How to Make Sorghum Syrup and Market Sorghum Products (with Video)

Reader Contribution by Susan Tipton-Fox and The Mushroom Hut @ Fox Farms/Micro Dairy
Published on September 9, 2016
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Click hereto read an earlier post about how to grow and harvest sorghum, including where to find seed.

You can use the cane mill if you have one. Those are hard to come by now if you’re just looking to buy one. We heard of one that was sold for $700. The old ones were set up to use a horse or mule to turn the mill which would grind the cane stalks. Now, some of the mills are set-up to run by tractor. So, using a cane mill you would also need a horse or tractor to operate. This is expensive equipment for someone just starting out or just having a “backyard” crop.

Alan and I thought up another way of juicing the cane. It is all-manual but it gets the job done. We found an old “wringer-type” rollers that were used on wringer washing machines and we bolted to a metal stand. Always be aware you are working with a food product and apply food safety rules. We made sure the rollers were sterilized before using. The stalks can be crushed first with a meat tenderizer and then run through the wringers!

This works great. A  container is set below  the rollers to collect the juice as it comes out. To prepare the cane stalks for juicing, we strip the leaves (which is fed to the goats in small amounts), the seed heads are cut off and put in boxes to be dried later for grinding into flour. We cut the stalks in 2- to 3-foot lengths to make handling easier. Then, run through the wringers.

Here is a short clip of Alan “juicing” sorghum/cane:

YouTube video

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