Defoamer cup?

[whalems]

This will be my first year on a real evaporator and I have a question about the defoamer cup. What is it for?:confused: All the defoamer bottles I have seen come in a squeeze bottle and I am told it only needs a couple drops. So what is the 3 oz. cup for? What am I missing? Any help, comments, suggestions are welcome. Thanks, Mike

[Haynes Forest Products]

Yea the cup is suspended in the flue pan in the area that the foam builds up. you have a solid type of defoamer in the cup and as the foam raises it hits the defoamer in the cup and SHAZAM down it goes:) You dont use the cup to add defoamer. Its like putting a chunk of fat on a string over the sap and as foam builds it hits the fat.

[maplwrks]

I use a defoamer cup in my evaporator. I use the kosher powdered defoamer, and just fill the cup, and hang it in the flue pan. I don't need to defoam anywhere in the rig after I do this. You can use the liquid ATMOS defoamer in these cups also, I would just squirt a little in the cup and go with it. I really think that they were designed for the powdered defoamer though. Either way---I really like the cup and wouldn't want to use any other method of defoaming.

[sapman]

I've been using the dispenser that Leader sells. Really sweet. You dial in the frequency of dropping, and it takes care of the foam nicely. Pricey, and can be messy to fill sometimes. Oh, and make sure you turn it off when done, or you might run the rest into the pan!

[whalems]

Thanks for the responses guys.

[GramaCindy]

Thanks Brian! I was hoping to NOT add anything, keep it real so to speak. Is the foaming thing really that bad?

[BryanEx]

Thanks Brian! I was hoping to NOT add anything, keep it real so to speak. Is the foaming thing really that bad?

If you choose a reputable defoamer you are still "keeping it real" as it's usually dehydrated canola oil and you are only using trace amounts to break the surface tension. Foaming will tend to happen at two different stages of making syrup - when you first get fresh sap boiling and then again as you approach syrup. The sap foam is no big deal. It will be similar to the foam you may see on water just below a water fall or hydro dam. It just sort of sits there and reduces your evaporation rate but is easily removed with a skimmer. The second stage of foaming as the sap approaches being syrup is what maple syrup stories are made from. :D It will be a very turbulent active golden coloured type foam that can literally draw all the syrup up out of your pan and is usually how perfectly good syrup pans end up burned. You can finish without defoamer but you will need to be able to control the heat precisely and at a moments notice if you are to keep it under control and that's difficult at best on a wood fired evaporator.

Given this is your first season with your new Mason evaporator what I would suggest is to always keep some "emergency sap" close at hand and load up a salt shaker with defoamer power. If things go terribly wrong just pour the cold sap in to knock the boil down while you collect your thoughts and that buys you time to think. With the salt shaker loaded with defoamer you can just add a bit at a time to keep things under control which means not using any more than you need. The amount of foaming is also going to vary for you depending on how hot your evaporator is running, each season, and even the time of year.

The advantage of a defoamer cup is it works like the float on a sump pump. If the foam gets high enough it touches the defoamer and back down it goes... usually while you weren't looking. :lol:

Hope that helps...

- Bryan

[Dan W]

I have seen some suppliers selling Canola oil as a defoamer. Can you use regular canola from the grocery store? Will it carry over to the syrup pan?

[Haynes Forest Products]

BryanEx Calls the stuff that forms on finished syrup Foam I call it shiny bubbles and when you get shiny bubbles in the finish pans all heck is about to break loose. When them shiny dang bubbles start to grow and over take the pan your in for a world of hurt because ain't much steam coming out and that means candy:mad:

[Slatebelt*Pa*Tapper]

I have seen some suppliers selling Canola oil as a defoamer. Can you use regular canola from the grocery store? Will it carry over to the syrup pan?

Dan you can, i either use it or a nice piece of pork fat hanging on a string, either works well.
i use a eye dropper with the canola oil which is kinda of a pain, i keep a shot glass to set the dropper in, it works.

some stores also sell the certified organic canola oil as well, cost is a bit more and so i just use the 100% oil.

excellent link using canola oil for defoaming
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/oneida/Agriculture/Ag/maple/Using%20Defoamer.pdf


Maple syrup
Maple syrup is another sweetener which may sometimes be a concern to vegans. The process of making maple syrup requires an agent to reduce the foam on the syrup by adding a small amount of fat to the liquid.
The traditional process of reducing the foam in maple syrup has included the use of lard. Previously, local producers would hang pork fat over a tub of maple syrup and let drops of fat drip into the syrup. Others used milk, cream or butter. If animal products are used in the form of lard or milk, the amount is minute. For example, eight to ten gallons of syrup will involve a quarter of a teaspoon of cream or a pea-sized drop of butter. Vegetable oil is a common defoaming agent. It can be applied to the end of a wooden stick and dipped into the foaming part of the maple syrup. Most manufacturers of maple syrup now use vegetable oil or synthetic defoamers instead of lard. One commercial defoamer (called Atmos 300K) is composed of monoglycerides and diglycerides. According to WITCO, the producer of this defoamer, these glycerides are derived from edible meat and/or vegetable sources. Another leading brand of defoamer, Reynolds Magic Syrup Defoamer, also contains acetylated monoglycerides as an ingredient (7).
http://www.ivu.org/news/2-97/sugar.html


:)