How long will sap keep?

[Rick Hayes]

I have 60 gal of sap in 5 gal pails stored in my shack. all have ice in them.How long will it keep until we boil? I'm taking family to Fla. next week and hate to dump sap if I don't have to. Hope to boil when we get back.
Thanks

[brookledge]

If it were me Iwould try to boil it before you go. Sap will keep but it is a sugar solution that has bacteria in it and will continue to breed and deteriate the sap. But being the beginning of the season and the fact that it is cold with ice it would still make syrup a week later just may be a grade or two lower. If you do keep it put it in a cold spot so it stays frozen
Keith

[Teuchtar]

Rick
Commercial producers process their sap immediately, to have the best ( most valuable) light grade.
The longer it sits around, the darker the resulting syrup will be.
If it sits a week or longer, the sap will turn sour (depending on the starting bacteria level, and the temperature). It may go sour in a couple days at warm temperatures.
I have tried to keep late season sap for a few days until I could boil it. It turns slimy, just like egg-white, and when boiled smells really foul.

And anyway, why would you want to go to Florida when there's syrup to be made. This is more fun than vacation.

[cheesegenie]

Right on! Imagine being stuck in Florida, knowing the sap is running
at home like crazy.You would be stranded on some hot sandy beach,drinking too much and starring at skimpy bikinis all day.What are you thinking? 8)

[katmike]

That brings up a question I've had.

Am I better of bringing sap to a boil vs. just letting it sit until I am ready to boil? In other words, am I not killing the bacteria that has accumulated in the sap just by boiling, then letting it sit again until I am ready to finish?
I'm just talking theory here...

Since I work during the day and have little desire to sit with the boiling all night during the weekday, the problem is if I collect sap on a Monday. I am sort of asking the same question as above, but just illustrating a practical application. If I collect on Monday and on Wednesday, bring it to a boil, then on Saturday I would finish the batch. Am I better off than collecting on Monday and waiting until Saturday to boil and finish?

[sweetwoodmaple]

I would think this would help, similar to a UV light, but in the end the sap will still pick up bacteria from the air and multiply again since there is some sugar involved.

Though, depending on the temperature, it may get you by until the weekend.

For me, once the season starts, my pans stay sweet, so I just dump in small runs and bring to a boil for as long as I can.

[cheesegenie]

That does sound like it would make sense. I cannot answer that,
I'm sure someone on here will. But I can tell you ,as a
cheesemaker, that raw milk will have less bacteria,colifrom, etc.than
milk that has been pasteurized a few days,pasteurization also kills
the good stuff in the milk that would combat the bad. Sap does not
have the protiens and fat that milk has so your theory might be OK.

[Pete S]

We made some early taps on some trees. Actually it was last Tuesday. We then got "purty cold" here, sap run was almost nuthin', but there's still plenty of snow on the ground. My wife took the time to spray a 10% bleach solution on everything we used, incuding the holes (was taught that at a seminar)...........anyway, I just went out, had ice in the buckets, gathered the sap that was there and tapped the rest of the trees.

The sap looked just as clear as water. We are storing it in a NEW plastic garbage can that's burried in the snow, that was as well "bleached".

Is there any way to tell if we should NOT mix this sap with the "new" sap that's thumpin' away in the pails as I write?

Any advice is greatly appreciated...............yes it's our first time :oops: .

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If it stays cold and the sun can't hit the sap and the containers are sanitized, it may keep as long as 2 weeks. If all the sap is clear, it won't hurt to mix it. :D

[Sugarmaker]

Pete,
Sound like you can mix all the sap. I never tried the 10% sanitize solution. with no rinse, but I am pretty sure you will be fine in mixing all the sap together.
How many taps and what size rig?
Welcome,
Chris

[Pete S]

Well, we've got 16 this year.............as our first.

I made an evaporator out of an old parts cleaner. It's been test fired, and appears to boil water real well.

The size of the evaporator cabinet is about as big as a small chest freezer, with a 6'.........6" stack, made out of ALL scraps; bed frames, scrap in the junk, etc.

We're using an old baking pan that a restaurant owner friend gave to us, and it's about 16" X 24" ? (too lazy to go and look)

We've got $40.00 about in TOTAL pails, spiles, evaporator, etc. and wanted to keep it low budget, as that's part of the fun for me.

We're really excited as we'd like to make about 1 gallon of syrup and have friends over for a pancake breakfast in the woods at the shack!

[Sugarmaker]

Pete,
You shouldn't have a problem making syrup on that rig. I would guess if you have good trees, wood, and time you can make several gallon. Enjoy that pancake breakfast.
Do you have a good thermometer? That's one of the easiest ways to assure you have the syrup at the correct density. (7.1 deg above the point where water boils that day)
Chris

[mountainvan]

pete, if you're cleaning sap containers with bleach you should triple rinse the containers with water. bleach can affect the flavor of your syrup in a bad way. van

[mapleman3]

Pete ... theres nothing better than making syrup... 1 ounce.. 1 gallon ... 100 gallons, the thrill is there at any amount, I hope everything goes great for you and the breakfast will be a hit !! :wink: