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So, how would you turn that into the instant coffee you get out of a jar?

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What's maize?

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How do you get sugar out of this?

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Just try and chew one. See how hard it is.

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I'll break my teeth.Hard? Isn't it?

6
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How on earth would you turn something so hard into a cornflake?

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The trouble with breakfast is that you're always in a rush.

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You know what it's like. You've got kids to feed.

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You've got to get ready for work.

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You certainly don't have time

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to think about where all your breakfast foods havecome from.

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Most of us can't get inside a food factory.

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But, if you could, you wouldn't see much -

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just miles of pipe and stainless-steel vats.

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I'm going to go back to basics to find out

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what they're really doing to our food.

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Inside this barn, I've set up my very own food factory.

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The inside of this barn may look like it's full of farmyard junk,

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but it's got everything I need to reveal

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the secrets inside supermarket food.

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Cornflakes - the instant breakfast. Simply open the pack and pour.

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We take them for granted and they stay fresh for ages.

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Cornflakes were only invented 100 years ago.

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Someone had to discover a recipe.

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It's weird, but what they found out

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is that to make cornflakes, they have to take out a

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whole load of goodness and then artificially stuff it back in.

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If I make my own cornflakes here in the barn,

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we'll see exactly why it's so important to do this.

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This is the starting place of cornflakes.

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They're made from maize, which is more commonly known as corn.

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If I pull back the leaves on this here,

33
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I can expose these hard, yellow kernels.

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If I wanted to eat this, I'd have to pick it fresh and cook it.

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For breakfast, we want something that's quick and easy

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and that can be stored in our cupboards for weeks.

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These are dried corn kernels.

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The first important secret to making a cornflake is what not to use.

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The kernel contains a tiny germ which is the seed.

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While it's growing, it feeds off all the starchy material inside.

41
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The outer layer is the bran.

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For cornflakes, we don't want the bran.

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That's the thing that helps you become quite regular on the toilet.

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The bran would spoil the cornflake's texture.

45
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The next thing to get rid of is the germ.

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In here are all the vitamins and the proteins,

47
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so we don't want that.

48
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Yes, that's right.

49
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Even though the germ is full of nutrition,

50
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I have to take all of it out.

51
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This is because, over time, the oils will go rancid

52
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and spoil the cornflakes in the box.

53
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What I'm left with now is, basically, starchy hard material.

54
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This is the bit that we're going to turn into our cornflakes.

55
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,920
So, the only thing you need to make a cornflake

56
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is the pure starch from the kernel.

57
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It would take ages to collect the starch by hand.

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I'm going to knock up something that will hopefully let me do it quicker.

59
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I need to build something that can separate the different parts -

60
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the germ, the bran and the all-important starch.

61
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This is pretty wild, this.

62
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Right, well that seems to have done the trick.

63
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Let's have a look what's happened.

64
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So, there's my bits of bran.

65
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That's separated out lovely.

66
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What have I got here? Little bits of germ here.

67
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And these are the bits that I want.

68
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This is what I'm going to turn into my cornflakes -

69
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these little starchy bits here which are called grits.

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I've been grinding my corn for almost an hour

71
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and I haven't even got enough to make a spoonful of cornflakes.

72
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So, I'm going to switch to Plan B and use some prepared corn grits.

73
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That's about right.

74
00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,720
But starch is pretty tasteless.

75
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So, before I cook them, I have to add a bit of flavouring.

76
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This is malt syrup.

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Good job I don't have to do this every single morning for breakfast.

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There we are.

79
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The grits are so hard, we have to cook them in a pressure cooker.

80
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The factory heat them under very high pressure for 90 minutes.

81
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So, I'm going to do the same.

82
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It's gonna be a while before my cornflakes

83
00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:10,320
are ready for milk and sugar.

84
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I've got two of these.

85
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These are two litres, aren't they?

86
00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,040
Yeah.Right. How many of these do you reckon

87
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the average cow produces a day?

88
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The average cow?The average cow.

89
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Think of Daisy in a shed, milking away.

90
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How many of these is she going to churn out?

91
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Probably 50?

92
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50. I wouldn't mind a cow like that. It would be brilliant.

