SWEETENED CONDENSED MiLK—ADDITION OF SUGAR 67 
definite desired percentage of cane sugar in the finished product. 
is to accurately test and standardize the original fluid milk for 
fat and solids not fat and then calculate the pounds of sugar to be 
added on the basis of the total pounds of fat or of solids present. 
For detailed directions see Chapter NNIN on “Standardization.” 
Mixing the Sugar.—The sugar is added to the hot milk be- 
fore the latter enters the vacuum pan, In some factories a 
separate tank is provided for this purpose. Small portions of 
the hot milk are allowed to flow into this tank. To these the 
sugar is added. ‘This tank is called the sugar well. It is usually 
equipped with a mechanical reversible stirrer, moving to and fro 
on an eccentric, to facilitate the solution of the sugar. The milk 
from the heater and from the sugar well runs into a tank sunk 
into the floor of the well room, the ground well, from which the 
mixed sweetened milk 1s drawn into the vacuum pan. In other 
factories the sugar well and ground well are one and the same 
tank, into which the milk runs direct from the heater. In this 
case it is advisable to set a wire mesh strainer (sixty to eighty 
meshes to the inch) over the sugar well. The sugar is placed 
into this strainer, a little at a time; the hot milk from the heater 
passing into and through the strainer dissolves the sugar. A 
paddle or stick should be used to stir the sugar in the strainer. 
For greater convenience and economy of labor, the sugar barrels 
and scales are placed on the floor over the well room. The 
sugar is transferred to the strainer below through a sugar chute 
which may be equipped at the !ower end with an adjustable cut- 
off to regulate the sugar coming down. Or the kettles, hot 
wells or sugar wells in which the sugar is added to the milk, 
are sunk into the floor sufficiently to facilitate the emptying of 
the sugar barrels direct from the floor into the milk. In this 
case no sugar chute is needed. Other factories dissolve their 
sugar in boiling water in a separate tank, and draw this syrup 
into the vacuum pan together with the hot milk. This is a very 
commendable practice, as it minimizes the danger of undissolved 
sugar crystals escaping into the pan. Moreover, this watery 
syrup can be boiled without danger of giving the milk a cooked 
favor. 
