Silk reeling and testing manual. 5.1 Introduction Cocoon cooking unwinds the cocoon filament spun by the silkworm. The sericin covering around the cocoon filament is agglutinated after silkworm spinning, then hardened through the cocoon drying process. In preparation for reeling, it should be softened.
Processing softens sericin by heat, water and steam.
Ideally there will be uniform softening of the outer and inner cocoon shell. 5.2 Cocoon cooking methods 1. Pan cooking Cocoons are put into a pan of boiling water. The cocoons contained in the wire cage are placed into the boiling water and then boiled for a few minutes. After boiling, the cocoons with the wire cage are moved into a low temperature bath in another pan.