Making molasses

TAS · Nov 10, 2021

Does anyone still make their own molasses? We bought an old molasses press a couple years ago and started making our own molasses and growing the sorghum. The press was built around 1910 and was designed to be powered by a mule. The first year we used our ATV as our mule but that was slow and tedious. That winter we got a gearbox from an old baler and retrofitted it onto the press so it could be powered by a tractor. So last year and this year we powered it with one of the Farmalls. A few pictures below show the process.

Gtidwell · Nov 10, 2021

That is a nice set up sir. I really like sourgum molasses.

Richard G. · Nov 10, 2021

Here is my rig I used for 40 years.
I can't see in your photos how the mill is connected to the shaft coming out of the gearbox.
Please show a closeup of the drive on top of your mill.
Not being picky, but molasses is made from sugar cane and sorghum syrup is made from sorghum.LOL.
Richard in NW SC

larry@stinescorner · Nov 10, 2021

I Have received Molasses from Richard G,,IT Is fantastic!!

M-MAN · Nov 10, 2021

The molasses are much better and lighter if you remove the tassels before you press it.

jm. · Nov 10, 2021

That was the first thing I notice and it also looks like they may have pulled the stalks rather than cutting or a lot of dirt on the bottom of the stalks.

FLOLDFORD · Nov 10, 2021

You are right about that!

john in la · Nov 10, 2021

Molasses made from Sorghum ????
I didn't think that was possible.
Maybe because Sorghum syrup is more like maple syrup than it is sugarcane molasses.
It is thinner and more sour than molasses.
But it's your product. Call it what you want to call it.

Jim in NC · Nov 10, 2021

Helped a neighbor many years ago. We would line up the seed tops and cut them off with a chainsaw.

Traditional Farmer · Nov 10, 2021

If sorghum syrup is thin and sour it wasn't made right.When its made right and cooked down like it should be its very thick and sweet has a golden look to it.If it has a tinge of green its not cooked enough.Much much better than sugar can molasses.

730virgil · Nov 10, 2021

i have had Carmel corn made with sorghum molasses liked better than then that made sugar

AzPeapicker · Nov 11, 2021

I can remember as a kid , My uncle had a press & made Molasses . Their cooking pans were long & had baffles in them for the liquid to flow around . The best part was being able to get some sweet cane to chew on.
They used a horse on theirs as they didn1t have a mule .
This was back in the early 50 . Oh for the good times.

AZPeapicker

AzPeapicker · Nov 11, 2021

I remember as a kid that a Uncle of mine made Molasses . They pulled their press with a horse as they didn1t have a mule .
Their cooking pan were long & had baffles in them for the syrup to flow around .
The best part I remember was getting sugar cane to eat .
This was in the Early 1950 .

Azpeapicker

BarnyardEngineering · Nov 11, 2021

I thought molasses were made from moles.

Richard G. · Nov 11, 2021

Tas, just looked at your photos again.
Noticed you are feeding the small end first.
Good way to break something.
Always feed large end first and as the small end gets close to the rollers, you start more cane in.
Many mills have this warning on them about feeding large end first.
Richard

M-MAN · Nov 11, 2021

The name is just a regional thing. In the western foothills of NC it's molasses. Head east a good way and it changes to sorghum syrup. How light or how sweet it is depends on whether it was stripped clean and detassled and how it was cooked. Around here the cooking pan is 12 to 16 ft long with baffling about every 16 inches or so. I noticed a couple days ago my neighbor had started stripping his cane.

Copperhead don't play · Nov 11, 2021

As a kid one of my jobs was to tote the bucket of juice from the press to the pan. After I got grown, I saw where someone had set their press higher than the pan and ran a pipe to the pan so that no one had carry the juice to the pan. I thought that was smart.

My Poppa skimmed the foam off of the top of the evaporating
juice as he cooked the syrup for several days and kept it in a bucket. Of coarse it fermented and had a rather high alcohol content by the time he got through. It would make you drunk, but it gave you a massive hangover.

Ozlander · Nov 11, 2021

(quoted from post at 07:42:21 11/11/21) The name is just a regional thing. In the western foothills of NC it's molasses. Head east a good way and it changes to sorghum syrup. How light or how sweet it is depends on whether it was stripped clean and detassled and how it was cooked.

Yep, I've got a bottle that says "Ozark Mountain Sorghum Molasses".

TAS · Nov 11, 2021

Yes, the girl on the backside of the wagon is cutting the tassles off.

TAS · Nov 11, 2021

We've tried a few different methods for cutting the tops off. Hedge trimmer didn't work very well so this year we were using a pruning shears.

TAS · Nov 11, 2021

Yes, technically you are correct, molasses is made from sugar cane. Here in ohio, there isn't sugar cane so it is made from sorghum and labeled as sorghum molasses.

TAS · Nov 11, 2021

I wasn't aware of any warnings about how to feed the stalks. Usually he does stagger them so there is 2 stalks being fed at a time, one with the narrow part going through while the other has the thick part going through.

Jim in NC · Nov 12, 2021

To make what we did a bit clearer the cane was laid across a trailer with the seed heads laying off the edge of the trailer. We had a stack of cane as high as the saw bar was long. The seed and dust from cutting would fall to the ground.

4xMF · Nov 12, 2021

What about molasses made from sugar beet? Is that called molasses?

Making molasses

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