Make Cane Syrup At Home
Sugarcane tends to have mildew on its stems, along with dust, dirt and the occasional bug. don’t use soap or anything, just water and elbow grease.
Step 2: Start Chopping ’em Up
Normally, sugar cane is processed with sugarcane juice machine and let the sugary juice run out.
Step 3: Boil the Chunks Of Cane
make sugar cane syrup
After chopping, we put the pieces into a large stockpot, covered them with water, then started boiling the sugar out of them.
This takes some time and you have to make sure they stay covered with water, so top the pot off occasionally.
As the cane cooks, it will lose its lustrous color and start to turn pale brown.
Once the flavor of the water is the same as that of a chunk of the boiled sugar cane, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
This takes an hour or two – I let my tastebuds be my guide.
Step 4: Strain Out the Cane Fragments
I pour the hot sugary juice through a stainless steel strainer, which brings up a good point: do this whole process with stainless steel implements, if you can at all help it.
Aluminum cookware leaches aluminum into your food, imparting off flavors while slowly poisoning you in the process.
You don’t want aluminum fortified cane syrup. Just trust me on this one.
That said – once you’ve poured off the juice into a second pot, it’s time to get really cooking.
Step 5: Boil It Down
This step (and the previous one) makes your house smell amazing.
It’s not the molasses smell you would expect, though; it’s more of a delicious sweet corn aroma.
You’re going to boil… boil… boil this juice until the liquid has reduced in the pot to a dangerously low level.
Step 6: Finish and Jar the Syrup
BoilingsyrupYou’re really close to the end now. It’s the final stretch!
At this point, you need to be careful not to let the syrup burn, turn into caramel or boil over.
Cook it with constant supervision and be ready to pull it off the burner at a moment’s notice.
The bubbles start to get very thick and glassy as it nears syrup consistency.
My first batch was very, very thick so I learned to back off a little on the final boil down. Dip a spoon regularly into the syrup and see how thick it is when it cools.
Putting a few spoons aside in the freezer for this stage is a good idea. Once you’ve got the right thickness, pour your syrup off into a mason jar and:
Finished Jar Cane Syrup
Congratulations! You’ve made your own home-grown, organic, vegan, free trade, sustainably harvested, locavore-approved, non-GMO, gluten-free, amazingly delicious sugar cane syrup!
As a final note: homemade cane syrup tastes absolutely amazing… you’re gonna try it and love it. I have no idea why it isn’t as popular as maple syrup. In mind they are neck and neck.
Happy syruping!
Final Note: Growing Your Own Sugarcane
If you are interested in growing your own sugarcane patch, I cover the process in one of the appendices of my popular book Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening.