0:35:03 > 0:35:05Most of us love sugar, but we don't make our own at home.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09There's plenty of it in these but what do you have to do to get it out?
0:35:09 > 0:35:13To find out, we're going to make our own from scratch.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18We think we know what sugar is, but how much do we really know about it?
0:35:18 > 0:35:23Now, any guesses as to what this mysterious vegetable might be?
0:35:23 > 0:35:25It's a bit like a giant parsnip.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27- Any ideas?- No.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30No, but if it's slimming let me know about it.
0:35:30 > 0:35:31LAUGHTER
0:35:31 > 0:35:34- It might be a sugar beet. - Give me five!
0:35:34 > 0:35:35It's a sugar beet.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39- How do you get the sugar out of that?- You squash it up somehow.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42A chopping process with knives or something.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47- Quite aggressive, your technique, isn't it?- Yeah, very aggressive.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50When I was a kid, I used to get into masses of trouble
0:35:50 > 0:35:54for playing with my food, but now it's what I like doing most.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58I love finding out what happens to the stuff that we eat.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01But finding out what factories do to our food isn't easy
0:36:01 > 0:36:06so to copy the big boys, I've set up my own food factory here in this barn.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09To help me discover what the masters of mass production do,
0:36:09 > 0:36:12I'm going to need some factory workers.
0:36:12 > 0:36:18Clocking on for today's shift are the stars of TV food show, Something For The Weekend.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Chef Simon Rimmer
0:36:20 > 0:36:22and host Tim Lovejoy.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25But whose version of today's supermarket food
0:36:25 > 0:36:28will go in the basket, and whose will go in the bin?
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Our shift at the Food Factory is about to begin.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53Tim, Simon, brilliant to have you here today.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56What I want to know, Tim, is are you any good in the kitchen?
0:36:56 > 0:36:58- I'm getting quite good at chopping. - It's a start!
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Kind of like all the chopping, destroying, rebuilding stuff.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04- Yeah, I don't like baking.- No.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09Well look, the thing we'll be making is something that crops up in pretty much every kitchen in the land
0:37:09 > 0:37:10because we're going to be making...
0:37:12 > 0:37:13..this.
0:37:13 > 0:37:18Grab a spoon each and have a little taste of that.
0:37:18 > 0:37:19Ah, it's salt!
0:37:19 > 0:37:21No, it's not, it's sugar.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25We sort of take it for granted and the big question is how do you make the stuff?
0:37:25 > 0:37:26Something tells me that isn't easy.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Gentlemen, the barn awaits.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37Simon is absolutely right.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40The experts say we won't be able to make our own sugar,
0:37:40 > 0:37:42but I'm not telling them that.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Your task is to make two rival bags of sugar.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47First you need to work out how you get sugar in the first place.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50- What does it come from? Any guesses? - Beet or cane, I'd go for.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54Top of the class, aren't you? Here we have it. It's quite weird stuff.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58- Wow.- That is a beautiful bundle of Ugandan sugar cane.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02It comes from hot places, not really from Britain.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06The other source are these. These are sugar beets.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08This is British, it's from Cambridgeshire.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13- Shall we have a little taste?- Yes. - OK, the sugarcane first.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Have a little crunch on that.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17- That's lovely, isn't it? - That's delicious.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20- Quite a lot of sugar in that.- Mm. - And the second one, the sugar beet.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Have a little taste.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26It's OK, it tastes earthy, but that's because it's been in the earth.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28But still very sweet, isn't it?
0:38:28 > 0:38:31You're going to make two rival bags of sugar
0:38:31 > 0:38:34using the same techniques as they use in a food factory,
0:38:34 > 0:38:39and then we're going to take your bags of sugar and offer them to some very discerning taste testers,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42who will decide which one is most like the stuff from the supermarket.
0:38:42 > 0:38:49- Meet your ingredients. Tim, those are your beets.- OK.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Simon, there is your Ugandan sugar cane.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57- Are you ready for some hard work, guys?- BOTH: Yep.- OK, get to work.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59- Come on.- Come on, Tim.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Getting any sugar out of these two won't be easy.
0:39:03 > 0:39:09That's why my ever-so-clever factory foremen Marty and Todd are here to help.
0:39:09 > 0:39:10Hello, Simon.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15Ah, Marty, well my basic memory of chemistry at school
0:39:15 > 0:39:19is that somehow or other we need to make a solution that we then turn into granules.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21Is that about right?
