I have written several times on this blog about various brands of sorghum which is one of my favorite foods. I use it in a variety of ways including eating it in hot cereal, no pancakes and hoecakes, and for cooking at times. I had run out of my favorite local, Morgan County Kentucky sorghum from Holbrook Brothers recently and actually done without for a couple of weeks since I have seriously worked to minimize my contacts in the world of the Cornona Virus and an uncaring White House. But we ran out of several things we use regularly about two weeks ago and I took a trip to Save-A-Lot in Sandy Hook, Kentucky, about 25 miles away because they have a newer, larger, more airy store than our local store which is small, tightly packed with narrow, congested aisles and, in today's world, that is not someplace I want to be even with a mask and gloves. The Sandy Hook store also has a large, well stocked produce department and produce was one of things we needed most.
I had not even added sorghum to my list before I went to the store and was surprised to see a relatively local brand on a display near the produce section. The maker is Lloyd Roe Farms in Pomeroyton, Kentucky, in adjoining Menifee County. Since I had been without sorghum for a couple of weeks, I grabbed a jar and added it to my cart. I neglected to check it closely but noticed later that it had some granulation visible through the clear glass jar. When I got it home and tried it, I discovered that it was granulated close to 60%. I blame this oversight on the fact that at about the same time I grabbed the sorghum I was also beginning to suffer symptoms of some virus or other which dissipated in about three hours and which I am sure was not Coronoa. I have also seen my local doctor since then and he agrees. But, when I realized that the sorghum was severely granulated, I knew that I had bit of mild work to do to reliquify the sorghum. I did sample the sorghum with a spoon before I tried to reliquify it and found it to be sweet, not bitter, not scorched, and a pretty good variety of sorghum if you discounted the granulation. My favorite method of reconstituting granulated sorghum or honey is to heat it in a pan of hot water on the stove. I will place the open jar in enough water to rise about half way up the jar, bring it to a boil and immediately turn the heat off and allow the honey or sorghum to sit in the hot water until it cools to about room temperature. I check it then to see if it has fully returned to its liquid form. If not, I repeat the process until it fully back to its liquid state. The second time sufficed well for this particular jar of sorghum. Let me say at this point that I also do not hold Lloyd Roe Farms responsible for the fact that the sorghum was granulated even though I know that overcooking sorghum can result in granulation. But overcooking also usually results in scorching and that is unmistakable by taste or smell. This sorghum was not scorched and I do not think it was overcooked even the least bit. I just think the store probably had it in stock too long resulting in the granulation. I will also say that, at some time in the future, I will locate a freshly cooked jar of Lloyd Roe Sorghum and give it one more honest test.
After being heated to its liquid state, the sorghum was tasty, sweet, not bitter, not granulated, not scorched and a perfectly acceptable brand of sorghum with only one or two minor points to be discussed. It was thin and I like thick sorghum which has not been overcooked or scorched. But the thinness could also be due to having been heated twice in a hot water bath. The other point I have to bring up is that the jar is a clear glass jar which is about the same height of a regular quart Mason jar in which we find most brands of good local sorghum anywhere in the country. But, the jar does not have that signature pot belly or bulge in the middle which regular Mason jars have. As a result this jar, hold what the label says is 35 ounces or .992233 kilograms or 2.1875 pounds which is considerably less than that typical pot bellied Mason jar holds. Most brands of sorghum I buy in those pot bellied Mason jars are labeled to hold 44 ounces or 1250 grams. That is a difference of about 9 ounces of product at about the same price as the larger jars of other brands. For me, and for most other buyers, that is an issue most of us will not ignore. I leave that to the judgment of the reader. It is a brand of sorghum which is good enough that I will try it again when I find it ungranulated. But I would be more willing to try it again if I received that other nine ounces and I bet you would too.
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