Culture // 3 min Read

A Different Kind of Lowcountry Boil

Written by Palmetto Bluff

Every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the extended Rahn family gathers with friends, significant others, and a random acquaintance or two around a massive cast-iron kettle watching cane juice boil into syrup. Mike Rahn, head of the family and longtime fixture at the Bluff, hauls up a huge pull-behind grill (it can hold 60 chicken halves), everyone brings a dish, and the party kicks off a week of cooking, eating, visiting, and celebrating, capped by Thanksgiving and lots of college football.

After a bit of persuading, Mike’s son, Palmetto Bluff Conservancy Land Technician Shane Rahn, explained the nuances of this age-old family tradition and the technicalities of their old-world method. “My granddaddy started it more than 75 years ago,” Shane says. “They shared the boiler shed with another family back then, but about 18 years ago, my dad, uncle, and granddaddy built our family’s boiler shed.”

The Rahns grow their own sugarcane. It is planted a year in advance and usually harvested around Thanksgiving when the cane is at its sugariest—before the first frost, which can ruin the crop. Early in the morning on the day of the boil, the family cuts the cane with special knives made for the task, selecting the best stalks and shucking them in the field.

The stalks are then squeezed through a roller mill to extract the juice. “When Granddaddy started making cane syrup, the mills were powered by donkeys or horses,” Shane explains. “When we built our boiler shed, my family rigged a truck engine to run the mill instead.” They calculated the perfect gear ratio and torque required to pull the stalks through the mill at the right speed.

The extracted juice runs through a bed of pine straw and hay to filter the larger bits of debris. Then it is pumped into a tank on the back of a tractor to be taken to the boiler shed and dumped into the kettle. I haven’t personally seen the kettle, but I’ll take it from Jack Hitt of Garden & Gun when he says, “There is no good English word for the simple beauty of this stunning object. It is pure cast iron and shaped like an outsized cereal bowl. You could wash a couple of children in this thing or use it as a birdbath for pterodactyls.”

The first boil takes about four and a half hours. “The pot’s gotta get warm,” Shane explains. Once the juice begins to cook, the boil brings frothy suds to the surface that must be skimmed away. Constantly. For hours. At this point, everyone starts to be thankful for Mike’s grill and the bounty of BBQ chicken. Make no mistake though, this process is a science. The wood must be pine not oak. If the fire is too hot, the syrup will burn. Too low, the bubbles won’t rise and bring the foam to the top. If it’s pulled too early, the pot will crack. There are always a few people who really know what they’re doing and enough amateurs to share the tasks. As Shane says, “The pot keeps cookin’ and cookin’.” The syrup gets skimmed, the fire gets tended, beers get cracked, and the day winds on. Until it’s time to get the syrup off the boiler before it scorches.

When the bubbles turn copper and the syrup starts to thicken, the experts of the family test the syrup with a hydrometer that measures the density on a scale of one to 100. The sweet spot is right around 32 or 33. Once it hits the right thickness, the syrup gets scooped out into washtubs and filtered one last time before being bottled. The second pot only takes about two hours. Yes, they boil a second pot. At the end of the day, 60 gallons of juice produce about six gallons of syrup. Two boils get them around 12 gallons to share between everyone.

As with most family get-togethers, something always goes wrong. One year, Mike forgot the chicken (heaven forbid). Another time, Shane dropped a pump into the tank of cane juice and had to fish it out. Something gets stuck. Someone grumbles about white cane versus red cane and which is better. Shane doesn’t even particularly like cane syrup, as he somewhat reluctantly admits, but he is proud that he gets to make it with his family. “A lot of people say it’s the best they’ve ever tasted.” The Rahns cherish this tradition. Everyone gets fed and goes home with a jug of pure, homemade cane syrup. Throughout the year, it gets put on anything and everything from grits to caramelized bacon.

Sadly, this tradition is dying out. Even in a world where organic, farm-to-table food is reaching peak popularity, it’s a complicated, time-consuming process that requires the kind of care, preparation, and attention that is hard to come by today. These days, if someone is growing and processing cane, they’re typically doing it for profit. The Rahns just do it for fun.

Architecture & Design
Moreland Village: Laid Back Luxury

Palmetto Bluff’s Moreland Village feels a world away from the more traditional architecture of the iconi...

Jun 2025

Culture
2025 Inspiring the Arts Scholarship Recipients

We are thrilled to introduce the inaugural winners of the Inspiring the Arts Scholarship—three extraordinary young women pursuing their artistic dreams through higher education! Katherine Donahue has been named our first official scholarship recipient, with Em...

Jun 2025

Culture
Summer Style in the Bluff: Discover What’s New in Retail

From handmade jewelry to performance wear, the latest arrivals at Palmetto Bluff’s retail spots capture the season in true Lowcountry style. This summer, the Bluff’s shops are full of fresh finds, carefully chosen by our trusted retailers—including FLOW Galler...

Jun 2025

Conservation
Citizen Science

Citizen Science is Thriving at Palmetto BluffDid you know that residents of Palmetto Bluff are playing a vital role in national and global conservation efforts—all from their backyard?Through the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy’s growing Citizen Science programs, c...

Jun 2025

Artist in Residence
Music Mosaic

In October 2024, Grammy Award-winning musician Clay Ross visited Palmetto Bluff as part of The Arts Initiative's Artist in Residence Program. Through storytelling and song, he explores identity, heritage, and the universal language of sound. By Barry Kaufman ...

Jun 2025

Food & Wine
Peach Perfect

Palmetto Bluff Club Executive Chef  Beth Cosgrove and Director of Culinary, Chef Rhy Waddington, Cook Up Four Peachy Recipes for a Summer in the South. Is there anything more iconic than a southern peach? A symbol of summer and Southern heritage, the peach car...

Jun 2025

Culture
Finding Fish

Following the tides and angling for redfish in Lowcountry creeks and estuaries with Captains Brian Vaughn and Will Stephens Story by Sandy Lang It is a sunny morning in October and the water is calm and glassy. The silence is punctuated by a gush of breath f...

Jun 2025
home upkeep checklist

Real Estate
Get Ahead of Spring Cleaning: How to Upkeep Your Luxury Lowcountry Home

7 Ways To Upkeep Your Palmetto Bluff Home As spring arrives in the Lowcountry, the change in season brings more than blooming marshlands and sun-drenched afternoons; it’s also a perfect time to refresh and care for your Palmetto Bluff home. Coastal living mea...

May 2025

Discover the Next Great Chapter in Golf Course Design, Only at Palmetto Bluff

When the land speaks, you listen. And at Palmetto Bluff, it spoke to two of golf’s most legendary course designers—Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. We invite you to watch our newest video, shot this past winter and featuring Bill and Ben, along with South Street P...

May 2025
home renovations 2025

Architecture & Design
Renovations That Will Increase Your Home’s Value in 2025

5 Renovations to Increase the Value of Your Lowcountry Home Whether Palmetto Bluff is your full-time residence or a cherished retreat, deciding to sell is never a quick or casual choice. However, when the time does come, you want your home to be as market-rea...

May 2025

CURIOUS ABOUT LIFE AT THE BLUFF?

Sign up for our newsletter

LIVE
Community Villages
Experience
Palmetto Bluff Club
On The Water
The Arts Initiative
Events
Conserve
About Us