0:39:21 > 0:39:25Yes, that's right, and the first thing we've got to do is get the juice out of this,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27which is what the sugar's contained in.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31Half the sugar we eat comes from cane grown in the tropics.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34The other half comes from sugar beet grown here in the UK.
0:39:34 > 0:39:40- We've got to make sugar out of that. It looks a bit like a parsnip. - It's not great, is it?
0:39:40 > 0:39:43What we'll do is we'll absolutely shred it, then boil it up
0:39:43 > 0:39:46and that will get the sugar out of it, into the liquid.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48They're really throwing themselves into it,
0:39:48 > 0:39:54but the one thing that neither Simon nor Tim knows is that this isn't just a bit of cooking -
0:39:54 > 0:39:56This is really difficult!
0:39:56 > 0:39:59- OK, that's good.- This is man's work!
0:40:01 > 0:40:07Both these crops must be broken up to make a sugary juice.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11They're tough stuff so coming up with some contraptions won't be easy.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13Tim, tell me what you've got here.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17Well, we've taken some graters, we've made our drum here to grate it.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20An electric drill is going to power it. We're going to grate all this down,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23and then we're going to extract our sugar out of that.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27- That easy?- It's that easy.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29- That was SAID very simply. - That is how they do it.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34Although these crops look very different, they both contain the same stuff.
0:40:34 > 0:40:40Pure sugar. So, why do sugar beet and sugarcane have so much sugar in them?
0:40:40 > 0:40:44It's there as an energy source that the plants use to grow.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46They are quite unusual these two,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49because most vegetables store their energy as starch.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52We get a huge energy boost when we eat sugar as well,
0:40:52 > 0:40:57and to show you that I'm going to pump some icing sugar towards a naked flame. See what happens.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00Sugar is high in calories.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Calories are a measure of how much energy is released when our bodies burn food.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Let's see just how much energy a teaspoon of sugar gives us
0:41:08 > 0:41:11by burning all that energy up at once.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18There's a huge amount of energy stored up in these little granules.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22Simon and Tim will need plenty of energy now to get at their sugar.
0:41:22 > 0:41:29Simon is feeding his cane into a mangle to squeeze the sugary juice out.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31Are you ready, guys? OK, start the production line.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34Come on, give it some.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36- Yes!- Look at that.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40- There's a kind of creamy liquid coming out.- That's amazing.
0:41:42 > 0:41:47Tim and Todd must do two jobs to get juice from their beet.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51They've got to grate it up and then boil it in water. What have you got?
0:41:51 > 0:41:56It's worked well, hasn't it? It's nice, isn't it? It tastes nice.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59I think you've got to make quite a lot of that, don't you?
0:41:59 > 0:42:02- Crack on. I'll see you later.- OK.
0:42:02 > 0:42:07The secret to making sugar is to make the juice sweeter at every stage
0:42:07 > 0:42:10by getting rid of everything else.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14So, who's juice is sweetest so far?
0:42:14 > 0:42:17I'm confident. I'm confident.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Now, gentlemen, bring in your sugary liquids.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24In the food factory, they need to do this scientifically. It's not just a question of tasting something
0:42:24 > 0:42:26so they have one of these things.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29It has a very complicated name, but it is just a sweetometer basically.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Let's get one mil.
0:42:31 > 0:42:32All right? OK.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40OK, Simon, you are 16.1% sugar. Are you feeling confident, Tim?
0:42:40 > 0:42:41- No.- Good, good.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Wouldn't it be great though if mine did win?
0:42:45 > 0:42:49Do you know what, it would be quite exciting because it looks rubbish.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52I mean, er, it looks like it's at an early stage.
0:42:52 > 0:42:59Tim, come and have a look. 7.7. You've got a long way to go.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02What you need to do now is drive out all the rest of the water.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Get it up as close to 100% purity as you can.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08How much are we trying to make? A bag or a teaspoon?
0:43:08 > 0:43:09A bag would be nice.
0:43:09 > 0:43:15- Can you take your buckets and your saucepans and get refining.- On it.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17There's a long way to go.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21The sugar is inside their juice but it will only be revealed
0:43:21 > 0:43:25after they work out how to get rid of all the other stuff in their buckets.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35While Simon and Tim continue their quest,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38I'm off to discover why it's claimed high-tech energy drinks
0:43:38 > 0:43:41give us an even bigger boost than sugar does.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45What do you think is the most important ingredient in the energy drink?
