Which hydrometer?

[3fires]

I'm likely only going to be making a gallon or two of syrup at a time, maybe less.

Which hydrometer and cup should I get?

I see they have a tall, a short, and a short thin cup.

I'm thinking the short thin as I won't be making much syrup at a time, but would like to know how well it works or what the drawbacks might be before deciding.

I'd like to get a sap hydrometer as well. It looks like the standard syrup hydrometer works with the short thin cup, but the sap hydrometer must match??

[northwoods_forestry]

Short and thin sounds like the right fit for your small operation.

PRO: it only takes a small amount of syrup to fill the cup

CON: A long hydrometer is easier to read and as a result can be more accurate.

Might as well get a sap hydrometer to match the cup used for syrup but, if you've got $100 to spare, the sap refractometers are really nice.

[PapaSmiff]

If you go with the short syrup hydrometer, like I did, be sure to get the cup that fits the hydrometer. Originally, I ordered a cup that was too narrow for my hydrometer. It was made for a sap hydrometer. The short syrup hydrometer is pretty wide at the bottom.

Luckily, the people at Leader knew that I ordered the wrong item and called me to correct it.

[Ausable]

Guess I read Rink Mann's book "Backyard Sugarin" too many times --- or maybe I'm just a cheap skate. For my Hydrometer Cup I use a stainless steel brief case thermos bottle I bought on sale for $7.00 and it works great. But my syrup hydrometer is the real thing. --- Mike

[3fires]

I put the short slim on order, sap and syrup. I think my last batch might have been a bit thin. I want to get it right.

AuSable Mike, I looked around the house, and at a couple stores for something that would work as a cup but didn't find anything, bought the cup too, ouch.

[3fires]

Tested out the sap hydrometer yesterday, looks good. :D

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/shroomer69/Wild%20edible%20plants/Maple%20Syrup/ThreePercent.jpg

And I used the syrup hydro to finish my maple right on the evaporator. No bringing it in to the kitchen this time.

I think it was a good investment.

[3fires]

I wanted to ask if there's any trick to checking sap with a hydro. I noticed it said it was calibrated for 38 degrees. I was surprised it read over 3%, and want to make sure that's correct. It seems to be, because I got 13 1/2 pints from 67 gallons of sap after accidentally dumping upwards of 5 gallons onto the ground.

I'm not sure what the ratio is for 3%, but it must be better than 40:1?

[jmayerl]

3%= 28.6:1 ratio. just divide 86 by your %

[3fires]

Cool, thanks!

[buckeye gold]

I made a cup out of a one inch diameter copper air tube, they're already sealed on one end. I cut it to length and soldered a brass base and used 1/4" copper tubing for a handle. Once it heats up it hold heat great and that helps with accuracy. I don't remember for sure, but I think I had less $15.00 in it. I bought the air chamber at Menards in plumbing, Lowes or a good plumbing supply should have them. Maybe later I will post a picture, if your interested. For sap hydrometers just cut a piece of PVC and glue a cap on one end

[3fires]

That's a good idea for the sap hydro, could even put a cap on the other end and use it for storage. My sap hydro didn't come with a plastic tube for storage and i worry it will get broke out in the field.

I'm still curious though, if the sap is over or under 38 degrees, how much will it throw off the reading, or will it?

[3fires]

Anybody out there know the answer to the above question?

I've been searching the forum for "sap hydrometer" and not coming up with much on how to use it.

The first time I used it the temp of the sap was 38 F and it read well over 3%, the second time i used it it read the same, the third time the sap was warmer, low 40's and it read 2.5%. All three times I did not get the syrup that one would expect for such high % sap, more like 40:1.

I boiled 67 gallons of 3+% sap and got 1.6 gallons of syrup, checked with a hydro.

Then I boiled 76 gallons and got 1.87 gallons, sap hydro read over 3%
.
Then, I boiled 95 gallons of 2.5% and got 2.2 gallons of syrup, checked with a hydro.

??????????????????:confused:

I'm beginning to think this sap hydrometer is not properly calibrated.

[happy thoughts]

Anybody out there know the answer to the above question?

I've been searching the forum for "sap hydrometer" and not coming up with much on how to use it.



There's not much info online that I could find even in a google search. Best bet might be to contact the manufacturer or at least the place you bought it. But one thought I had after reading someone else's post a few days ago re high readings that they finally realized where off for a good reason. Was your testing cup clean for every test or could it have contained some residual sugar from previous testing?

[BryanEx]

I'm still curious though, if the sap is over or under 38 degrees, how much will it throw off the reading, or will it?
Not a whole lot but see post number 5 in this discussion;

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=5762

- Bryan

[3fires]

Thanks,

I googled it last night and found the link back to here through google with the adjustments for temp, but when i searched for it here nothing came up, weird.

Anyhoo, all I can figure is either the hydro is off big time or I'm burning so much sugar on my pans that it's affecting the total syrup yield, but I can't see me burning off 8-11 pounds of sugar in one boil, that's over a pound an hour and there ain't that much burned sap on my pans, lol.

Sap cup is clean as a whistle and the sap is under 46 F. I even floated the hydro in my buckets and totes and got the exact same reading.

It's frustrating though, I'll say that much.