drawing off in food grande plastic buckets

[michiganfarmer2]

Someone made a comment on the "craigs list add" thread that I took to mean that its bad to draw off hot syrup into plastic buckets.

Ive been doing it for years. I hope Im not making a mistake. I draw off into food grade plastic buckets that had lemon pie filling in then from a local bakery> They are washed previous of course. Then I put the lid on it, and consider it hot packed. The lid sucks down when it cools. I store it in those buckets till the season is over then reheat it, filter it, and can it.


What do you professional producers think?

[adk1]

Someone made a comment on the "craigs list add" thread that I took to mean that its bad to draw off hot syrup into plastic buckets.

Ive been doing it for years. I hope Im not making a mistake. I draw off into food grade plastic buckets that lemon pie filling in then from a local bakery, then put the lid on it, and consider it hot packed. The lid sucks down when it cools. I store it in those buckets till the season is over then reheat it, filter it, and can it.


What do you professional producers think?

Sounds sketchy to me. Anytime plastic is involved and heated to those temps things happen

[Jeff E]

There are plastics that are designed for high temp. I have some that are yellow. I always draw into Stainless though, these will be for hot packing for small bulk buyers.

[michiganfarmer2]

thank you both.

I guess I better buy a stainless draw off pail.

[PerryW]

Lamphere's in McIndoe Falls VT used to sell the white PVC plastic pails with a pop-up pourer spout for Maple Syrup Hot Packing. The pail looks exactly like a Joint Compound Pail.

[michiganfarmer2]

wait, I dont have to buy anything. I have some surge milker buckets.

[happy thoughts]

Not a professional producer but I'm going to chime in anyway. I think you'll be OK if you are absolutely certain that the buckets are food grade. All my guaranteed food grade buckets are HDPE2 which are the same as the food grade maple jugs I have. So it should be able to handle hot pack I'd think. But that said, here is something from the Cornell Maple program about storing syrup in plastic that you'll probably want to read. Storing in plastic leads to a lowering of grade in a few months time. Plastic can be used but it is not the preferred container. Personally, I only pack in glass.

http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/FAQ.htm

What is the best container to put maple products in and why?
Plastic containers are inexpensive but allow some gas exchange that causes decreases in syrup quality. Syrup in plastic containers will degrade (change color) about one grade after 3 to 6 months of storage. Syrup stored in plastic containers should be refrigerated. Glass is more expensive and breakable but retains quality longer. Tin was used commonly in the past and is still used to attract traditional consumers. 


[michiganfarmer2]

Not a professional producer but I'm going to chime in anyway. I think you'll be OK if you are absolutely certain that the buckets are food grade. I got them from a guy who works at a bakery, and they are labeled with official looking labels that say lemon pie filling.
All my guaranteed food grade buckets are HDPE2 which are the same as the food grade maple jugs I have. So it should be able to handle hot pack I'd think. 


Ill look at my buckets for this. Thank you

[wiam]

Lamphere's in McIndoe Falls VT used to sell the white PVC plastic pails with a pop-up pourer spout for Maple Syrup Hot Packing.

Lamphere's has not been there for a lot of years.:o:o

William

[adk1]

I just bought a 9qt SS draw off pail at TSC for $17.00. why would anyone pay $135+ for a draw off pail liek they sell at Leader etc? I am sure that they are heavier and ahve that nice little handle on the bottom but come on, be serious.

[Toblerone]

Cutting the top off of a corny keg works great. See this thread: http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=12103

I bought mine online at www.cornykeg.com, two for around $45 including shipping.

[mike z]

Check those labels and perhaps you can find out from the manufacture. The original product may have been hot packed to begin with.

[whalems]

I bought a 16 qt. stainless pail from tractor supply for around $25

[jmp]

The stainless steel pails sold at TSC are made in India. I completely agree that 135 bucks for a SS pail is way too much. I bought a similar one from this company: http://www.homesteadersupply.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73,106&products_id=13

Not that bad when you consider it will last a lifetime. :)

Good luck!

[Kev]

better check it for uranium....
only 1/2 joking :cry:
I read about one providence that has a bunch of new manufacturing and new coal fired power plants that are burning coal from an area they had not used before. It seems that vein of coal is high in uranium. and its coming out of the coal plants with the fly ash. levels have been recorded at 60 times the "safe" dosage.(whatever that is) Russia warned the world a several years ago they were having that problem also.
I am to the point I am willing to pay extra for anything made in north america, besides the jobs factor. It seems like to many of us here are unwilling to take "any " risk of enviromental damage here, no matter what the cost to the economy. Yet are more than willing to by products made elsewhere with no enviormental standards at all. as human beings are those lives and children there worth that much less to us than our own? I am not saying we should dictate how they do things, but if we will boycott places here for less.....
sorry I will get off the soap box.

[happy thoughts]

I agree Kev, annoying as our state and fed regs can be, I would rather live with them than none at all or even regs that turn a blind eye to human health and safety. I too choose US products when given the choice, cost be ****ed if it involves food.

My bottom line is asking if I'd feed something I made to my grandkids, confident that it cannot do harm.

And that said, most regs are reactive, usually enacted after someone does something stupid. imho it is wiser to use common sense and try to educate each other on just these sorts of things. I've kind of been harping on the issue, and I both apologize and do not because it's an important issue.

To anyone out there, don't take your buddy's word that a particular container is food safe. Do your homework and call the manufacturer if there is any doubt. And if it is made from food safe plastic then make sure it has never contained anything but food. Also check on it's suitability at normal syrup packing temps if that's your intended use. Not all food grade plastics can handle hot temps.

Good health to all!

[adk1]

darnit, I didnt see any label on the SS pail when I bought it. actually, the lady had to go i nthe back to look at the tag where it sat. I am definatly into buying american made products.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Drawing off into a SS bucket is nice and we all do it BUT BUT BUT..........What is the differance between drawing off and hot packing into a plastic bucket and snapping a lid on it?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I draw off all of my syrup into 5 gallon plastic buckets. I usually takes about 4 hours to fill one. Not sure I would use them if I was drawing off 5 gallon in a hour or less, but they do fine for taking a few hours to fill and I have done this for many years but I don't claim to be a professional.

[western mainer]

We draw off in a white plastic honey bucket made for hot honey,and it has a draw off.
Brian

[SeanD]

I, too draw off into a 5 gal. plastic bucket. I get all of my buckets from a bakery, so we're good on the food safe end. It took me about 8 hours to get 4 gallons into it, so there's nothing to worry about hot temps. either.

As far as dropping a grade in plastic, I personally won't worry about it too much until I produce such large amounts that I'm lucky enough to be still bottling at Christmas time. I don't know how quickly the big-producer's jugs move at supermarkets and box stores, but I'm guessing some of them sit on shelves or in warehouses for longer than I have mine stored in a plastic bucket in the basement.

Sean

[maple maniac65]

honey is drawn off at a lower temp than maple syrup. At 180 evan a plastic syrup jug gets soft. I would not want to see one at 219.

[western mainer]

I know what the pail looks like, the same as when it's cold.
Brian