I think it's a sweetener and heavily used, or used to be heavily used, in the south. Can somebody tell me more?

-- gita (gschmitz@directcon.net), September 13, 2001

Answers

Look it up yourself. Go to www.google.com and enter sorghum as a search phrase. Sorghum is a large grass. I'm aware of grain sorghum and sorghum which is grown for forage. I've heard of sorghum syrup as a sweetener, but know nothing of it.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), September 14, 2001.

It's a forage grass, an annual. Sudan Grass is a sorghum used as fast growth forage for cows. You can only graze Sudan grass when it gets knee high or so because of cyanide in the new growth. Don't know anything about people varieties where the syrup is pressed out. I think it's Southern, too. Tim Duck, do you know the answer to this? :)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), September 14, 2001.

There are several types of sorghum. Some varieties are grown primarily for grain, some are primarily forage grasses and the last and smaller group is grown primarily for making into sorghum syrup.

It's not molasses which is a sugar refining byproduct but just a plain syrup made from boiling down the collected juice from crushed sweet sorghum stalks. It's still fairly common in the upper parts of the South and it's not that hard to find. The coastal areas of the South you'll tend to find sugar cane syrup which is just the same as sorghum syrup but it's made from sugar cane. You can use pretty much any of them as you would a light molasses or golden syrup or dark corn syrup.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), September 14, 2001.

Sorghum syrup is very sweet. We use to always mix it with butter and spread it over homemade biscuts. Yum-yum. The last time I ate some I couldn't believe how sweet it is. Almost too sweet.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), September 14, 2001.

My family and I frequent an area in So.Ky twice yearly. Predominantly Mennonite.(Spring for and auction) In fall-labor day weekend usually they begin to grind the sorghum and processing the syrup. This continues usually through Mid.-Nov. The finished product is called molasses. I always have some in refrig. I often make cookies and use it in baked beans. It is very sweet. My family doesn't eat much as it is because it is so sweet. We live in N.Fl. where cane is grown..traditionally ground around Thanksgiving..the juices from sorgum and our cane are very similar..finished product of cane is less sweet, not as dark and thinner.

-- sandi (msjazt@aol.com), September 14, 2001.

Sorghum is grown here and made this time of year, usually the first 2 weeks in September.The cane is harvested while still green. I find this unusal and I grew up in the deep south and I am more used to the process of cane farming. Anyway,the juice is squeezed from the cane and cooked for a very long time usually over an open fire outdoors. The green foam is skimmed off and after many hours it is a heavy syrup. The quality of the syrup will vary depending on the experience of the person making it. I have bought sorghum that looked like motor oil and tasted awful. I now buy from the Menenites in Allen County and it is simply delicious. It is very thick and sweet. I use it mostly for cooking as I would molasses. Many old timers love sorghum on hot biscuits but I prefer clover honey myself.

-- Ria in Ky (MinMin45@aol.com), September 14, 2001.

I live in Tx and it's pretty popular down here with the older folks, a few people still grow it, they process it just like Ria said, we went to a mashing and cooking down demonstration about 8 miles from here 2 years ago. Very interesting, nostalgic, because it's just about a lost art. In 1986 when my husband was 1st layed off from the oil fields, and my father-in-law was still alive, he feared a depression, and haveing once lived thur one, he encouraged my husband and I to plant lots of corn and sorghum in the bottom land, sd if you had these two staples you could survive well, the sorghum is also fed to the animals somehow, corn for corn meal and buy the dried pinto beans, claimed you could live off these 3 4-ever. Guess he would know haveing most likely done it before, cornbread, beans, sorghum syrup, maybe a pig to raise, chickens! We did plant a bumper crop of corn, but never got around to planting the sorghum before fil got sick and passed away, to bad we sure could've learned a few things, he knew this land like the back of his hand, it being 3rd generation coming to my husband, knew where to grow certain crops and where not to, the fields before you got to his house used to be covered with watermelons, purple hull peas, and cantalopes, yes companion planting. Oh, my why don't the young learn from the old while they can?

