Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

The finished syrup is thoroughly sterilized by boiling. If canned above 150°F in
clean containers, it will not spoil or ferment. The container must be airtight to
prevent fermentation or surface mold growth. Thoroughly wash large
containers such as metal drums several times with boiling water or steam and
dry them thoroughly before adding syrup. Large wooden containers such as
kegs or wooden barrels are not recommended for storing syrup because they
are so hard to sanitize. It takes from 6 to 12 gallons of raw juice to make one
gallon of sorghum syrup. The finished syrup will weigh about 11.5 pounds per
gallon.
Investment and Operating Costs
Often, sorghum syrup will crystallize during storage and become a problem for
producers who store their syrup through part of the winter. Crystallization is
caused when the sugar sucrose is present in concentrations greater than its
solubility at the storage temperature. You can prevent crystallization if some
of the sucrose is converted to glucose and fructose (other forms of sugar) with
the enzyme invertase.
As with the amylase enzymes, invertase can be added at several times while
the syrup is being processed. The recommended method is to finish the syrup
in the usual manner and cool it to below 140°F. Then add 1 pound invertase
per 100 gallons finished syrup and immediately bottle. The enzyme will slowly
convert the sucrose into glucose and fructose over the next few weeks. The
syrup will probably become slightly thinner, but the sweetness will remain the
same.
Suppliers:
Kentucky
Danny Townsend - 11620 Main St., Jeffersonville, KY 40337,
Phone (859)498-4142
Sandra and Thurman Shumaker - sTs Farm, 7161 Wickliffe Rd.,
Wickliffe, KY 42087; Phone: 270/335-5035; www.stsfarm.com;
tshumaker@brtc.net
Country Rock Sorghum, Versailles, KY. Curtis Congleton, Jr. and
Randal Rock, Phone: 859/873-8497, e-mails:
ccfarmdude@aol.com and rrock@mis.net.
Alabama
BriarTree Sorghum Farm - P.O. Box 52, New Market, AL 35761,
Phone (256)379-3446, e-mail: BriarTreeSorghum@yahoo.com
Indiana
Hubert Farms, Stephen E. Hubert, 10685 E County Road 1700 N,
Ferdinand, IN 47532-7562, Home Phone: (812) 357-2164 Cell Phone:
(812) 719-1898
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