Preparation of Gul

Preparation of Gul

Steps Involved in Preparation of Gul:

The process of gul making consists of number of stapes as given below:
1. Extraction of juice.
2. Clarification of juice.
3. Chemical clarification of juice.
4. Final stage of boiling or striking point.
5. Cooling and moulding of gul in blocks.
6. Storage of gul.

Extraction of Juice:

1. After harvesting cane should be detrashed and cleaned off and brought to crusher within 24 hours.
2. Naturally fresh cane gives more yield of juice as well as gul.
3. It should be crushed on well adjusted crusher so as to get maximum extraction of juice.
4. The juice should be filtered through wire mesh and stored in storage tank.
5. The juice should be filetered through wire mesh and stored in storage tank.
6. The quality and quantity of gul depend upon the amount of sugar in juice.

Clarification or Purification of Juice:

1. Juice is pumped out into boiling pan from storage tank.
2. Set the fire in furnace and start heating of juice.
3. After heating for about 30-35 minutes all the impurities and colloidal matter accumulate on the surface of juice called as scum.
4. The scum is removed from the pan by using perforated ladle.
5. The scum is put in a strainer and drained juice is brought back to the boiling pan.
6. On further heating scum on surface begins to crack.
7. At this stage vegetable clarificant like bhendi mucilage is added to boiling juice for complete removal of impurities which accumulates in the form of heavy scum (Dhor mali)
8. Generally 18 to 20 lit. of mucilage obtained from 1 to 1.5 kg green bhendi plant is added to a pan of 800 lit capacity.

Chemical Clarification:

1. After removing the scum the juice looks clear, transparent and brownish yellow in colour.
2. On further heating juice begins to forth, at this stage chemical clarificant like super phosphate solution is added to juice.
3. This solution removes the remaining impurities and improves the colour of gul.
4. This solution removes the remaining impurities and improves the colour of gul.
5. If juice is salty then 75 ml. of kagzi lime juice is added in the pan.
6. If juice is extracted from immature of lodged cane then 50 to 100 ml lime water is added which helps in solidification of gul.
7. Some farmer also add hydras (sun powder) to give temporary yellow colour to gul.

Final Stage of Boiling:

1. On further heating the juice begins to froth vigorously.
2. This forthing is kept down by constant beating of juice with long handled perforated ladle.
3. When temperature reaches to 105 0 C to 110 0 C the juice begins to bubble.
4. At this stage 25 ml sweet oil or castor oil is added to prevent further frothing.
5. The heat is increased and juice is stirred constantly by wooden spade.
6. The final point of  boiling or striking point is judged by local ‘goli’ test.
7. The test is done by taking little portion of boiled juice and immediately put in cold water and forms a round ball (goli)
8. This striking point reaches when temperature of juice is lies between 1180C to 123 0C.
9. Immediately after the striking point stage pan is removed from furnace.
10. If pan is removed before this stage, the gul become soft become soft and yellowish and if it is removed after this stage gul become hard reddish in colour.

Cooling and Moulding of Gul:

1. After the removal of pan from furnace, the hot liquid gul in the pan is constantly stirred for few minutes.
2. Then this liquid gul is transferred into cooling pit and stirred constantly.
3. As the temperature falls and gul begins to solidify the stirring should be slowed down.
4. After 30 to 40 minutes the semi solid gul is put into gul moulds having perforated bottoms with the help of wooden scraper.

Storage of Gul:

1. After some time gul blocks becomes hard then they are removed from moulds.
2. The gul blocks are wrapped in gunny bags and stored in cool and dry place.

Yield of Gul:

The per hectare yield in terms of gul is 7 to 10 tons in south India and about 3 to 5 tons in north India.