Defoamer What to use?

[TylerMcT]

Whats the best product for defoamer? I read some where Half and Half milk Is it true?

[Bruce L]

I personally use the 10 % B.F creamers,one drop flattens any boil.
Bruce

[Greg Morin]

I keep a plastic spoon with margerine on it just touch the foam and its gone

[foursapssyrup]

we use butter in the same way. just touch your finger to the butter, then to the foam, and away it goes!!

[3rdgen.maple]

Thats all good to use but if you are retailing syrup you need to check the books on using anything other than ATMOS. I know in NY you cannot use anything other than ATMOS and one other kind, I think its a vegetable oil if you are retailing any syrup. Its is just a cheap too.

[sapman]

Organic canola is what the certified operations use, as I understand it. But apparently atmos works a little better, for those not certified OG.

[Potters3]

some organics are using safflower,


My grandfather used to hang a piece of salt pork over the back pan, when the foam got up to it , down it would go. This was back in the 50 and 60's.

[Ausable]

All the suggestions here are good - Main thing is - when You need it you have it at hand. I always used a little butter - last year I got smart and bought a commerical defoamer in a cute little plastic jug with a spout and almost had my own little disaster. Pans started to foam up - grabbed my cute little defoamer bottle out of the cabinet and nothing -- what the! the stuff was still cold and set up in the bottle and would not come out the spout - so I popped off the spout cap and dug some out with my pocket knife --- and it does work -- when you can get it out of the bottle -- I'm back to butter or anything not in a cute little jug ----- lol -- Mike

[SeanD]

I use canola oil in the spray can (like Pam). Works well, but the trick is to just give the nozzle a quick tap so only a little comes out.

Sean

[cpmaple]

I use a touch of butter also but, when i started out 3 years ago a gentleman on trader told me it had to be unsalted is this true or can you use salted butter?Just wondering !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

My grandfather used to hang a piece of salt pork over the flue pan too. Those were the good old days when there wasn't much regulation and people weren't as sue happy.

I use the ATMOS defoamer. When it is cold it is jelled and won't squirt out of the bottle. My fix is to put the bottle of defoamer on the back lip of my front pan until it softens. After that I put it on top of the steam hood where it handy to grab when needed in an emergency.

I have used butter and canola oil in the past but decided to go with the ATMOS defoamer so that I am using a maple industry approved product. I have seen powered defoamer made by CDL but as Theron found out it can easily be confused with RO soap. The white powder and containers that they come in are very similar.

[802maple]

You can't beat the powdered kosher defoamer that Russ talked about as far as I am concerned. Just need to leave that by the evaporator and the soap by the RO, right Theron.

The problem I have with the vegetable oil, butter and Atmos is it can turn rancid if isn't stored right and the flavor can show up in your syrup. Also with butter if you have customers with a dairy allergy you should tell them that you are using it.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If you are using the Atmos as Jerry was talking about, a quart bottle should last a small producer 10 to 15 years. I keep mine frozen year around and just thaw the bottle out to fill my small bottle which is washed thoroughly every year and the big bottle goes back into the freezer to keep it from turning rancid.

[Russell Lampron]

I do agree that the powered defoamer does work good. The RO soap does a good job of cleaning the flue pan too. I got RO soap in my evaporator one year because of operator error in the RO room. Needless to say all of the contents of the evaporator got dumped and everything got thoroughly cleaned before boiling again. A new valve panel that is more mistake proof has been installed to keep that mistake from happening again.

[Dennis H.]

I use Atmos. I keep it in the Frig when not inuse. I have now used the same container of defoamer for 3 years and it hasn't gone bad.

If I am correct I beleive that Atmos is just a type of Veg oil.

The butter thing will work but you have to be carefull about selling the syrup to people with dairy alergies.

Also info that I learned up at the NY Maple Conference is that you ONLY put the defoamer in the Flue Pan. It should work its way to the syrup pan on its own.

[TapME]

veg oil is what I use, works well. The milk alergy that people have was the reason that I changed to the oil. Peanut oil would be a big no no with all that have a reaction to that. Just keeps the syrup in the class that all can eat it.

[Wardner in Tewksbury]

The milk alergy that people have was the reason that I changed to the oil.

It is interesting that you mentioned allergy. My father was an allergist with a practice in Chicago. He grew up in rural MI. He was born in 1907 and the only sweetener he had in his first 10 years was maple. He developed a life-long allergy to it.

But it is true that minute amounts of anything can prompt a reaction for those who are sensitive. That includes non-food items such as petro-chemicals. He was advocating organic produce and meats back in the '50s for those who had chemical sensitivities.

[maple connection]

I was told grape seed oil. Has anyone used this as a defoamer? A organic producer uses this as there defoamer.