp sugar.

[veggiechicken]

I tried Stevia leaves when cooking rhubarb but I just don't like the taste of it. Its tooooooooooo sweet. Have you put a leaf on your tongue, Stella?

[stella]

It is very sweet. We are using it now in coffee instead of sugar and just use a 1/4 of a leaf. It is a matter of finding how much suits you. I have now dried a jar of leaves to use as and and when.

[Feral007]

I like to use honey instead of sugar when we can. Not that we use much sugar.
Have bought some stevia tho, to try in cakes and such, but I"ve been too scared to use it as I've not heard anything nice about it.

I shall be watching this thread!

[tlck9]

Stevia

I have read a lot of articles on Stevia, and most recently in this months grow fruit & veg. Can you suggest a supplier, as many of tge places I've seen suggested that the plants are not for human consumption

[Fleurisa]

Look for it from herb specialists, I've found it on Norfolk herbs Buy Stevia rebaudiana (Sugar Plant or Sweet Herb of Paraguay) but they are out of stock.
Suppliers will say it is not for consumption because of EU legislation, but as you can now buy sweeteners made from Stevia, I would have expected that to have changed by now. I bought some plants a few years ago and used the leaves in mint tea instead of sugar

[tlck9]

Thanks I hadn't see that post, seems for some it doesn't have the right taste, but I'm keen to see if it works as a sugar replacement

[eospete]

Suttons have them in james wong range and in other sections also.
Taste seems to vary from plant to plant so I would suggest sowing plenty of seeds and selecting from the batch then propogating from your preferred flavour. I find mints of the same type can vary vastly too.
P

[fishpond]

Stevia

Can anyone give me clues as to how to grow Stevia from seed and what to do with it afterwards to use it /store it.
Many Thanks

[WilliamD]

I sowed Stevia seeds a few weeks ago in a small propagator alongside everything else. It's taken a while but some have finally sprouted. Reading up on it before I decided to give it a go, there were all sorts of ways of extracting the sweetness from the leaves. Some were involved enough to require a chemistry lab, but I'll be going for the simpler techniques of drying and powdering the leaves and adding them to cakes, desserts etc. or just steeping a bruised leaf in a cup of tea.

[fishpond]

Resurrecting this old thread as I have 2 plants grown from seed from 2015 that have part overwintered for the second year in my greenhouse.
These 2 plants are now showing plenty of new growth at the base and have been put in a propagator to hopefully help them along.
Anyone else growing it and any tips on using?----these 2 are very very sweet.

[sparrow100]

I dried mine and powdered it. Tbh I hate the aftertaste, which to me tastes chemical and acrid. I bet that's the bit that is processed out by commercial growers. WilliamD suggested steeping in water to make a sweet syrup but I've yet to try it.

https://mudandgluts.com/2017/01/06/strands-of-gold/

It was a real shame, cos it grew like a triffid in the greenhouse.

[Guest]

^^^The syrup still has an aftertaste as well.

[sparrow100]

Oh good.

Anyone want a jar of powdered stevia?