How to process garri from cassava?

Gari is a partially gelatinized (by toasting), free-flowing granular flour with a slightly fermented flavor and sour taste. It is consumed either soaked in cold water or stirred in boiling water to make a stiff paste and consumed with choice soup.Gari can be yellow (if fortified with red palm oil) or white.

To make cassava into garri,it will need some garri processing machine working together to finish the process.

The steps of garri processing machine to proess cassava into garri as below :

1.Peeling and washing cassava:

Peeling and washing the cassava is first step of process cassava into garri .  Peeling and washing process can be made by hand or by mechanical cassava peeling and washing machine .

Cassava washing and peeling machine

2.Grating cassava

Grate peeled cassava roots properly in clean  grater to obtain uniformly smooth mash. The smoothness of the mash determines the quality, yield and market value of the finished garri.

3.Fermenting

Put cassava mash into a clean sack and tie. Allow to stand in a fermenting trough for 2~4 days. Arrange sacks in such a way that there is no contact with sand or dirts that can contaminate the mash. Allow free sipping of water from the sacks.There are variations in fermentation period within and among countries. However, fermentation should not be less than 2 days (to allow development of the characteristic sour taste of garri).

4.Pressing for dewatering

The fermented mash in sacks is pressed to remove as much moisture as possible by hydraulic press machine . Pressing is completed when water is no longer dripping from the sacks. If dewatering is not complete, there  would be lumps during toasting which reduces quality and yield of gari. The pressing time depends on  the efficiency of the press and moisture content of the mash. Sacks should not be used for too long to prevent bursting during pressing.

5.Cake breaking

Cake breaking is done using clean hands followed by sifting with non-rusting sifter into clean basin. Sifter made of stainless steel material is preferable.

Garri fryer

6.Garri frying

Grri frying can be done by hand or by mechanically using an automated garri fryer or other improved garri fryer made of stainless steel material and with firewood or gas as the heat source.