93
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20 odd.

94
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We think four.Four?

95
00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,480
Probably six. Six? That's not bad.

96
00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,880
It's actually ten. These are two litres.Two litres of this a day.

97
00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,440
So, the average is 20 litres a day.

98
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That's quite a lot. I didn't know that.

99
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As a farmer, I think it's important to keep farm animals happy.

100
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I'm concerned about the pressures put on dairy cows

101
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to produce 20 litres of milk a day.

102
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I was astonished to discover

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that robots might come to the help of cows.

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# Rolling, rolling, rolling

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# Rolling, rolling, rolling, Rawhide. #

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It's milking time here at Middle Burrows farm in Devon,

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run by the Kneller brothers. These are their Holstein Friesian cattle,

108
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which they milk in the traditional way, twice a day.

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This tradition has lasted for centuries.

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Dairy cattle are specially bred to produce lots of milk.

111
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They only keep producing if they're milked day in day out.

112
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The cows have no choice in when they're milked.

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They're simply rounded up and herded into the parlour.

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How you doing, Chris? How you doing, Mike?

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How you doing, mate? Are you all right?

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What time did you start milking?

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We start at about five in the morning.

118
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Five in the morning. How long to get all these girls milked?

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About three, three and a half hours.

120
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So, to get your whole herd milked twice takes you seven-hours.Yeah.

121
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That's a lot of work, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.

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Do you want a hand?Yeah, sure.

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Although Chris and Mike have to milk the cows twice a day,

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they know cows don't much like being herded about.

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Herding makes them anxious and when they're stressed,

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they produce less milk.

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This is the traditional way that dairy cows are milked in the UK.

128
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Yeah, most cows are milked in this way.

129
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The first thing we do is clean the teat.

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And then just plug her in.Yeah.

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Show me. I've never done this before.It goes through the legs.

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It's quite a fiddly process, isn't it?Yeah.

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There we go, we can see it coming through here.

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Chris and Mike tell me the important thing about milking

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is to keep the cows calm.

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This one going on this one there.

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Oh, flipping Nora!

138
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Are any of these kickers?

139
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Talk about nervous.

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I'm losing my bottle this close-up to the milk producers.

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Now when you're getting the cow...

142
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When plugging the cow into the milking machine,

143
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you forget how close you are to the other cow's backside

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because your head's in here, you look up,

145
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there's a bum right above you.

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00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,360
So, it's really easy to get a cow pat shampoo

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and then a cow wee rinse.

148
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I'm always looking up now.

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This is hard for the farmers and it's not so easy on the cows either.

150
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Wahay! That's not milk, is it?

151
00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:44,800
HE LAUGHS

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I was there five seconds ago.

153
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Each cow takes ten minutes.

154
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Outside, there's an impatient queue waiting for me to get on with it.

155
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But milking doesn't have to be this stressful for the cow or the farmer.

156
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A few yards up this hill, in a shiny new shed,

157
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is the brothers' second herd.

158
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Now, they're not milked at 5am or 3pm.

159
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In fact, they're not milked twice a day,

160
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but they do produce more milk. So, how can that be?

161
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These are the same sort of cows - Holstein Friesians.

162
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The difference is, these girls decide when they want to be milked.

163
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Chris and Mike don't milk these cows.

164
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They've handed the job over to a robot.

165
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This doesn't sound like very good news for the cows,

166
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but let me tell you something,

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it could be the best thing that's ever happened to them.

168
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This is the machine which puts cows in charge.

169
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Wow!

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This is like something out of science fiction. It's incredible.

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You can buy a house or a very fancy sports car

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forthe £120,000 price tag.

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But this robot cuts a full day's work down to an hour and a half.

174
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It never gets tired and the cows seem to like it.

175
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The cow approaches the robot through a gate.

176
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The computer identifies her from her collar tag,

177
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dispenses the correct amount of feed and, while she tucks in,

178
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the machine washes her teats and then collects the milk.

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This robot is clever technology.

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It reduces the amount of labour needed to milk a cow.

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It also makes milking less stressful for the animal.

182
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So the brothers don't have to hook up each cow to the machine.

183
00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:37,920
But how does this reduce the stress for the cows?

