Molasses

Every fall the Chapman family gathers together to harvest cane and turn it into molasses. Most people do not enjoy the taste of molasses, and I used to be one of those people. The molasses from stores is not purified and tastes BLAH. Homemade molasses is magical and makes the perfect gingersnap cookies. Since this will be our last year until who knows when, we decided to document the process. Unfortunately, we arrived when the cane was already cut down with the seed heads and leaves already removed.
This picture shows about half of the total grown cane. We then moved the stalks from the truck to the "juicer". This contraption has evolved over the years for maximum productivity. What started out as a mill driven around and around by mules has now become hooked up to a truck engine. The two wheels spin together and the cane stalks are pushed through. The spent stalks exit the other side and the juice falls to a container below. View from the back. You can see the complicated machine that was hand pieced together with spare parts and some ingenuity. This is the first filtering stage for the sugary juice.
Filter number two. It is hard to believe something so green can transform into dark, rich molasses. Goldie filters again with colanders and paper towels. She claims she enjoys this part because she can sit down and still work hard. The filtered juice finally makes it to the oven, another piece created through the years. A wood fire heats the pan. The pan's edge had been coated with clay collected the night before to prevent escaping smoke. When the juice is added and the fire is going, the next step is to wait until the perfect moment. Just the right amount of boiling has to occur to help some of the impurities rise to the top. This is the step that commercial molasses making ignores--all that foamy, gross stuff just gets stirred right back into the mix. But the Chapmans get rid of it! Here is Dj removing some of the impurities. He used a piece of wood with a door handle screwed on it. The wood just barely touches the liquid and impurities stick. And then everyone waits! And eats! And visits! Stir, scrape, stir, scrape. Eventually all the excess water boils off, and only about 1/4 of the original volume remains. This high quality molasses is then divided up. Clean up is eased by the help of the honey bees that suck up every remaining missed drop. We left before it was finished, so you will have to imagine the nice bottle of dark brown molasses that soon will be waiting in our fridge. Here is a shot of our almost empty jar from last year.