Something about sugar : $b Its history, growth, manufacture and distributionRolph, George M. (George Morrison)
History
Something about sugar : $b Its history, growth, manufacture and distribution
Rolph, George M. (George Morrison)
Sugar
The powdered sugar extracted, the remainder drops into another screen
where a similar sifting action takes place, the silk of the second screen
being coarser than that of the first, and bar sugar is the result. Such
grains as are too large to pass through the bar screen are carried
back to the rolls and reground. The bar screen has about five thousand
openings per square inch.
Bar sugar, as the name implies, is generally used in preparing beverages.
It dissolves almost instantly when dropped in water. Singularly enough,
the average housewife is not aware of the advantages attending the use
of this grade of sugar. It does not become caked as readily as powdered
sugar does, and is the ideal sweetening for berries and cereals served at
the breakfast meal. It is far more desirable than powdered sugar for most
of the purposes for which the latter is commonly used.
It is believed by many that _all_ powdered sugar is adulterated with
chalk, starch, white corn meal or similar substances. Such is not the
case, and it is safe to assume that no mixing whatever is done by any
refiner in America. Powdered sugar has a strong tendency to cake or
become hard, and some manufacturers who buy coarse granulated sugar from
the refiners for grinding purposes use starch to the extent of from
two to three per cent. Chalk is never used, nor are other non-edible
or deleterious substances. Starch is not introduced for the purpose of
making a greater profit, but to prevent the powdered sugar from caking.
The adding of starch, in all probability, increases the cost of making
powdered sugar, as starch costs almost as much as sugar, and the expense
of handling it and feeding it into the grinding machinery is quite an
item.
[Illustration: FILLING, WEIGHING AND SEWING 2-POUND, 5-POUND AND 10-POUND
BAGS]
YELLOW SUGARS
Yellow sugars, or “softs” as they are usually called, comprise fifteen
grades, ranging in color from a creamy white to a dark brown. These
sugars are used chiefly by bakers in making gingerbread, pies and cakes,
although a small quantity finds its way directly into households for
ordinary domestic consumption.
The characteristics of yellow sugars are that they have a small grain
and contain a sufficient amount of molasses to make them moist to the
touch, properties brought about by a radically different method of
boiling from that applied to white sugars. They also contain a certain
amount of invert sugar which preserves the softness of grain and prevents
subsequent caking or hardening.
To properly explain how yellow sugars are boiled, reference must be made
to the method of boiling white sugars, which may be briefly summarized as
follows:
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