~Stevia Info, Please?~

[vine]

Good afternoon. In May I bought 6 Stevia plants. Do any of you use this? I am looking for information on when to harvest, how to let it dry. Like can you pick leaves any time you want to and let them lie in the sun, then crush, or what? I am really excited about this and want to begin using them when I can. If this has already been covered somewhere and I haven't seen it I apologize. I would love to learn all I can about this wonderful plant. I have 2 types at present and 1 more plant that wasn't called Stevia, was not in the same species (they checked at the nursery). It looks just like the other 2 ft tall+ Stevia. I bought the tall ones on Mother's Day. The only difference I can see is its leaves are more lush. However, it said it does all that Stevia does. It says on the marker to dry the leaves, crush and use instead of sugar. Any helpful info would really be appreciated. I am learning alot from all of you and thank you!

[Cat]

Well, I haven't used it or grown it myself, but here are some of the threads here where we have discussed it.

 

There may be places where the links in the thread don't work; we had a couple of glitches in program changes. Just let me know and I'll try to fix 'em!

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15146

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31138

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25996

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14305

 

(Mother says she grows stevia!)

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13019

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8530

 

 

 

 

 

[sassenach]

Considering the latest findings on sucralose, which I was using...... and wanting to get stevia powder online for my usage and my preps.

( vaccuum packing in a jar would work, or foodsaver bags for longer storage).....

I was wondering what amounts would be equivalent in the stevia powder to sugar quantities in recipes?

Does any one already have their homework done on this matter? Any suggestions would be quite valuable to me!

 

 

 

I would want to dry the stevia in a dehydrator or take steps to dry the leaves under muslin cloth to keep the bugs off of it. Once dried, vine, maybe just running it through the blender until its powdered would be workable? Alot of folks do that with dried vegies so I don't see why you could not do it with stevia leaves that are dried.

[vine]

Thank you Cat. I will check out those threads. Arby I don't know the sweetness ratio between Stevia and sugar. When I eat a small leaf it is very sugary. I figured I would dry some and try a little in some hot tea, a sprinkle at a time. The marker says it is alot stronger than regular sugar. My tall ones have white flowers all over the tops of them and I am wondering if I should snip the flowers off. Like if that might get the plants to produce more sweet leaves. I do have a dehydrator now and am going to make beef jerky this weekend, my 3rd time. Thank you again.

[Lilly]

I bought some Truvia at the grocery and I really like it. It is made from the Stevia plant.

[Shreela]

I've only used the Stevia from stores, so my observations only apply to those, and not Stevia directly from plants.

 

1. I read that Stevia tastes a bit funny or off to quite a few people, but most report getting used to it. So after my first taste reminded me a little of soap water, I mixed half the amount of Stevia and half the amount of regular sugar that I used, and it tasted fine. I gradually used more Stevia and less sugar, until I was able to drink all Stevia without noticing any soapy or odd taste at all. But then my husband wouldn't drink tea unless he was really thirsty, so now I add one teaspoon of sugar to a quart of tea sweetened with Stevia, and he drinks it.

 

2. When I tried adding Stevia to a pitcher of tea, it's really hard to get it stirred up, because it either clumped in "fibrous strands" when stirred, or stayed at the bottom. When I brew tea, I boil water in the kettle, then pour it into another container that has my tea. So now I add the Stevia on top of the tea before adding the water, and it mixes in perfectly without even having to stir. I add the teaspoon of sugar along with the Stevia now.

 

3. I've bought packets, and loose powder with a tiny scoop, so that tells me that measurements *might* vary. This is based on memory, so it is probably off, but it seems like the packets had 3 times as much Stevia powder as a single scoop from the loose-powder container. I haven't tried baking with Stevia yet, but when I do, I'll look up a "normal" recipe to see how much real sugar is used, then convert that to the Stevia equivalent I have on hand.