0:43:45 > 0:43:50We've got glucuronolactone, taurine, inositol, caffeine, and sugar.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54Yeah, I think taurine and caffeine are the most important.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56I know that taurine does something to the metabolism.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00- More than likely it's the sugar. - Does it change the way you act?
0:44:00 > 0:44:02- I speed up.- Speed up, run about a bit more?- Yes.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Energy drinks, they're big business, but do they work?
0:44:06 > 0:44:08And if they do,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12what are the ingredients which really deliver the extra energy?
0:44:12 > 0:44:14To find out, I'm going to make my own.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17First a quick test to measure my energy levels.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28OK, so this machine is going to measure how long it takes me to go 400 metres.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38It's a few hours since lunch and my energy is flagging.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40So how will I perform?
0:44:40 > 0:44:42Nearly there!
0:44:44 > 0:44:46Blimey! 44 seconds.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48I need a drink.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52I've got just the stuff standing by.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56These are the ingredients of an energy drink laid bare.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00It's a cocktail of flavourings, natural extracts,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03and a shed load of sugar.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06Sugar equals calories and calories give us energy
0:45:06 > 0:45:08so that should help power me up.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13Gosh, that's really sweet.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16But sugar is not the only ingredient.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18There's loads of other stuff too.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22Here's something for that distinctive but strange flavour.
0:45:22 > 0:45:23Pine oil.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27It's a weird thing to be putting in a drink, isn't it?
0:45:27 > 0:45:29Smells like floor cleaner.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32I just need a single drop.
0:45:32 > 0:45:38Energy drink makers seem to like using flavours which taste like cough medicine.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40I guess that's maybe what you want,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44something that tastes like it's doing you good in some way.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Next, the strangely-named ingredients
0:45:47 > 0:45:52which we assume must deliver the extra kick.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56With their unfamiliar names, they sound impressive,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59but the chemical which really delivers the hit has a name we all know.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04Something that's been scientifically proven to increase alertness,
0:46:04 > 0:46:09keep sleep at bay, and raise flagging energy levels. Caffeine.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13Energy drinks contain more caffeine than cola,
0:46:13 > 0:46:14but less than filter coffee.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17But here's the real secret.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21When it's combined with sugar, caffeine gives us an even bigger boost.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Finally, a squirt of colour and my concentrate is complete.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30All I need now is the fizz.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Energy drinks don't have to be gassy, but that's what we like.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40I've got to add my concentrate to fizzy water.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46The extinguisher contains carbon dioxide gas.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51This one has been specially adapted so no copying now.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54When I press the handle down, the carbon dioxide comes up,
0:46:54 > 0:46:56down the tube, and into the bottle.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00Just in case it goes bang.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04OK, here goes.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Now all I've got to do is pour in my concentrate and hey presto,
0:47:11 > 0:47:13my own energy drink.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15What does that look like?
0:47:15 > 0:47:18# Oui oui oui, oui oui oui oui... #
0:47:21 > 0:47:26I know what you're thinking. It looks like an energy drink.
0:47:26 > 0:47:27Hmm, I wonder what it tastes like.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30# Oui oui oui, oui oui oui oui... #
0:47:30 > 0:47:33Blimey, it is like those energy drinks.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37They sort of...I think people say it tastes like it's good for you,
0:47:37 > 0:47:40which is another way of saying it tastes really weird.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46But will it improve my athletic prowess?
0:47:46 > 0:47:48TIGER ROARS
0:47:48 > 0:47:50HE BURPS
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Give it half an hour to take effect, and I'm ready to test
0:47:53 > 0:47:59whether this super sugary caffeine cocktail can really boost my performance.
0:47:59 > 0:48:0144 seconds is the time to beat. Here goes.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04Three, two, one.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09The caffeine should give me an adrenaline surge
0:48:09 > 0:48:13and the sugar, some extra energy to really raise my game.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16I've hit the wall. Come on!
0:48:20 > 0:48:2440! Four seconds faster!
0:48:24 > 0:48:26Brilliant, it works.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33So, not lab conditions, but drinks industry tests like this
0:48:33 > 0:48:37show energy drinks boost performance by about 20%.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42They don't say why but it is scientifically proven
0:48:42 > 0:48:46that when caffeine is combined with sugar, we get an extra boost.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50# Oui oui oui, oui oui oui. #
0:48:51 > 0:48:55My very own energy drink. And it works.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59But only our taste testers can decide whether mine tastes as good as the shop bought stuff.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01A little splash each.
