This sugar mill operated like other steam-powered mills of the mid 1800's. Molasses was drawn out of raw sugar cane by heating it in five kettles known as the "batterie." The cane juice was transferred from the largest kettle, called the "grande," into the next four kettles repeatedly until the sugar was partially crystalized. Then the sugar was transported in a series of troughs and cooled for 24 hours. The sugar was then put into hogshead barrels with holes on the bottom called Potting-casts. Each hole in the Potting-cast was plugged with crushed cane, which drew the molasses away from the sugar and into a cistern. After the molasses was drained away, the hogshead barrels of sugar could be shipped by rail or canal to barges on Lake Pontchartrain.