Salt and sugar are foods without which modern cooking is unthinkable. However, using them for cooking, people sometimes have no idea how salt and sugar are obtained.
Salt production
There are several ways in which salt is mined. One of the oldest is the sedimentary or basin method. On the seashore in the fall, a pond is dug, which is filled with water with the help of a specially created ditch. After waiting for the clay and sand to settle to the bottom of the pool, the water is transferred to the second pool, and by spring - to the third. Evaporation of water leads to an increase in salt concentration.
As a result, the salt forms a rather thick layer in the last reservoir. With the help of a salt harvester, the product is taken out of the pool and placed in hills, 10-15 meters high. It remains to rinse the crystals and load them into railway cars.
Another method is called mine. There are huge salt masses underground, which are crushed using special equipment and raised to the surface. Then the salt is cleaned from impurities and dust and is packed into small boxes. The rock salt mining process is fully mechanized.
The "extra" class salt is produced in salt factories using the vacuum method. Fresh water is pumped into the layer of salt that lies underground, which dissolves the mineral. Then the solution is raised, subjected to purification and sent to vacuum chambers. Here the brine boils and actively evaporates. The precipitated crystals are passed through a centrifuge to separate the remaining liquid. As a result of this process, you can buy finely ground salt in stores.
How sugar is obtained
Sugar production is carried out by boiling sugar syrup obtained from vegetable raw materials. Most often, sugarcane, beets, sorghum, maple are used for production purposes.
The plant material is crushed and fed into diffusers through which water passes. Sugar leaching is carried out in several stages: with strong juice, weak and pure water. Almost all the sugar is washed out of the mass.
The saturated juice is purified from enzymes and passed through evaporators. In a vacuum container, the remaining liquid is removed from the syrup, and it crystallizes. During the production process, sticky raw sugar with a brownish bloom is obtained. It can be used for food. However, in most cases the crystals are bleached with carbonic acid or sulfur dioxide. It is these bleached granulated sugar crystals that go on sale.