184
00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,280
You bring all the cattle in, herd them all in,

185
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and then push them through this system?

186
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,640
No, we don't have to be here at all. They come in of their own accord.

187
00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:47,520
So, they come in when they want?

188
00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:50,840
Yes.That is incredible. Why are they coming in when they want?

189
00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,640
As they produce milk during the day, their udders get tighter

190
00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,640
and they just want to come in and relieve the pressure.

191
00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:59,080
So, it's just like, I fancy a bit of a milk.

192
00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:00,680
Milk, milk, milk. Ah!

193
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,080
That's it. We all know what that feels like.

194
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Instead of being rounded up twice a day,

195
00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,240
these cows come in to be milked whenever they want.

196
00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,560
In fact, they like it so much,

197
00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,440
some cows come in as many as four times a day.

198
00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,320
Since they come into the parlour whenever they want to,

199
00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:21,480
it looks to me like their loving it.

200
00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,800
Do you ever getthe odd cow that gets a bit addicted to this machine

201
00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,000
and thinks, "I could do with another milk."

202
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,800
I would say so. Some keep coming round, think they can,

203
00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:31,880
but there is a gauging system that says,

204
00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,600
"Hang on, you've been milked enough today. Go back!"

205
00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,920
So, if number 26 has been round eight times, the computer will go,

206
00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,760
actually, no, you've had your lot. That's your lot, yeah.

207
00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,760
It's not only the cows that seem happier, so are the farmers.

208
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,600
Chris and Mike say they get more milk from each cow.

209
00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,840
Instead of 22 litres the traditional way,

210
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:57,600
they're now getting 32 litres - a massive increase.

211
00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,040
Not only that but when they send the milk to their distributor

212
00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,320
for testing, they discovered the milk is better quality milk.

213
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,400
They test it for fat and protein which is the creaminess of milk.

214
00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,320
What's important about that?

215
00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:12,240
We get paid on the creaminess.Right.

216
00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,800
If it's not very creamy, they don't like the milk.

217
00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,120
What's your level? What are you aiming for?

218
00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,840
We're looking at 4% butterfat and 3.5% protein.

219
00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:24,360
So, if you fall below that, you get paid less.Yes.

220
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,880
I'm impressed. This appears to be a win-win situation.

221
00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:33,160
The cows seem happier, they produce more milk and creamier milk.

222
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:38,760
Maybe one day they'll even label it and we'll be able to buy robot milk.

223
00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,320
Back to the barn.

224
00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,120
Let's see how my cornflakes are getting on.

225
00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:54,920
I've been making my own from scratch and it seems to me that so far

226
00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,640
all I've been doing is taking all the goodness out.

227
00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:02,480
These have been cooked for almost two hours.

228
00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,680
Look at these.

229
00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:09,680
So after all this time, still nothing that looks like cornflakes.

230
00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:10,720
Unless...

231
00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,720
Not quite cornflakes, but close.

232
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:17,480
These are a bit too wet and sticky.

233
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,120
In the factory they put them into huge driers

234
00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,640
to get rid of all the water. I've got just what I need out the back.

235
00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:27,920
A tumble dryer, that should do the job.

236
00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,600
It seems a bit weird putting food

237
00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,600
inside a tumble dryer, my mum would kill me.

238
00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,320
I should be putting my socks and pants in here.

239
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:48,440
I feel a bit like a naughty boy doing this.

240
00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:49,840
Shut the door.

241
00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,680
My corn kernels are taking quite a battering.

242
00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,000
I've cut it, cooked it, and I'm drying it.

243
00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:01,440
Along the way I've lost most of its goodness.

244
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,840
By removing the nutritious germ I took out the vitamins.

245
00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,040
Now it's time to add some of this goodness back into my cornflakes.

246
00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,560
Vitamin B here from a local chemist.

247
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,880
In fact, cornflake manufacturers take this opportunity

248
00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,760
to add sixdifferent B vitamins.

249
00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,840
Some of them weren't even in the germ to start with!

250
00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,840
They add salt and sugar for flavouring.

251
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,200
And I mustn't forget the iron, it's essential for the blood.

252
00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:35,320
I had no idea the iron came like this. These are real iron filings!

