In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

80 chapter ix y The Cauldrons and Copper Vessels, Their Organization, the Skilled Workers and Others Required, and the Tools They Use The third part of this building above the furnaces is the area for the copper vessels. Even though this structure is commonly called the House of the Cauldrons, there are not only the copper containers there. There are also large vessels such as the kettles, pots, and boiling pans. On royal mills, they have two production lines of these vessels in operation to handle the quantity of caldo coming from the rollers. These copper vessels sit atop the dome of the furnace on supports or collars with brick and lime around them. These are open in such a way that the bottom of the vessel is inside the furnace. Each of these sits atop the opening holding it. Each extends down into its opening according to its size. The boiling pans are not as deep, and the cauldrons are a lot deeper. There is a wall separating one section from another, and another wall separating the building for the furnaces from another next to the mill. In front, they have one or two steps that the slaves climb in order to work from these with the necessary instruments in their hands. This arrangement provides sufficient space to control the vessels from a greater height and distance. All around the wall in front of them, with a path cleared in the middle, is the cooling shed where the cooked sugar is poured into molds to congeal. It can hold eighty molds or more. One complete series of copper vessels (in addition to the caldo kettle and the hoisting kettle, which are in the mill house) consists of two cauldrons, one called the meio and the other the melar, a kettle for skimming, a great kettle called the melado kettle, and a smaller one called the filtering kettle. This is followed by a series of four boiling pans: one to receive, one at the door, one for cooking, and one to whisk the liquid. At the end, a smaller pot is used to pour the condensed 81 The Cauldrons and Copper Vessels liquid sugar into the molds. Other larger and smaller copper vessels are used in a similar process. The caldo kettle on a royal mill is made from twenty arrobas of copper . The hoisting kettle is made from another twenty. The two cauldrons are made from sixty arrobas, the skimming kettle is made of twelve arrobas of copper, the melado kettle from fifteen arrobas, and the filtering kettle is from eight arrobas. The series of four boiling pans is made from nine arrobas each, or thirty-six arrobas. The small pot is made from four. Altogether, this is 175 arrobas of copper. Once it is worked and prepared, when it is cheap, it sells for 400 réis per pound. This is 2,240$00 milréis, or 5,600 cruzados. If another production line is added with smaller or equal copper vessels, its cost will be in relation to their sizes.22 The part of the cauldrons and boiling pans that suffers the most through this constant use is the bottom. If the vessel is made of poor quality copper or it is not thick enough, it will not be possible to refine the caldo as required in the cauldrons and the fire will burn the sugar in the boiling pans before it can be cooked and whisked. Because of this, the royal mills, which work seven or eight months a year, repair and remake all the bottoms of the cauldrons and boiling pans. The person who presides over the entire effort in this section is the sugar master. It falls to his judgment if the caldo has been refined, if the sugar cooked and whisked in the quantities he requests, based on his judgment. He helps in adjusting the three needed temperatures for processing the melado and pouring the liquid into the molds. This is in addition to what he has to do in the refinery, which we will discuss in its correct sequence. His main assistant helps during the day; when night falls, the banqueiro takes on this job. He is the foreman of this section. Making good or bad sugar depends largely on the intelligence, experience, and vigilance of these two. Even if the cane is not what it should be, skill can provide what nature did not. On the other hand, it is of...

Share