Can you cook rhubarb with no sweetener?

I add strawberries to rhubarb and cook in the oven. If you have some over ripe strawberries that are past their best it works well.

I once read that rhubarb can be added to a beef casserole to add an interesting context, "and the family will never guess".
I had a try and it did (add an interested texture), and they didn't (guess). But I stupidly told them, and every casserole for years after was greeted with "Has this got rhubarb in?"

I'm another who never adds sugar to rhubarb crumble.

We grow it in the garden and I always cook mine first - either stew it or cook in the oven, depending on what I'm going to use it for - and then add sugar as required.

Use a small amount of Total Sweet, it can be used by diabetics and those with pre-diabetes. I use it to sweeten custard, cakes, pies etc. Very little is needed. Total Sweet is a natural sweetener made from birch and beech trees. I buy it from Sainsbury's.

There is only one way to prove to him that rhubarb without sweetener will set his teeth on edge. That is to insist on cooking HIS without any. Keep on doing your own as usual, and don't give in if he asks for some of yours!

Elegran

There is only one way to prove to him that rhubarb without sweetener will set his teeth on edge. That is to insist on cooking HIS without any. Keep on doing your own as usual, and don't give in if he asks for some of yours!

Elegran I think you are right. He is so stubborn he won’t want to admit it if it gives him tooth and stomach rot but it will be interesting to see! I’ll also pull the rhubarb from the green stemmed plant not the red raspberry one, thanks to tips on here that red is naturally sweeter. I’ll come back and let you all know.

I don’t add sugar if making a crumble, if making a pie I sprinkle caster sugar on top before cooking like my mother did. Seems to work ok, not had any complaints yet. Sometimes add stewed apple if I have some eating apples that need using up.

I use lots of sugar. Used to dip the raw rhubarb into sugar as a child ?

Sweet cicely is good, but not a common plant. Some varieties have less acid naturally , Glaskins perpetual is for example, not an early variety but you can pick it longer into the season because of the lower acidity, many other varieties get more acidic as the season goes on. IF you want to grow that or other lower acid varieties there are specialist nurseries

This actually kicked me into gear to make my own tonight using my nearly dead punnet of strawberries that got freezer burn at the back of the fridge and some rhubarb. Used just oj for the sweetener.
Let us know how your DH gets on with his unsweetened rhubarb. Worth ruining the desert if it gets him to have a puckered face from the sour taste ?

If anyone wants sweet cicely I'll send them some seeds. I have it growing all down the side of a long field. I thought it was very common, but it looks very much like cow parsley so perhaps people don't recognise it when they see it.

I tried using it once when my diabetic MiL was staying, but how do you remove it after cooking? It disintegrated into a slimy mess and stuck to the rhubarb.

I'd think it would be bad for your stomach to eat it without sweetening. Give you the trots!

My father was fond on rhubarb and stayed with us on his many visits and so I had a clump of it = too big for my tiny plot and too tart for me. I had heard it aggravated arthritis due to the acidity? Also heard of the sweet cicily tip but never cooked with it. The rhubarb is long gone but the cicily comes up every year and lovely aniseed aroma to delicate leaves.

I cook it without sugar then stir in some honey or sugar to taste while it is warm.

I always add some berries instead of sugar…

The reason one should never cook fruit with sugar is that the skins become very tough and leathery - very unpleasant in jams, for example.

I cook in a little water then stir a raspberry jelly into it and leave to set, lovely.

... I'm sure you can...

i.imgur.com/bkYUTZL.mp4

I’ve cooked the green stemmed rhubarb with no sugar or anything apart from a little water. I’ll give it to dh later and let you know.

You can certainly cook rhubarb without sweetening of any kind, but that wasn't really your query was it?

If your DH likes to try rhubarb without any sweetening that is his affair. Like you, and most of the rest of the world, I certainly am not able to eat unsweetened rhubarb.

Cook your usual amount without any sugar, dish half of it for him, add sugar to the rest for yourself, bring it up to the boil again.

Make sure you know which plate is which, put his in front of him and watch his face when he tastes it. Don't put a spoonful into your own mouth until he has tried to swallow his first mouthful, as I guarantee the sight of his face will make you laugh and choke if you were trying to eat or drink at the same time.

I pop ruhbarb in the microwave oven for 2 mins having added a little water and a spoon ful of brown sugar. Otherwise I add a sweetner afterwards.

Yuk no! Always add sugar ?

If you add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, you can reduce the amount of sugar you need by at least half

I use pineapple juice.

Dh just said it was a bit bland when I dished it up!!!!