Syrup Making

Once the cane is stripped, topped and cut, it is then hauled
and piled at the mill ready to be ground.

Here my wife, Carol, feeds the mill...

... causing a constant stream of sweet cane juice to flow through the first strainer.  We strain the juice through three strainers before it goes into the kettle.  First, through a paint strainer, then burlap, and finally through Nylon Cloth (women's slip type material).

Here the juice is strained a third time before going to the kettle. 

Folks, there's nothing like cup of cane juice on a cold morning.

... and evaporation begins. It takes about four hours, at least, to evaporate the 80 gallons of juice down into 8 gallons of syrup.

When the juice is heated the impurities float to the top and skimming begins. We try to get the impurities off before they cook into the syrup.

I am using a skimmer made from a stainless steel bowl with small holes drilled in the bottom and a handle attached.  We also use regular kitchen splatter screens to which we have attached handles, as can be seen in a picture below.

In this picture (above) our son, John, 
is using the wipe rag. Both John and Jerry 
are making fine syrup makers, and I am so glad another generation is interested 
in preserving this wonderful 
old art.

We try to keep the juice boiling right up to the top of the kettle. And, while it is difficult to do when heating with pine wood, we try to keep the juice boiling up constantly. Some experienced syrup makers say that each time the juice boils up and goes down the syrup gets darker

. Once the syrup begins to thicken it changes texture with a noticeable difference.  The syrup shown here is getting into the final stages of cooking.

Experienced syrupmakers can dip a pan into the syrup, empty it, and watch the syrup flake off in sheets. When it flakes off in sheets like this, the syrup is about ready to take up.

I like a thicker syrup and sometimes cook it a little longer.  This will sometimes cause it to sugar, but we do not add anything to the syrup to keep it from happening.  Ours is pure sugar cane syrup, no additives.

Beth, our daughter-in-law pours up the hot syrup through another strainer into a large container.

The finished product is bottled and sealed bringing a long day's work to a sweet finish.