253
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:39,520
Look at that, it's magnetic, incredible isn't it.

254
00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:40,760
Pop some of that in.

255
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,200
They are food grade, of course.

256
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:49,120
There we are look, there's my iron and vitamin B smoothie.

257
00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,560
My smoothie looks a bit unappetising.

258
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,760
But it will add nutrition and flavour to my cornflakes.

259
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:06,080
My grits should be nice and dry now.

260
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,840
Let's have a feel. Oh, yeah, they're lovely.

261
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:13,040
So, what I'm going to do is scoop them out

262
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:18,080
and turn these into some flakes.

263
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,280
In the factory, they use giant rollers

264
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,400
to squash the softened grits into flakes.

265
00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,240
I'll keep going with my laundry theme.

266
00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:32,240
After all this trouble, I hope the old mangle works.

267
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,760
Alternatively, it can go terribly wrong

268
00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,560
and I end up with a big squished mess at the end.

269
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:40,680
This is the moment of truth.

270
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,120
Is it gonna work?

271
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,280
There they come, look at that.

272
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,440
Wow!

273
00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,960
At first I thought they were coming through like little streaks,

274
00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,400
but they are turning into fantastic little flakes.

275
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:05,760
Perfect, look at that. Last one and the last one is the best one.

276
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,840
Did you ever think it, making cornflakes.

277
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:12,480
Don't they look lovely?

278
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,720
My mangled cornflakes are just the right shape.

279
00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,600
Perfect little flake, wafer-thin.

280
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,760
All I need to do now is toast them.

281
00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,360
This should speed things up after all the messing about.

282
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,040
# And it burns, burns, burns

283
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,240
# Thering of fire

284
00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,840
# The ring of fire... #

285
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,240
Now, that's nice and toasted, look at that.

286
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,520
A bit burnt around the edges, that's how I like them.

287
00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,560
Look at that. My very own cornflake.

288
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:55,480
One last thing, though, my iron and vitamin B smoothie.

289
00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:57,120
All the vitamins and minerals.

290
00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:58,640
There.

291
00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,400
Perfect! There we go, look at that.

292
00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:07,320
My little bowl of cornflakes.

293
00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:10,680
Do you know what, I'm quite proud of these.

294
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,160
I think they need some work.

295
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:23,440
I'm not sure I would want these for my breakfast!

296
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,000
Eggs on toast for me, I think.

297
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,960
Later we made up another batch with the same recipe.

298
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,080
Will they pass the taste test down on my farm?

299
00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:36,320
Have a munch. Tell me what you think?Crunchy.

300
00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:39,240
I can take criticism, so... Be brutal.

301
00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,560
They are really hard. Hard. Too hard?

302
00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:43,400
I think they're better. Do you?Yes.

303
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:44,800
Do you want me to be honest?

304
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:46,600
You don't like them. I don't like them.

305
00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,720
They taste really bland. Really bland?

306
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:51,760
It's like the salt and sugar's missing.

307
00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:54,440
And the score, out of 10. I'll give you an eight, I think.

308
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,400
Eight out of 10, that's not bad.

309
00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,480
If you soak them sufficiently they will go down.

310
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,200
Leave them in milk overnight, you mean.Not quite as bad as that.

311
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,720
I have to agree they're not up to shop standard,

312
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:11,640
but what struck me was so much effort, goodness out and goodness in

313
00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,840
goes into making a food that is ready to eat in an instant.

314
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,240
A spoonful of sugar. Have you ever wondered

315
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,720
how they make white sugar so sparkling white.

316
00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:32,160
Do they use bleach?

317
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,800
Is there something in the way that it's made that I should worry about?

318
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,840
To try and make white sugar in the barn would just be too complicated,

319
00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:41,880
so to find out more, I hit the road.

320
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,040
Now not many people know that over half our sugar

321
00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,480
comes from this root vegetable, the home-grown sugar beet.

322
00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:57,600
It only contains 17 per cent sugar, so how do we get from this to this?

323
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,320
And, get rid of all the other bits we don't need?

324
00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,560
This is how, with a giant chemistry set.

325
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,520
We don't grate sugar-beet on to our cornflakes, it's not very sweet.

