Made beet molasses

[Thumbcocker]

I wanted to see if we could grow something that would serve a sweetener in a pinch that didn't involve keeping bees.

We planted one package of sugar beet seeds. The beets were peeled, made into beet slaw, boiled in water for an hour, and then the liquid was evaporated down in an electric roaster at 300 degrees. It just barely boild around the edges and evaporated down. Net result was 2 1/2 pints of very sweet molasses.

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[Gewehr-Guy]

Now that is something new to me! I like beets, but some don't, is there any beet flavor that some would find objectionable?

How many pounds of beets to yield 2 1/2 pints?

Bet that would taste good on some fresh corn bread, and a cup of coffee right now.

[BJK]

Interesting!

[Thumbcocker]

These are sugar beets. About 15% sugar. Europe gets quite a bit of sugar from beets. We boiled 2 of those large stainless bowls of "beet slaw" in water and then evaporated that down to molasses.

We could have taken it down more but didn't want to scorch it. You can also dehydrate it down to sugar but I am happy with a thin molasses. No beet taste but different from sorghum molasses.

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[shaner]

Very interesting,

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[MaryB]

Interesting... I can go walk the neighbors field after beet harvest and probably pick a 5 gallon pail full that they missed... take it down to maple syrup consistency for use on waffles and pancakes...

[Thumbcocker]

Be sure to strain the beet slaw/water through cheese cloth before reducing it down


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[MaryB]

They are lifting beets today... I will wander over later and see how many they left behind!

[swingingblock2520]

Looks good,wonder how it compares to my beloved sorghum?

[badguybuster]

Id bet that would be a heckuva deer attractant

[swingingblock2520]

Id bet that would be a heckuva deer attractant

When I lived across the river in wva we had a molasses & wet mineral bulk tank that rusted thru on the farm and I must have hauled 5 or 6 30gal drums of that sticky sweet sludge out and poured it over stumps and put out couple hundred lb of apples that year. Was good hunting on the pasture lands year.

[15meter]

Id bet that would be a heckuva deer attractant

Back in the day before most deer baiting bans took place in Michigan, sugar beets were a prime deer bait. You could literally have a truck load dumped on your hunting spot for a fee. A buddy's father would do it every year after deer season just to feed the deer. Didn't figure he needed to do it before the season, he and his wife had enough deer around that they could fill their tags off their back porch with the cup of coffee next to them.

Most of your table sugar here in the States come from beets. Big Chief and Pioneer are the local brands, most of the beets in Michigan are from the Thumb. Just starting harvest up there. It's going to be a tough year, we've had a massive amount of rain in the last 3 weeks in Michigan.

I suspect the brands Big Chief and Pioneer are not long for this hyperventilating PC world.

And as added weirdness, there is a byproduct of beet sugar production that is sprayed on the roads during the winter as a de-icer in place of salt.