- Joined
- Mar 20, 2010
- Location
- Ohio
Sorghum syrup is experiencing a welcome comeback. Once a common sweetener enjoyed by Southerners and some Midwesterners, sorghum syrup went out of style by the early to mid-1900s when cheaper, easily accessible refined sugar became available. In recent years, its popularity has been on the rise in part due to those interested in producing more of their own food.
Sorghum has a lot going for it. It can be grown where there's a reasonably long growing season, it can be grown on small acreage, it tolerates drought and heat and it grows in less than ideal soil conditions. The sweet syrup produced from it has a complex, rich flavor and can be eaten as is or substituted for other sweeteners in cooking and baking.
Sorghum syrup has also been shown to have healthful antioxidant qualities, as well as iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, protein and other nutrients. The demand for more natural sweeteners is another reason sorghum is becoming more popular.
Sorghum syrup is experiencing a welcome comeback. Once a common sweetener enjoyed by Southerners and some Midwesterners, sorghum syrup went out of style by the early to mid-1900s when cheaper, easily accessible refined sugar became available. In recent years, its popularity has been on the rise in part due to those interested in producing more of their own food.
Sorghum has a lot going for it. It can be grown where there's a reasonably long growing season, it can be grown on small acreage, it tolerates drought and heat and it grows in less than ideal soil conditions. The sweet syrup produced from it has a complex, rich flavor and can be eaten as is or substituted for other sweeteners in cooking and baking.
Sorghum syrup has also been shown to have healthful antioxidant qualities, as well as iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, protein and other nutrients. The demand for more natural sweeteners is another reason sorghum is becoming more popular.
Prior to cutting and pressing, sorghum stalks are stripped of their leaves and seed heads.
For Dennis Clift (Clift Farm Sorghum) and his family from Sycamore Valley in Monroe County, who are members of Washington Electric Cooperative, making sorghum syrup is a labor of love and an effort to keep the "old ways" from dying out.
"My family made sorghum when I was a kid growing up," Clift said. "I hadn't made it recently until about six years ago. I decided I wanted to learn the whole process and pass it on before the art of making it disappeared."
Clift's interest in making sorghum syrup was reignited after seeing a demonstration by Robert Rea of Columbiana County. Clift approached Rea about teaching him the process. Rea mentored Clift and helped him learn the many steps involved in the sorghum-making process, from planting, harvesting, crushing and boiling to the final step of filling bottles with the rich, complex syrup that reminds many of days gone by. Clift, along with his son, Jeremy, now plants almost two acres of sorghum at the Clift farm and produces about 400 pints of sorghum syrup a season for sale.
Sometimes sorghum syrup is referred to as "sorghum molasses," but Clift is quick to point out that pure sorghum syrup is not the same as molasses. "Molasses is a byproduct of the sugar cane industry and the making of sugar. Sorghum syrup is produced from 100 percent juice from the sweet sorghum plant," he says.
Sweet sorghum grown for syrup looks similar to corn but can reach higher than 10 feet tall. When mature, canes are stripped of their leaves and seed heads, then crushed, releasing the sweet juice, which is then boiled down into syrup. It takes about 8 to 10 gallons of juice to make 1 gallon of syrup.
By late summer, seed heads form and begin to turn reddish in color. Maturing seed heads signal the time for syrup production is near. About a week prior to harvest, the leaves of the cane are stripped off and the seed heads removed. When mature, dried seed heads can be saved for next year's seed.
A few days prior to and up to the day of pressing, canes are cut off just above the ground. The canes then are fed into a sorghum press, or mill, that crushes the stems and releases the juice. Some processors still use horses or draft animals to power their presses. The strained juice is gathered in buckets, transferred to the cooking pan and boiled down until it reaches just the right thick, sweet consistency. It then is bottled.
Sorghum can be drizzled on biscuits or pancakes, added to baked beans, used in homemade barbecue sauce, or substituted for other sweeteners in baking and cooking. Clift Farm Sorghum took first place in the Meats and Drink competition at the National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processors Convention in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, this past spring. Clift Farm has also won awards at past conventions.
The Clift family will tell you that from beginning to end, making sorghum syrup is a labor-intensive process but is worth the work. Clift and his son
Jeremy's business card reflects their feelings about making the sweet stuff: It reads "Hard work and sweet rewards." It also says, "Give us a call, we love talking sorghum."
The Clift family holds an annual sorghum festival at their farm in Sycamore Valley. This year's festival is on Sept. 6. "We're donating all the proceeds from this year's festival to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and to the Shriners Hospitals for Children," says Clift.
Story and photos by Hazel Freeman
August 25, 2014
http://www.countryliving.coop/departments/sweet-sorghum-comeback/
Fall festival sorghum demonstrations
Here are a few other Ohio locations where sorghum syrup demonstrations will take place this fall.