326
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:12,760
Hello, Bob.Hi, Jimmy.

327
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,240
How are you doing?All right.Now, Bob, is it quite a simple process?

328
00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,640
Can I do it back home in the barn? Very unlikely.

329
00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,760
British Sugar's, Bob Howe, says this process is so precise

330
00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,720
Icouldn't do it in the barn.

331
00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,720
He doesn't make sugar by simply chopping up the beet.

332
00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,080
Can I taste one?

333
00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:37,240
A little bit gritty. There's some sweetness there, but not a lot.

334
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,760
To refine our own sugar we'd have to stew the beet

335
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,440
in hot water first, like making tea.

336
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:45,960
But we still wouldn't have sugar.

337
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,760
It's still a long way from those white crystals

338
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:50,400
we buy inthe supermarket.

339
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,520
If you look at it, it's this yellow cloudy substance.

340
00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:57,440
The cloudy yellow juice is full of bits in the beet

341
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,040
wedon't want on our cornflakes.

342
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,080
They use some clever chemistry to remove them.

343
00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,080
How do you get sugar out of this solution now?

344
00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:09,440
First I've got to remove impurities. Is that with some sort of filter?

345
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,600
Come on, don't you remember school chemistry?

346
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,080
Sorry, Bob, I think I must have been off that day.

347
00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:18,840
Extracting sugar from beet uses a lot of science.

348
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,800
Here's the surprising bit. They use carbon-dioxide gas

349
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,040
and a solution of the mineral lime to clean it.

350
00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,680
I add lime and I put carbon dioxide through it

351
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,360
and I precipitate calcium carbonate, and you'll know this as a chalk.

352
00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:39,000
The lime and carbon dioxide Bob adds join together to make chalk.

353
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,240
As the chalk forms it traps the impurities.

354
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,920
When the chalk is filtered out, the sugar juice is much purer.

355
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:51,120
See, you never know what you might miss when you skip school.

356
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,280
You can see the chalk starting to settle.

357
00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,320
That settling quite rapidly, as well.

358
00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,720
You're left with the clear solution at the top, but it's not that clear.

359
00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:00,760
I still wouldn't put that in my cup of tea.

360
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:03,400
To turn this into sugar crystals,

361
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,040
they the boil juice to evaporate some of the water.

362
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,480
This leaves behind a thick syrup of sugar.

363
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:13,920
If you get the temperature exactly right

364
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,960
and spin it in a centrifuge, something magical happens.

365
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,520
The syrup or the juice will start to separate from the crystals

366
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,640
and you'll be left with pure, white sugar.

367
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:26,560
Look at it change colour!

368
00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:34,840
That is incredible. It just changes before your eyes. Look at that!

369
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,840
It's like snow!

370
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,480
If I put it in a bag now, that would that be a problem?

371
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,520
Yes, it would end up going in one big lump, Jimmy.

372
00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,200
Let's dry it and bag it then. Let's go.

373
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:58,000
The sugar beet has been washed, chopped, steeped, filtered, boiled

374
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:03,080
and spun, just to get at that 17 per cent that we can use.

375
00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:06,760
All we need to do nowis bag it up and get it in the shops.

376
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,600
The last item on my breakfast menu is instant coffee.

377
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,600
It says on the jar, 100 per cent coffee, but I have to admit

378
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,800
I've always assumed that they've added extra ingredients

379
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,480
like flavouring or chemicals to the real coffee.

380
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:31,160
The best way to find out what's in instant coffee is to make my own.

381
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,440
In the factory, the first thing they have to do is grind the beans

382
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:40,320
and brew up a drink of coffee.

383
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,160
Then something very clever happens in the instant coffee factory.

384
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:50,680
They have to get rid of all the water from the brewed coffee.

385
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:52,960
How do you dry out a drink?

386
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,680
It doesn't seem simple to dry out a drink,

387
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,720
even if I brew the coffee really strong to start with.

388
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:06,200
That is so strong it that makes your eyes water.

389
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,560
What is the trick, how do you dry out a drink and keep the flavour?

390
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,080
Just over half the instant coffee we drink in UK

391
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,760
is produced through a process called spray drying,

392
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,000
that's exactly what I'm going to try and do.

