I finally got the last batch cooked today. This ended out being about 3 weeks past maturity, but It looked good and I figured it should be fine. The sugar content was lower than the last batch, being 16 brix, compared to around 19 for the last batch. I stripped about half of it then decided to try grinding without stripping the rest. I cut it down on Saturday, and other than the extra time grinding because of the bulk of the leaves, all seemed normal. I did the grinding last evening just before dark, and started cooking about 14 hours later. I did the last batch this way and it came out fine
During the cooking I had to skim quite a bit more than usual, in fact I was skimming all the way to about half an hour of being finished. This skimming was pretty constant. Everything seemed fine as far as the look and smell of the syrup, but tasting it was a big disappointment :-( The initial taste was pretty good, but then came a slightly bitter aftertaste. This batch would probably be fine for cooking, but I'm afraid it is not acceptable to market. Has anyone else had this problem with processing sorghum past maturity? My wife thinks I need to get another hobby, like collecting stamps ;-) Take care. Ken For list archives, go to: http://www.mail-archive.com/syrupmakers@;coollist.com/ [Sponsored by:] _____________________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Usenet News Groups - $10/month No Download Limits! Signup Now: http://www.news.astraweb.com Join Now: http://www.news.astraweb.com <a href="http://www.news.astraweb.com";>AOL users click here</a>
