Supplementary Material: About Making Sugar
Supplementary Material: About Making Sugar
Items Needed for Sugar-Making
- Cassette stove with gas canister, or an induction (IH) heater
- Frying pan (Teflon coating)
- Pot for a water bath
- Bowl
- Wooden spatula
- Spoon
- Blender
- Knife and cutting board
- Cloth for squeezing (cheesecloth)
- Rod to wrap the cloth around (about 1 cm thick, 30 cm long, used for squeezing)
- Granulated sugar
- Plates and spoons for tasting
- Press cutter
- Refractometer and pliers
Procedure
(i) Cut the sugarcane using a press cutter. Remove the nodes when cutting.
(ii) Peel the skin of the sugarcane with a knife. (*Requires some skill, like peeling an apple)
(iii) Finely chop into pieces about 4 cm long and 1 cm wide using a knife. (Since it is hard, assign students who can safely use a knife in advance.)
(iv) Place the pieces in a blender and crush them into a fine powder. *It is important to add roughly a handful at a time. Add the pieces and blend, then gradually add more while blending, stirring occasionally with a spoon to help them break down completely. Collect the crushed sugarcane in a bowl.
(v) Place one to two fist-sized portions of the crushed sugarcane onto a cloth (cheesecloth) and squeeze firmly to extract the juice. (Squeeze using strength, either with one person or two working together. It's a tough task, but it is more enjoyable if students work together and cheer while squeezing.)
(vi) Pour the extracted juice into a frying pan and boil it on a cassette stove or induction (IH) heater, simmering until it thickens.
(vii) Add a pinch of granulated sugar and continue to simmer the mixture using a water bath.
(viii) Use a wooden spatula to spread and scrape the mixture against the pan, thoroughly evaporating the moisture until it becomes powdery (takes about 5 to 10 minutes). Using a spoon also makes it easier.
(ix) Done!
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