0:49:04 > 0:49:05No, I don't like that.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08I could do with some energy, but, no.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10No. I like energy drinks, but not that, no.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14- It's OK.- Is it the sort of thing you might expect to find in a shop?
0:49:14 > 0:49:16- Yeah, definitely.- I'm nearly there!
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Would you buy that from a shop?
0:49:18 > 0:49:19I wouldn't buy it.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21That's me told! Thank you very much.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Back in the barn, Simon Rimmer
0:49:30 > 0:49:33and Tim Lovejoy are trying to produce two rival bags
0:49:33 > 0:49:36of granulated white sugar. It's the toughest challenge
0:49:36 > 0:49:39ever issued in the barn.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Simon must work out how to get the sugar out of sugarcane,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45while Tim's got to get sugar from sugar beet.
0:49:45 > 0:49:46The whole task
0:49:46 > 0:49:49starts by making sugary juice.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53Now, Tim's got to strain off the waste beet
0:49:53 > 0:49:55before he's ready for Stage Two.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59- Is it working? - It is actually... except that bit you've splattered in there. Yeah.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01Tim and Simon will only end up with sugar
0:50:01 > 0:50:05if they can remove all the impurities in their juice.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08The next stage is very tricky.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10To get all the impurities out of this sugar liquid,
0:50:10 > 0:50:13the Food Factory is using a very clever bit of chemistry.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19What I've got here is calcium hydroxide.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22It's also known as lime, but it's lime that's a mineral,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24not the stuff that you squeeze into your gin and tonic.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26In here, I've got some water
0:50:26 > 0:50:29with some of the lime dissolved in it.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32So, what the food factories do is they bubble carbon dioxide
0:50:32 > 0:50:34through the liquid, which sounds a bit tricky,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36but I should have just enough carbon dioxide
0:50:36 > 0:50:39in my own breath to make this work. Here goes.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Something very clever happens when the carbon dioxide gas
0:50:42 > 0:50:45meets the calcium hydroxide.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47They form chalk.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51The chalk is brilliant because all the impurities in the sugar liquid
0:50:51 > 0:50:55will bind to it and that makes it much easier to filter them out.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57To copy the factory trick,
0:50:57 > 0:51:01now Tim and Simon must add lime and carbon dioxide
0:51:01 > 0:51:02to their sugary juice.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07- Is it supposed to go yellow? - You know what?
0:51:07 > 0:51:09I don't know.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Simon and Tim can't blow bubbles into their juice,
0:51:12 > 0:51:14it's a food factory,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17so, they're using canisters of carbon dioxide.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21Very gently squeeze the trigger. That's good.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25As the chalk forms, it grabs hold of all the impurities
0:51:25 > 0:51:29and drags them down into a sludgy deposit.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31Now they need to filter off the sugary juice.
0:51:31 > 0:51:36- Now we need to filter it to get rid of the impurities the chalk is holding onto?- That's right.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40Now they should be left with a very sweet sugary juice.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43All they've got to do is get rid of the water.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46That doesn't look quite right to me!
0:51:46 > 0:51:51- Does that mean we're going to struggle to get this white?- (I don't think it's going to be white.)
0:51:51 > 0:51:52(I don't think so either!)
0:51:52 > 0:51:56Tim and Todd's effort looks much more promising.
0:51:56 > 0:51:57That is working!
0:51:57 > 0:51:59- It really looks like it! - It's working!
0:51:59 > 0:52:02- Don't get too excited yet!- Come on! No, it's working, I'm excited.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04But how does it taste?
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Ours tastes caramely.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10- Does it?- It's still slightly earthy.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13It's still got that sort of carrot/parsnip quality to it.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15But after all that clever chemistry,
0:52:15 > 0:52:17is their juice closer to sugar
0:52:17 > 0:52:18or sludge?
0:52:18 > 0:52:22It's time for quality control.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26- Oh, my word! These are wildly different, aren't they?- Very, very.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29Look how clear and pure that is,
0:52:29 > 0:52:31even though it tastes a bit root vegetabley.
0:52:31 > 0:52:32It's nice, it's caramely.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Taste, Mr Lovejoy.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37It's the sweetest gravy you'll ever taste.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40What you have managed to do, is take this beautiful tasting thing
0:52:40 > 0:52:43and make it taste not as nice!
