Processing Rice
A rice seed consists of the grain, the bran, and the tough outer layer called the hull or husk. The grain with the bran layers is called brown rice. The bran layers are removed to produce 'polished' or white rice.
Rough rice – harvested rice that still has the husk.
Cargo rice or Brown rice - rice that has been milled to remove only the husk.
Polished rice or White rice - rice that is milled and polished to remove the bran and germ, leaving the pure white, semi-translucent grain.
In the Colonial period, planters relied on West African technology to complete the process of turning rough rice into polished rice ready for sale. The West African process included three tasks: threshing, winnowing, and pounding. These were physically exhausting and highly skilled tasks.
First, enslaved people used threshing flails to remove the rice from the cut stalks. They placed the rough rice into large wooden mortars and pounded it with wooden pestles to remove the husk. Next, slaves placed the pounded rice in large fanner baskets to remove the chaff from the grain. The enslaved workers, usually women, tossed the grain into the air. The breeze carried off the husk or chaff and the clean rice fell back into the basket. Rice with the husk removed was called brown rice.
To make the brown rice ready for export it was processed one more time. Again, enslaved workers used the large mortar and pestle to pound the brown rice to remove the bran. This was a delicate process and required considerable skill to not break the rice grains. Rice with the bran removed was shiny and white and called polished rice. Slaves packed the finished rice into barrels. The barrels were sent to Charleston for shipment to Europe.
Rice in the husk.
Brown rice.
Polished rice.
Pounding rice.