Sug′ar-mold.
A conical iron mold in which sugar is placed to crystallize and drip its molasses.
For granulated sugars of some grades, the sugar for the vacuum-pans is dried in the
centrifugal machine, but the old process of loaf-sugar making is still pursued.
In
loaf-sugar making, the sugar goes to a heating-pan and is raised to a temperature of 180°, being constantly stirred during the heating, and is then drawn off and poured into conical iron molds, placed with the apex, which has an opening in it, at the bottom, so that whatever liquor has remained may drain off through the opening.
After several hours, the
loaves left in the molds are
liquored by pouring in at the top a clear solution of pure sugar, which removes the remaining coloring-matter.
The liquoring-process is sometimes repeated several times, until the loaves become perfectly blanched.
Then they are left two or three days in a drying-room heated by steam, are trimmed, if necessary, in a lathe, and are finally papered for market.
The trimmings, the draining from the molds, etc., are saved for the manufacture of inferior grades of sugar.
The old method of employing molds takes a longer time and is more expensive than the centrifugal process, and is gradually being superseded by the latter as the taste for loaf-sugars declines.