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Now, we need to get rid of all the water.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Leave behind nice gleaming white granules at the end.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52Now, you're going to do that by heating the stuff up,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55but this is where it gets difficult. If you heat it too fast,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59it'll turn into toffee and if you heat it too slowly, you won't get it dry enough.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03Boiling off the water is critical. If they get it wrong,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06they'll ruin a whole day's work and they'll have nothing
0:53:06 > 0:53:08for our taste testers.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12So, will Tim and Simon's sugar quest end in triumph
0:53:12 > 0:53:14or treacle?
0:53:20 > 0:53:23If Simon and Tim think they've got it tough,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27they should see what happens inside the factory I'm off to visit.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35This one has 20,000 workers and on every shift,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39they carry half their own bodyweight for miles at a time.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42Without them, we'd never eat honey.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46The factory I am going to is a hive of activity and inside,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49is the key to making honey that's runny
0:53:49 > 0:53:51or honey that's set hard.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Bees do all the hard work.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57Collecting pollen and nectar from flowers.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01They can get quite cross if they're bothered by outsiders,
0:54:01 > 0:54:03so I need a bit of protection.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09Jed Marshall is the bees' boss and he's going to let me see inside.
0:54:11 > 0:54:12Oh, my God! It is quite scary.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15The hive's packed with bees,
0:54:15 > 0:54:19all busily turning nectar from plants into honey.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23We're about to look in and see how they're doing.
0:54:23 > 0:54:24Honey is food for the bees,
0:54:24 > 0:54:27so Jed can only take what's spare,
0:54:27 > 0:54:29but he's got a cunning plan.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32They've started filling this box up quite well with honey,
0:54:32 > 0:54:35so we're going to put another box on top.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40Every time Jed adds a new layer, these bees will fill it with honey.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44Hang on! You're basically tricking them into making more honey?
0:54:44 > 0:54:47We're making their life easier, so they can be more productive.
0:54:47 > 0:54:48Yeah right! That's what you say!
0:54:48 > 0:54:52Most factories do not allow any tasting on the factory floor,
0:54:52 > 0:54:56I wonder if these guys will mind?
0:54:56 > 0:55:00Seems like a really, really silly thing to do!
0:55:02 > 0:55:04Oh, wow.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08So that is really runny.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12So this presumably goes to make runny honey that we buy in the jars?
0:55:12 > 0:55:15Not necessarily, all honey starts off runny
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and it depends on what flowers they're fed on as to
0:55:18 > 0:55:22whether it's going to be set honey or clear honey, runny honey.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25So whether your honey is runny or set hard
0:55:25 > 0:55:29all depends on the types of flowers the bees have been visiting.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32So how do honey producers know which type of bee's honey
0:55:32 > 0:55:36to put in the jars so we can buy it runny or set?
0:55:36 > 0:55:39That's the job of the blender.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42David Bondi is the boss at Rowse,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45one of Britain's biggest honey producers.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48So this is the British honey mountain right here?
0:55:48 > 0:55:49It's fantastic, isn't it?
0:55:49 > 0:55:52We have hundreds of drums of honey
0:55:52 > 0:55:55that come from lots of different plants
0:55:55 > 0:55:58from lots of different countries round the world.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01Let's start over here, this is a clover honey from Canada.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06It's actually very mild, isn't it?
0:56:06 > 0:56:09This is acacia honey from Hungary.
0:56:09 > 0:56:10Wow!
0:56:12 > 0:56:13It's so runny!
0:56:14 > 0:56:16So what I want to know is this.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19These are the same thing, they're both honey,
0:56:19 > 0:56:22they're made by bees from flowers. They're just from different plants.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24How can different plants make two honeys
0:56:24 > 0:56:26that are so totally different?
0:56:26 > 0:56:29That's all hard and this one's all runny.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32The nectars that these are made from are different.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34They contain different natural sugars.
0:56:34 > 0:56:40There are two types of sugar in honey, glucose and fructose.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44Whether it's set or runny depends on how much of each.
0:56:44 > 0:56:50So this honey has lots of glucose in it. And glucose will crystallise.