Old Iron Power Show – Noble County Fairgrounds, Sept. 20 and 21, www.oldironpowerclub.com
Fall Festival – Monroe County Fairgrounds, Oct. 11 and 12, www.monroecountyohiochamber.com
Algonquin Mill Fall Festival – Carroll County, Oct. 10 to 12, www.carrollcountyohio.com
Bob Evans Farm Festival – Rio Grande, Oct. 10 to 12, www.bobevans.com
Sorghum has a lot going for it. It can be grown where there's a reasonably long growing season, it can be grown on small acreage, it tolerates drought and heat and it grows in less than ideal soil conditions. The sweet syrup produced from it has a complex, rich flavor and can be eaten as is or substituted for other sweeteners in cooking and baking.
Sorghum syrup has also been shown to have healthful antioxidant qualities, as well as iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, protein and other nutrients. The demand for more natural sweeteners is another reason sorghum is becoming more popular.
Sorghum syrup is experiencing a welcome comeback. Once a common sweetener enjoyed by Southerners and some Midwesterners, sorghum syrup went out of style by the early to mid-1900s when cheaper, easily accessible refined sugar became available. In recent years, its popularity has been on the rise in part due to those interested in producing more of their own food.
Sorghum has a lot going for it. It can be grown where there's a reasonably long growing season, it can be grown on small acreage, it tolerates drought and heat and it grows in less than ideal soil conditions. The sweet syrup produced from it has a complex, rich flavor and can be eaten as is or substituted for other sweeteners in cooking and baking.
Sorghum syrup has also been shown to have healthful antioxidant qualities, as well as iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, protein and other nutrients. The demand for more natural sweeteners is another reason sorghum is becoming more popular.
Prior to cutting and pressing, sorghum stalks are stripped of their leaves and seed heads.
For Dennis Clift (Clift Farm Sorghum) and his family from Sycamore Valley in Monroe County, who are members of Washington Electric Cooperative, making sorghum syrup is a labor of love and an effort to keep the "old ways" from dying out.
"My family made sorghum when I was a kid growing up," Clift said. "I hadn't made it recently until about six years ago. I decided I wanted to learn the whole process and pass it on before the art of making it disappeared."
Clift's interest in making sorghum syrup was reignited after seeing a demonstration by Robert Rea of Columbiana County. Clift approached Rea about teaching him the process. Rea mentored Clift and helped him learn the many steps involved in the sorghum-making process, from planting, harvesting, crushing and boiling to the final step of filling bottles with the rich, complex syrup that reminds many of days gone by. Clift, along with his son, Jeremy, now plants almost two acres of sorghum at the Clift farm and produces about 400 pints of sorghum syrup a season for sale.
Sometimes sorghum syrup is referred to as "sorghum molasses," but Clift is quick to point out that pure sorghum syrup is not the same as molasses. "Molasses is a byproduct of the sugar cane industry and the making of sugar. Sorghum syrup is produced from 100 percent juice from the sweet sorghum plant," he says.
Sweet sorghum grown for syrup looks similar to corn but can reach higher than 10 feet tall. When mature, canes are stripped of their leaves and seed heads, then crushed, releasing the sweet juice, which is then boiled down into syrup. It takes about 8 to 10 gallons of juice to make 1 gallon of syrup.
By late summer, seed heads form and begin to turn reddish in color. Maturing seed heads signal the time for syrup production is near. About a week prior to harvest, the leaves of the cane are stripped off and the seed heads removed. When mature, dried seed heads can be saved for next year's seed.
A few days prior to and up to the day of pressing, canes are cut off just above the ground. The canes then are fed into a sorghum press, or mill, that crushes the stems and releases the juice. Some processors still use horses or draft animals to power their presses. The strained juice is gathered in buckets, transferred to the cooking pan and boiled down until it reaches just the right thick, sweet consistency. It then is bottled.
Sorghum can be drizzled on biscuits or pancakes, added to baked beans, used in homemade barbecue sauce, or substituted for other sweeteners in baking and cooking. Clift Farm Sorghum took first place in the Meats and Drink competition at the National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processors Convention in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, this past spring. Clift Farm has also won awards at past conventions.
The Clift family will tell you that from beginning to end, making sorghum syrup is a labor-intensive process but is worth the work. Clift and his son
Jeremy's business card reflects their feelings about making the sweet stuff: It reads "Hard work and sweet rewards." It also says, "Give us a call, we love talking sorghum."
The Clift family holds an annual sorghum festival at their farm in Sycamore Valley. This year's festival is on Sept. 6. "We're donating all the proceeds from this year's festival to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and to the Shriners Hospitals for Children," says Clift.
Story and photos by Hazel Freeman
August 25, 2014
http://www.countryliving.coop/departments/sweet-sorghum-comeback/
Fall festival sorghum demonstrations
Here are a few other Ohio locations where sorghum syrup demonstrations will take place this fall.
Old Iron Power Show – Noble County Fairgrounds, Sept. 20 and 21, www.oldironpowerclub.com
Fall Festival – Monroe County Fairgrounds, Oct. 11 and 12, www.monroecountyohiochamber.com
Algonquin Mill Fall Festival – Carroll County, Oct. 10 to 12, www.carrollcountyohio.com
Bob Evans Farm Festival – Rio Grande, Oct. 10 to 12, www.bobevans.com
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Forum Host
Its not like honey, or maple syrup, or molasses. There's nothing as good as sorghum on a hot buttered biscuit!
Bringing the