Sugar cane

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

erinmself

Senior Cook
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
115
Location
Brandon, Suffolk, UK
They have sugar cane for sale in the produce section of my store so I bought some and figured I would see what I could do with is. Only problem is that I don't know what to do with it. A lot of health food profucts are sweetened with evaporated cane juice. Anyone know how I can break this stuff down to get to the sweet part of it?
 
My grandfather used to grow it to make cane syrup. He had a mill that extracted the juice and then it was cooked in a humonguous kettle over a fire. I don't know what you would do with just a bit of it, unless you peel it, cut it into small chunks and chew it. Grandaddy used to prepare it for us and we would chew it and spit out the pulp. It really cleans your teeth.
 
You could probably put the chunks in a juicer and extract it, then boil the juice. How much did you get? Is it enough for all the trouble? The juice is sweet and the more it cooks the thicker and sweeter it gets. Also cane sugar is derived from the juice. I remember chunks of sugar would appear in some of the syrup and my grandmother would give it to us, I think she called it rock candy. She would also use it in her tea.
 
I am guessing you probably could boil it down to extract the sugar although I would guess it would be more effort than it would be worth.

I used to love to chew it. Like Licia said, just cut a peeled chunk and start chewing. The pulp itself does not have any flavor at all. It is just extremely fibrous.
 
I just got about a 1 foot length of it. I didn't know how much I would need to make something out of it. I don't have a juicer actually. I have a very small kitchen and minimal cooking gadgets because I am pretty much newlywed and haven't acquired a lot yet.
 
I really don't know what you can do with that small amount, except as I suggested first. Perhaps you should ask the person you bought it from what could be done. I know some people buy whole stalks for decoration. The only place I've seen it in years is at country craft shows or fairs, where they mill it into gallons and gallons of juice, but I don't like the juice - it looks a bit dirty to me.
 
Some of my Jamaican and Trinidadian friends buy sugar cane for their children to suck or chew (raw). They don't seem to use it to cook with, so far as I know.
 
cutting it (and that takes a lot of effort) and chewing on it as others say is the only way I know how to eat sugar cane.

Boiling it does not get you anything.

In India sugarcane juice is a treat and is available at road side stalls. I think however if a visitor from the west drank that they will surely run a case of an upset stomach.

I love sugarcane juice. In Chicago at Devon they have imported special machines that you run the long sugarcane through and it squeezes out a lightly sweet yellow juice that is absolutely heavenly.

It takes me right back home.
 
i live in louisiana and there's a HUUUUUUUGE sugar cane field right across the street from my home.

in grinding season, which starts in mid to late october, we simply walk across the street, cut a few stalks, and get to cutting.

then, we just sit up under a shade tree (yes, it's STILL HOT IN OCTOBER), chew on the cane, get all the sweet juice out of it, and give our teeth, gums, and jaws a good workout.:LOL:
 
GB said:
You could use long thin pieces as a garnish to drinks. Mojitos come to mind.

Exactly what I was gonna say! Good stuff...

Also, in Bermuda, where I am from, the "national beverage" is a dark and stormy: Gosselings black Seal rum,and Ginger beer(not ale), with fresh lime juiceand sugar cane...

On another note, you can make skewers out of it for kebabs. Shrimp with cilantro and lime are the first things that pop in my mind...
 
Back
Top Bottom