393
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,160
This should be fun. The experts have told me this probably won't work.

394
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:41,120
Industrial spray driers are seven storeys tall.

395
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,120
I love a dare, but don't try this at home.

396
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,760
These hot air guns will get the bins really hot.

397
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,880
Once it's really, really hot I'm gonna spray coffee in with this

398
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:56,720
paint sprayer and this will spray the coffee in a fine mist.

399
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,920
If the temperature is hot enough that fine mist, all the water

400
00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:04,040
should evaporate out of it and I should end up with...

401
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,360
Dry coffee powder down in the bottom.

402
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:11,080
There is the possibility this could all go disastrously wrong.

403
00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:15,160
Now, this does have some potential dangers.

404
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,040
One, it's going to get really, really hot.

405
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,280
And two, it could explode.

406
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:27,320
I want the liquid coffee spray to turn to powder inside these bins,

407
00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:29,920
but whenever you create a large quantity

408
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,120
of fine powder in a confined space,

409
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,360
added with oxygen and a source of ignition,

410
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,480
there's a serious risk of explosion.

411
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,240
I've got all these risks right here in the barn.

412
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,480
So I'm gonna spray ever so timidly.

413
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,240
I just need to gauge the temperature.

414
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,280
It's got to reach well in excess of 100 Celsius in here,

415
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:56,760
the temperature water boils at, for the spray to quickly evaporate.

416
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,040
Wow, look at that.

417
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:04,920
It's a racing up. It's 150, 160...

418
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,880
That's now 200 degrees!

419
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,760
200 degrees is great.

420
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,080
It must be very hot so the water in the spray evaporates instantly

421
00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:20,080
leaving just the coffee to drop to the bottom, hopefully as powder.

422
00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,080
Right, I reckon it's time for my coffee.

423
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:28,800
I'm using a brew of super-strong fresh coffee, just like the factory.

424
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:33,800
On goes the compressor. There we go, see the coffee going along.

425
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:41,320
I'm gonna squirt that into the chamber. OK.

426
00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:43,320
Now, I ama little bit worried

427
00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:46,640
because this is the point where it could explode.

428
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,320
If I spray too much there could be an explosion,

429
00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:54,120
but too little and I won't get my coffee powder.

430
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,200
There's a lot of the steam coming out of this

431
00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,440
and an intense smell of coffee.

432
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,880
The steam is a good sign that the water is evaporating.

433
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,840
The sticky coffee could just be running down the sides.

434
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:13,680
This is madness, look at it. I've turned it into a coffee sauna.

435
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,440
I reckon, it's time to turn her off.

436
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,120
Wow, that is incredible.

437
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:30,800
That's dried coffee. Right.

438
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:34,920
It's still, very, very hot.

439
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:36,440
Look at that.

440
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,640
You see all the coffee stuck to the side of the bin there, look at it.

441
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,800
It's like brown snow.

442
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,520
The lower you get, the better it becomes.

443
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,360
Look at this stuff, it's caked in it.

444
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:55,040
Time to take the bottom off and see what we've got.

445
00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:59,480
Look at this.

446
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,800
This has actually blown me away a bit.

447
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:10,840
My own coffee powder. Look at that.

448
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,120
There are two tests for instant coffee.

449
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,720
Here it goes.

450
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,680
Test one, does it dissolve in water?

451
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,480
Well, that's dissolved.

452
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,560
It took ages to get the water out, just so I can pour it back.

453
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:26,280
I'm quite nervous.

454
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,520
Test two, does it taste like coffee?

455
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,120
It tastes like coffee, but it hasn't got that body.

456
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,320
Now I'm gonna put a little bit more in just to do it some justice.

457
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:53,120
Do you know what, that would pass as a decent cup of coffee now.

458
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,960
My coffee in a jar, lovely.

459
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:13,040
Making breakfast from scratch, cornflakes, sugar,

460
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,440
robo milk and coffee has thrown up many surprises.

461
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,160
I'm amazed how processing even simple foods

462
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,000
requires so much ingenuity which has made me look at breakfast

463
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,080
in a completely different light.

464
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,840
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