What Is Sweet Sorghum?

Sweet sorghum is a thick syrup made from juice extracted from sorghum cane. Many years ago, sweet sorghum was a popular sweetener used extensively in baking and cooking. With the popularity of easier-to-manufacture refined sweeteners, sweet sorghum has declined in popularity and availability. It is still grown and harvested in some regions of the U.S. and can still be acquired by mail order and internet order.

History

Sweet sorghum was initially introduced to the U.S. by African slaves. Sweet sorghum was grown extensively in the U.S. during the 1800s. After slave labor could no longer be utilized in the south, sweet sorghum production declined sharply. It is still produced in some southern states, but less than 1 million gallons of sweet sorghum are manufactured each year.

Identification

Sweet sorghum is sometimes referred to as "molasses" and "sorghum molasses." Molasses is a syrup extracted from sugarcane, however, and the names are not technically interchangeable. To ensure the product you purchase is sweet sorghum and not molasses, look for a logo that was created to identify every sweet sorghum bottle.

Manufacturing

Sweet sorghum syrup is extracted from cane sorghum. The juice of the cane sorghum is squeezed from the canes and then cooked carefully to produce a sweet and thick syrup. While the juice is cooking and evaporating, it must be watched for proteins rising to the surface. These proteins need to be skimmed off and discarded to produce a quality syrup.

Cooking/Baking

Sweet sorghum syrup can replace honey in baking recipes in straight one-for-one replacement. Sweet sorghum syrup can replace molasses in cooking recipes in straight one-for-one replacement. To replace molasses in baking recipes, keep in mind that sweet sorghum is sweeter than molasses so less sweet sorghum might be needed. To replace refined sugar with sorghum, increase sugar amount called for by one third; use this amount of sweet sorghum. Sweet sorghum does not interact well with baking powder, however, so recipes with baking powder should not be used with sweet sorghum.

Health Benefits

Sweet sorghum contains important vitamins and minerals, including iron, potassium and calcium. In the period of time when sweet sorghum was widely grown and popular, physicians often prescribed sorghum to the patients who were deficient in these necessary nutrients.