Granulated Sugar - Issues with Caking

[MacombHarvest]

I have made a few batches of maple sugar now. Everything has gone smoothly yet after it sits in the container it is one solid cake. Is this just how maple sugar is? I've performed the creep test, boiled to a couple of different temperatures to see if this corrects it and used different batches of syrup and checked invert sugar content. I'll put it into a glass jar, turn it upside down and it all stays in one clump. It will become smooth again if I resift it but once it's back in the jar it cakes up. Will it ever be free flowing?

[Mapleman(Greg)]

My sugar clumps a little but a good shake and it is granular again
Greg

[Sugarmaker]

Ours doesn't clump.
Can you describe your methods? We can double check your numbers. I make the best sugar with early run syrup. I heat to 260 F and then stir. Stored for years it still remains granulated and does not clump.
Regards,
Chris

I have made a few batches of maple sugar now. Everything has gone smoothly yet after it sits in the container it is one solid cake. Is this just how maple sugar is? I've performed the creep test, boiled to a couple of different temperatures to see if this corrects it and used different batches of syrup and checked invert sugar content. I'll put it into a glass jar, turn it upside down and it all stays in one clump. It will become smooth again if I resift it but once it's back in the jar it cakes up. Will it ever be free flowing?

[Dennis H.]

Make sure you keep the sugar in an airtight container. You don't want moisture to get into it.

[Brian Ryther]

Make it on a dry, sunny, warm day.

[Dennis H.]

What the heck is a DRY WARM day???

[MacombHarvest]

Thanks for the advice. Chris, the first coule of times I made it by heating to ~43 degrees above the boiling point of water. It looked great but when tipped upside down in the jar it stuck together. The next time I heated it closer to ~60 degrees above thinking that it would remove more water. This batch seemed to cake even more. I am using a Kitchenaid to stir and do not wait for it to cool before stirring. It alwasys seems humid in VT so I'm not quite sure how to avoid this variable. It did seem to cake less with early season syrup so I guess I will try that again. I welcome any other ideas and am just grateful to know that the sugar can be free flowing so i will keep trying. Thanks.

[Brian Ryther]

What the heck is a DRY WARM day???

Today is a good day. Tomorrow will also be a good dau to make sugar, or any confections.

[maple2]

we spread ours out on cookie sheets to dry overnite, resift, then package

[Amber Gold]

What's the going rate for sugar? I made some and am now trying to figure out how much to sell it for.

[Mapleman(Greg)]

I don't know if i am high or low but it seems to sell well

[Brian Ryther]

$1 per oz. no matter the size