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), September 14, 2001.

Yes, so much information is fading away as our elderly leave us. I wish I had spent more time with my grandparents when they were still here. I realize this now and try to spend time learning from those who remember how things were done back then. I also vow to teach these things to my children and grandchildren. We can not let these skills be forgotten.

-- Ria in Ky (MinMin45@aol.com), September 14, 2001.

Back when the White family owned part of the land I do now they had the only sorghum press in the area. A mule who knew how to walk in a circle was the horsepower. People would bring their sorghum cane in wagons to be crushed. Some took the juice home to process themselves and other had the White family finish it for them. The crushed stalks were either carried home as livestock feed or given to the White's as part payment for the processing. For several weeks in the fall it was a 24/7 job for the White boys.

Some in the area today will swear there just isn't anything like sorghum molasses as a sweetener.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 14, 2001.

Sorghum syrup is usually darker than ribbon cane syrup. And it is a whole lot stronger in taste. Many people prefer cane syrup over sorghum because it is milder. It surely does depend on the person cooking it. I have a small patch of sorghum growing now. I'm trying to get enough seed to plant a large patch for making into syrup. Not many people have the knowledge to cook cane juice down to edible syrup these days. If anyone knows someone with the knowledge of how it's done they should go and interview them, writing it down or video taping the conversation.

-- monty (monty@bayou.com), September 14, 2001.

Gita, In Kansas there is a type of sorghum, that we call Milo, a grain sorghum that is fed to cattle, pigs, and goats. I did not know it was called sorghum in other states until I moved to Tennessee and asked for it at the feed store and was met with blank looks. A few folks in Kansas grow the sorghum that is made into molasses but not very many

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), September 14, 2001.

We made molasas from sorgum last week with a press made 1870 and our mules will be again in about 2 weeks. Very sweet and good for you old timers said a spoon a day will let ya live longer and healther. Coaltrain on the Prairierose

-- coaltrain (prairierose91@hotmail.com), September 15, 2001.

There are at least 3 types: one produces the best grain (compared to other sorghums), another type is best used for forage (grazing/hay), & the third type is more like sugar cane then grass (very sweet). It seems that sorghum (for syrup) can be grown farther north then sugar cane, so was used for the same thing. You can make it thick like molasses & it can be made into a granulated sugar (maple syrup & sugar beets can also be made into dry sugar). It just seems to me that if you want to make sugar but are too far north to grow sugar cane, you do have some alturnatives. In Indiana (I see them at state fair every year) there is someone that raises their own (& cookes it down) sweet sorghum. They always called their thick products molasses even though it wasn't made from sugar cane.

Hope this helps

animalfarms (IN)

-- animalfarms (jawjlewis@netzero.net), September 15, 2001.

When I lived in Tennessee, a few old men made it at a place they set up right by the road. They sold it right on the spot and you could stand and watch the process. What I noticed was they had the molasses cooking in 3 different vats, stirring constantly. They started it out in the first vat, and it then procceeded to the next vat, then later the next. My Dad told me this was the correct way to do it, but I can't for the life of me remember what the purpose was (the 3 step process). It was excellent molasses. Wish I would have asked the old men. Maybe it had something to do with the heat of each vat? Anyone?

-- Annie (mistletoe@kconline.com), September 15, 2001.

I'm surprised to see this thread. We're all careful with the livestock in my area to not have sudan and sorghum grasses around due to it's toxicity. There's always something going on to amaze me! -G-

http://cal.nbc.upenn.edu/poison/ppstslsorgh.htm

Click 'more information and diagram'

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 15, 2001.

Annie there are two ways that are most popular one is the stages you are refering to if you want to add more juice while cooking you should keep seperate from that already started or you can cook the full batch in one pan can't add more juice while one batch has already started reason for the dividers and continue to rake rake of skumies while cooking. Coaltrain

-- coaltrain (prairierose91@hotmail.com), September 17, 2001.