0:56:50 > 0:56:55This honey has lots of fructose, fructose does not crystallise.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59All David has to do is get the balance of glucose
0:56:59 > 0:57:02and fructose just right to make honey that's runny or set.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05Then it's ready for the shops.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18Back in the barn, food show regulars Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy
0:57:18 > 0:57:22are attempting to make a supermarket food we never ever make at home.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25They're making sugar from scratch.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27That's amazing.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Simon's working with cane from the tropics.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33Tim's hoping to get his from sugar beet grown in the UK.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36First they processed their crops into sugary juice,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38and filtered out the impurities.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41But now they've reached the trickiest stage.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45They've got to heat up their juice to get rid of all the water,
0:57:45 > 0:57:47leaving behind just the sugar.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50All I can see in here at the moment is bubbles.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53At this stage, the sugar is still hiding in their sugary liquids.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56And the secret to getting hold of the crystals is
0:57:56 > 0:57:57getting rid of all the water.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01If they can get rid of the water then all they'll have left is sugar.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03That's the theory anyway.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06- It's not really... - It's not getting hot enough, is it?
0:58:06 > 0:58:07As the water boils away,
0:58:07 > 0:58:12they're left with a super-concentrated sugar juice.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15Now the factory uses a special trick
0:58:15 > 0:58:18to encourage the sugar crystals to form.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21Take a look at this. It looks like a clear liquid
0:58:21 > 0:58:26but it's actually jam-packed with crystals, bursting to get out.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29All I need to do is add a few crystals to start it off.
0:58:32 > 0:58:34Look at this down at the bottom.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37It's like a coral reef rising from the bottom of the jar.
0:58:37 > 0:58:41Simon and Tim must copy this factory trick.
0:58:41 > 0:58:45This solution contains millions of tiny sugar crystals.
0:58:45 > 0:58:49You can actually feel it you can feel the resistance in it now.
0:58:49 > 0:58:52These tiny seeding crystals give the sugar in the juice
0:58:52 > 0:58:54something to latch onto.
0:58:54 > 0:58:58Now crystals of sugar should start to grow.
0:58:58 > 0:58:59As you stir it you can almost feel
0:58:59 > 0:59:02as if there's sugar in that solution.
0:59:02 > 0:59:05Oh, yes, Marty. I can feel it!
0:59:05 > 0:59:07I really can't believe this is going to end up white.
0:59:07 > 0:59:10I've given up with it being white ages ago.
0:59:10 > 0:59:12The sugar will only crystallise
0:59:12 > 0:59:17if they successfully removed all the impurities earlier on.
0:59:17 > 0:59:20OK, so I think this is getting close.
0:59:20 > 0:59:23Tim and Tod need to get rid of the last of the water in their juice.
0:59:23 > 0:59:27This is no time to be doing the laundry, boys.
0:59:28 > 0:59:32In fact, machines just like a spin dryer and a tumble dryer
0:59:32 > 0:59:36are used at the factory to spin off the water and dry the sugar.
0:59:36 > 0:59:38So has it worked?
0:59:38 > 0:59:40No.
0:59:40 > 0:59:42Yeah, it's drawn all the moisture on to one side.
0:59:42 > 0:59:44Not very exciting though, is it?
0:59:44 > 0:59:46TIM LAUGHS
0:59:46 > 0:59:48What did you want? For me to get out a rabbit.
0:59:49 > 0:59:51Or a dove! Fly!
0:59:51 > 0:59:55It is a bit like conjuring, Tim, get rid of all the water
0:59:55 > 1:00:00and the sugar has no where left to hide, it will crystallise!
1:00:00 > 1:00:02After all the work we've put in.
1:00:02 > 1:00:07No doubt that is sugar. I mean, it's fantastic, I mean, absolutely.
1:00:07 > 1:00:08We've done it.
1:00:08 > 1:00:11Well, nearly there.
1:00:11 > 1:00:14- We've got to get this dry because we're not there yet.- Tumble dryer?
1:00:14 > 1:00:19Success with the sugar beet. How about Simon's sugar cane?
1:00:19 > 1:00:23Every time that we've reduced this down, the molasses has got more
1:00:23 > 1:00:27and more gloopy and gooey and it's just won't shift, will it?
1:00:27 > 1:00:29But you can feel, you can see it,
1:00:29 > 1:00:33you can see we've got crystals in there.
1:00:33 > 1:00:36The treacly molasses are hard to wash off the sugar.
1:00:36 > 1:00:39It's too late now for Simon to get his sugar out.
1:00:39 > 1:00:42Tim senses victory will be sweet.
