Sorghum molasses is a sweet syrup made from sugar cane juice, commonly used as a sweetener in cooking and baking. It was a popular sweetener in the US before refined sugars were available, and is still enjoyed in the southern states. Harvesting and processing the cane is a laborious process.
Sorghum molasses is a thick, sweet syrup made from the juices of sugar cane. A rich brown color, sorghum molasses is enjoyed as a breakfast food served with warm biscuits in the southern United States, especially Kentucky and Tennessee. The syrup is also used as a sweetener in baking and cooking.
Before refined sugars were readily available, sorghum molasses was the most common sweetener in much of the United States. Most family farms in the mid-19th century in the southern United States and parts of the Midwest grew at least enough sugar cane to provide for their families, and many more increased to have molasses to sell. Many farmers had their own mills and evaporating pans to turn cane into molasses. If they didn’t have their own setup to process the crop, they relied on the use of a neighbor’s mills.
Sorghum cane, also known as sugar cane in the southern United States, grows in tall stalks that can reach a height of 3.6 meters. The base of the stem can have a diameter of 5 cm. The stems have clusters of seeds at the top. Sorghum cane is ready to harvest approximately 120 days after sowing.
Harvesting the sorghum cane is laborious, as is the process of turning the cane into molasses. The work begins in the field, where workers strip leaves from stems and remove seed clusters, or heads, from the tops of the stems. At the end of this work, the stem is finally cut.
A worker then manually feeds each stalk into the mill. Traditionally, mills were pulled by horses, although many of the farmers who still produce sorghum molasses now pull their mills using a tractor. As the stem goes through the mill, the rollers crush it and squeeze out the juice. The juice is then poured into a pot.
The juice is filtered to remove any vegetation that may have fallen into it and then poured into the evaporator pan. Most farmers have a fire pit dug into the ground, and the evaporator pan, about 4 feet (1.2 m) wide by 0.3 m (0.3 m) deep, is placed over the fire pit. As the juice cooks, a worker constantly skims it to remove impurities that rise to the top in the process. The juice must boil before it runs out.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
