Sugar Beets

R.H. Shaumway's, Pioneer American Seedman
PO Box 1
Graniteville, SC 29829

Process to Extract Sugar from the Sugar Beet

Beets should be harvested until October, at which time they will give the maximum amount of sugar. The available sugar content in beets reaches from 14 to 16% sugar, meaning refineries would expect to recover 14 to 16 pounds of marketable sugar per 100 pounds of raw beets. The probable recover of sugar extracted in the home would be about 8 to 10 pounds per 100 pounds of raw beets. The sugar extracted at home will not be as refined as that from a commercial refinery.

The following process is used in extracting sugar from the sugar beet. Remove the tops and part of the crown and the small roots. Scrub thoroughly. Slice the beet through a salad shredder, kraut slicer, or with a knife. If using a knife, cut into slices as you would for French fries. Do not grind! Add 2 quarts of hot (195 degrees) water for each quart of shredded or sliced beets. It is best to use a granite or stainless steel container (a crock will also do). Let the beets soak for one hour and remove from syrup, draining well. Place beets into another container and add one quart of hot water in each quart of beets and let soak for one hour.

Strain the syrup from the first soaking through a fine cloth and place over medium heat to start the evaporation process. For rapid evaporation a shallow pan is best as the evaporation process is fairly slow. This can be evaporating while the beets are soaking in the second syrup. Remove the beets from the second syrup and discard them. Add second syrup to the first in the evaporating pan and continue the evaporation process until this been reduced to 1/4 of its original volume. It should be of medium consistency. If too thin, continue the evaporation process. the liquid will be bitter tasting when it has reached a point of saturation of sugar. Lower the heat so it will not burn the syrup. Stir the liquid frequently until is resembles Corn Syrup.

To extract the syrup in crystals, add a small amount of pulverized sugar (or powdered sugar) to the solution an let cool. The pulverized sugar will induce crystals to form. When crystallization is complete, remove crystals and drain. Let dry on clean sheets of plastic or heavy paper.

I raised sugar beets this year, and tried to make sweetener out of them. I consider it a failure. I ended up with a substance the color and consistency of warm tar. It has an initial sweet flavor, but the earthy and bitter aftertaste is horrible. Sugar companies like U&I sugar in Utah and Idaho, have a super-secret process they protect, to convert sugar beets. It involves adding milk of lime and sending carbonation through the syrup - quite complex. I had hoped it was more like sugar cane, where the refining is to make it white, but the basic syrup could still be used as sweetener. Apparently this is not the case.

Offered by Wendy.

This tar is concentrated sugar. You ever taste unrefined molasses or unrefined sugar cane? Too much is not sweet at all, it overloads the taste buds and seems bitter! Try drying out the paste and then pulverize what's left into 'sugar.' This will taste sweet in small quantities.

Offered by Roger.