#Amish corn broom how to#

“I think broom makers will always be around,” he says. Newton’s busy schedule as a craftsman convinces him his craft has a steady future. He has been asked to attend shows in New England and Pennsylvania and has even sold brooms as props for filmmakers. Newton attends several art shows and events each year, mostly within a day’s drive, including Louisville. “The experience they receive creating something useful is priceless,” Newton says, adding that the cottage is available year round.

“This is part of my effort to educate people about craftsmanship.”Īt the end of a stay guests return home with a broom they have made.

#Amish corn broom how to#

“We invite visitors to come and learn how to construct their own broom using antique equipment,” Newton says. The property includes a fully furnished cottage the Newtons have established for guests to lease for access to his studio and gallery. Today, Newton and his wife, Lizzy, cultivate Broomcorn Johnny’s while living in an 1830s log cabin near Elizabeth, Indiana, on the Ohio River. Upon receiving an order from Anthropologie, Newton hires help for sanding broom handles and weighing the broomcorn. One of his largest clients is Anthropologie – a women’s clothing and home décor store – with 175 stores nationwide. Sales increased even more when Newton developed a process to create vibrant colors in the broomcorn, including red and blue. Newton is so confident of the quality of his hand-stitched brooms that he offers a 15-year warranty. Many of his broom handles are made from Indiana hardwoods, mostly sassafras. “One piece from the 1700s holds the broom flat while I stitch it,” he says. He prefers completing much of the brooms’ construction himself, using his ancient machinery. If it is cut too late, it becomes crooked.”Īs Newton’s quality of craftsmanship became well known, his brooms sold so quickly that he hired a farmer in northern Mexico to grow the broomcorn and ship it to him.Īfter a career in the Air Force, Newton began making brooms full-time in 2011. If it is cut when immature, the fibers have no stamina. “It has to be monitored daily to determine quality. “Broomcorn is a labor-intensive crop,” he says. He quickly discovered the process was challenging. “They are soft enough not to damage hardwood floors.”Īt first, Newton tried raising broomcorn on a few acres at his home in Brown County. “The seeds trap dirt like Velcro,” Newton says. The product is called broomcorn because when it is harvested with seeds on its tips, the seeds act as cleaning agents. The second is for animal feed, and the third can be used for brooms.” “The first type is syrup for consumption by humans. “Broomcorn is one of three families of sorghum,” Newton says. 5'H.Find tips on how to care for your very own Broomcorn Johnny’s broom. Each straw from the broom is intended for single use and is disposable for easy cleanup. For cake decorating, use it to dust crumbs from the surface of a cake before applying icing, draw or stipple on icing decorations, etch line art into fondant, and more.Īmish made from natural corn husk, HIC's Amish Cake Tester is easy to use, versatile, and safe for use with nonstick bakeware. Use a single straw to pierce air holes in pastry dough or pie crust to eliminate bubbles. Whether learning how to bake a cake from scratch or using cake mixes, it's perfect for making cake of all types, like red velvet cake, mini cakes, birthday cakes, wedding cakes, brownies, cheesecakes, brownies, even quick breads, like banana bread or cornbread. Old-fashioned corn straw barn brooms just seem to work better and sweep cleaner than their artificial counterparts. If raw batter clings to the straw, the cake needs more time to cook. If the straw comes out clean, the cake is fully cooked. Simply break a strand from the straw broom and insert it into the cake's center. It's safe for use with non-stick cake pans and baking pans and makes a great kitchen decoration, too.

The hanger loop allows it to be stored conveniently near the oven. Longer than toothpicks, the corn husk straws (measuring approximately 3.5-inches) reach deeper into cakes for more accuracy than the toothpick test. The narrow profile won't leave large holes behind that need to be filled or patched. Straw's natural texture holds raw batter better than using metal cake testers. Made in America by Amish crafters in Lancaster PA, this natural corn broom is a great addition to cake making and baking supplies for easy and accurate cake testing. HIC's Amish Cake Tester is the authentic more accurate way to bake a cake that's fully cooked in the center.