1:00:42 > 1:00:44This is the moment we put it in the dryer.
1:00:44 > 1:00:47It's going to be beautiful, Tim, you know it's going to be beautiful.
1:00:47 > 1:00:50- Now the moment of... - Now the moment.
1:00:50 > 1:00:51To reveal...
1:00:51 > 1:00:54That is fantastic. Look, sugar, sugar.
1:00:54 > 1:00:55That is good.
1:00:55 > 1:00:57It's the moment of truth.
1:00:57 > 1:01:00Simon, Tim, please stop your production lines now.
1:01:00 > 1:01:02Can you package up your sugar
1:01:02 > 1:01:04and bring them over to me for some quality control.
1:01:09 > 1:01:11Let's see what you've got. You've got smiles. That's for sure!
1:01:11 > 1:01:13- Can I have a little look? - Of course.
1:01:18 > 1:01:20Ooh, that looks good!
1:01:21 > 1:01:24My white granulated sugar is in there. It's just not come out.
1:01:24 > 1:01:26In another form?
1:01:26 > 1:01:28You just can't see it.
1:01:28 > 1:01:31- You never know, it might taste fantastic.- Yeah.- I'll have a try.
1:01:34 > 1:01:36THEY LAUGH
1:01:36 > 1:01:40Ah, that's like everything that's bad in the world in one small pot.
1:01:40 > 1:01:42So over here we have...
1:01:44 > 1:01:45No!
1:01:45 > 1:01:48Hello. What's that? That's sugar!
1:01:48 > 1:01:50- Oh, my word. I am...- Sugar granules!
1:01:50 > 1:01:54..Seriously impressed. Let's have a little taste of it though.
1:01:55 > 1:01:57It's very sweet. There's a bit of fudginess to it.
1:01:57 > 1:02:00But it's not for me to decide.
1:02:00 > 1:02:04We've got a lot of very hungry taste testers outside
1:02:04 > 1:02:08who are going to put both of these onto their strawberries
1:02:08 > 1:02:13to judge whether or not it's anything like the shop-bought thing.
1:02:13 > 1:02:16Grab your trays. Let's go.
1:02:16 > 1:02:19CROWD APPLAUD
1:02:20 > 1:02:21Please dig in.
1:02:21 > 1:02:24Slightly bitter aftertaste.
1:02:24 > 1:02:26That's not...
1:02:26 > 1:02:27It's not good, is it?
1:02:27 > 1:02:29The strawberries are actually better without it.
1:02:29 > 1:02:31THEY LAUGH
1:02:31 > 1:02:32So this is my sugar.
1:02:32 > 1:02:34ALL: Oooh!
1:02:34 > 1:02:36What about that? What do you think?
1:02:36 > 1:02:39- It's quite nice. - It's a bit like soft brown sugar.
1:02:39 > 1:02:42I'm like Paul Daniels, I turn that into that!
1:02:42 > 1:02:44Amazing!
1:02:44 > 1:02:45Come on.
1:02:45 > 1:02:47OK, guys, in you come.
1:02:47 > 1:02:53OK, so I want a show of hands if you think that Simon's version
1:02:53 > 1:02:57of sugar was the closest one to the stuff that you buy in the shops.
1:02:57 > 1:03:01Where did that come from?
1:03:01 > 1:03:03Who thinks that Tim's version was the closest
1:03:03 > 1:03:06- to the stuff you buy in the shops? Raise your hands.- Oh, thank you.
1:03:06 > 1:03:09I'm not even going to bother counting.
1:03:09 > 1:03:13Well, Simon, your version of sugar is going to go in the bin.
1:03:13 > 1:03:15I'm terribly sorry.
1:03:15 > 1:03:18- Tim, yours is going in the shopping basket.- Yay!
1:03:18 > 1:03:20You've both been absolutely fantastic.
1:03:20 > 1:03:22Please give them a round of applause.
1:03:22 > 1:03:24CROWD APPLAUD
1:03:26 > 1:03:29The experts said we wouldn't be able to make sugar in the barn,
1:03:29 > 1:03:32so Tim's success was a brilliant surprise,
1:03:32 > 1:03:34and Simon shouldn't feel too bad.
1:03:34 > 1:03:38Now, sugar gives us a real energy boost, and it grows easily,
1:03:38 > 1:03:42but as we've discovered, it's not quite so simple to process!
1:03:55 > 1:03:58Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd