hello im kaye from the fens . Ive started Jam production after a 20 year break and discovered the horrific cost of sugar , it might not seem horrific to some but i cook to a budget of virtually nil , yes i can glean all the fruit from the surrounding hedgerows but add the cost of the sugar and shop bought pap becomes more economical .
I know that during the war years you could produce your sugar at home from sugar beet , has anyone any idea of how this was achieved ? weve no shortage of sugar beet in the area , every bend in the road yields a heap lost by a tractor , and it seems a waste when it could be used
Welcome Kaye. That is a question that I have been wondering for a while as I was wondering about growing my own. Even searching theough the internet hasn't thrown anything up of use yet.
In the meantime is there nowhere to buy sugar in bulk?
Kaye, hello and welcome! I've no idea how sugar is extracted from beet but I wonder if you could find out from your local grower?
Just found this article.
I'll try that again!
Some info on the commercial process here http://www.sucrose.com/lbeet.html
and a suggested process for the home here http://www.ehow.com/how_2177131_sugar-beets.html
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.
Thanks , as soon as they start harvesting the beet im going to give it a try, i wonder if putting the syrup in a dehydrator would be more efficient, but then thats electric usage , i suppose you could just use the syrup itself for jams etc ...My OH just says im mean ...lol...cooking with sugar beet could be my winter project !!!
Those links were good Lyne. I would also be interested in using it for animal feed too so that means no waste. Like TA said, do let us know how you get on Kaye as it will be interesting to see if it works well.
Hi Kaye
Not sure if you have any of these stores near you?
Costso - do multipack of Tate and Lyle sugar (1kg bags), think there's 15 bags in the pack, sorry can't remember the actual price for the multipack but it works out at roughly 50p per 1kg bag.
Farmfoods - 1kg bad of Tate & Lyle is 59p, they were doing 2 bags for a £1 not long ago
Poundland - 1.5kg bags are £1
Sorry I can't be of help in your sugar beet query, I don't know anything about it.
Hi, just been looking in John Seymours Complete book of self sufficiency and the paragraph on sugar beet says
"Cut the tops off your sugar beet and press the juice out of them any way you can: with a cider press, a car jack, or an old mangle. Boil the juice until all the liquid has evaporated and you will be left with unrefined sugar."
I have that book Maybe about time to dig it out and have a read
Hi Kaye,
This is going to be an interesting project, please let us all know how it goes!
I don't want to be discouraging, but this may be one of those instances that you have to decide which is worth more, your time or your money.....
Good Luck!
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