Sap storage

[RubberDuck]

As a hobbyist who's expanding from a couple taps to about 20 this year, I'm a bit concerned about sap storage. In the past I just tapped the trees, got enough for a batch and that was that. This year, I'm hoping to get 2-3 gallons of syrup. Since I can only boil on the weekends, am I better off tapping trees in a staggered fashion for a couple days beforehand, or just tapping them all and letting them run? It's been regularly getting into the 40s and even 50s during the day, so I'm concerned about storing sap in barrels.

[spencer11]

Tap them all at once and get some 55 gallon food grade barrels and use that to store the sap. Or if you really plan on expanding you could get a 275 gallon cage tank On a pallet. The barrels run at about $20-$25 each in nh. The cage tanks are about $200 each for food grade.

Spencer

[vtwoody]

I picked up two of the 275 gal cage tanks (food grade) for $50 ea earlier this year - keep an eye out. Also, talk to all the surrounding restaurants, bakeries, delis....I just picked up a bunch of food grade 5 gal buckets with covers for free from the country store in my town....sure, not as convenient as one container but also gives some flexibiblity....plus FREE!

[smokeyamber]

Treat sap like it's milk and you will be ok.;) If you don't have a snowpile to put the barrels in then storing for a week may be too long. I tap around 30 trees and stored in two 60 gallon food grade barrels buried in a snowbank on the north side of my garage. I originally would collect for a week and boil on the weekend. Last year it ran so well that this strategy did not work, I had to change to a boil every night method, I would boil for a few hours and then stoke the fire, fill the pans to the brim and go to bed. On the weekends I would boil all day and then finish off. We're talking 21hr boils. This is with a barrel arch batch setup. Only way I could keep ahead. So if you don't have a cold storage place you may have sap go bad by weeks end. I would at least use several containers so if the early collections go bad you don't lose all the sap. I did this as well, though only later in the season when I lost my snow cooling.

As you expand past a point you will find that boiling as you go is the way to go. That way you boil maybe two days worth at the most. Of course to do this you need the right size rig... and hence the constant upgrade cycle we all get into. For you 30 taps I would guess a 2x4 or even maybe a 2x6, would be a nice size, but... you will go bigger... it just happens:cool:

Have fun and enjoy the tasty syrup you will surely make !

[500592]

A 2x4 would be a good size but you could always freeze sap and take the ice out

[Ausable]

As a hobbyist who's expanding from a couple taps to about 20 this year, I'm a bit concerned about sap storage. In the past I just tapped the trees, got enough for a batch and that was that. This year, I'm hoping to get 2-3 gallons of syrup. Since I can only boil on the weekends, am I better off tapping trees in a staggered fashion for a couple days beforehand, or just tapping them all and letting them run? It's been regularly getting into the 40s and even 50s during the day, so I'm concerned about storing sap in barrels.

Howdy RubberDuck - The advice You have received so far is good. For years - I have stored my maple sap in 4, 5, and 6 gallon plastic pails with lids. They can be moved easily and I would usually store them in my sugar shack between boils - cause the sugar shack is like a walk in cooler when I'm not boiling and the sap is in the shade. Sap runs aren't always easy to call for small producers not running tubes under vacuum. LOL - like this Uhhh! Winter - In my area - The normal start time is about 01 March. Right now though - on the second of February - The Weather is perfect for tapping for the next 5 days. If I tap all all my trees - the temperature will suddenly go to 20 below and stay there for three weeks. If I don't tap - It will stay nice...... so-----Maybe I'll tap a few and see what happens. To much sap really isn't a problem for a backyarder - You can give it away or dump it if You can't boil it. Not much of an answer - but - this has been the strangest Winter I have ever witnessed and I'm 71. Now - I use both 25 and 50 gallon barrels along with the pails - cause I have a Son and Grandsons tapping and they will show up with 100 to 200 gallons of sap for me to boil and I have to have something to put it in - as they need their barrels back....Also - have graduated to using a sump pump for transferring sap... Just to demonstrate how you grow ----even when You don't plan on it -- Have a great year--Mike--

[RubberDuck]

Thanks for the advice. I think that's what I'm gonna do, store sap from the first few days in one container, and then store sap from last 2-3 days in another container. I have a cool, below-grade place to keep it, out of the sun, but we haven't had much "winter" around here. Frankly I'm hoping I didn't start too late. Put a test tap in last night, we'll see what it does today!

I'm using a cinder block arch setup, lined with fire brick, with steam table pans. I did have a 4x4 steel pan, but didn't have time to sandblast it and weld in the draw-off valve given this crazy winter, so I substituted some steam pans from a friend's restaurant that he closed down a few years ago.

[ahowes]

How long will sap keep if kept cool enough? If like milk, then it ought to be a couple of weeks. I've never had any spoil, but now that I am gathering much more quantity, a spoiled batch would mean a lot of wasted effort (and syrup).
I am freezing jugs of sap to float in the barrels. If kept cool enough, I assume Sunday evening's sap would be fine for a Saturday boil?

[smokeyamber]

I have kept it for a couple of weeks, but that was in barrels totally buried in a snowbank on the north side of a garage. These barrels had ice in them so it was plenty cold. Dividing it really makes it easier and like someone else said you have less risk should a batch go bad. I shoot for a week though and aim to boil it all by end of a weekend. Last year I did dump some cause I was out of wood, time and energy :(

Just always check to make sure it is clear and you should be fine, once it goes bad it goes milky.

[ahowes]

Thanks for the reply!

[adk1]

I would think that even if the sap is really cold, bacteria/mold etc is still going to grow, jsut at a slower rate. the longer you keep it, the lesser grade you will produce, that is just how I see it happening anyways.

[smokeyamber]

Good point adk on grade changing the longer sap is stored. For me as a batch processor I really only expect dark amber, hence my callsign.;) For the continuous draw guys ( who I will be someday ) boiling as you get it is the name of the game. Of course batch made dark amber is still mighty tasty so I will not complain until I start getting too much light fancy :evil:

[GramaCindy]

One other good tip I will give you is to have some food grade containers with lids, as the spring wore on and some days it was getting up there in temps, I would take those containers, (easy to slip the frozen sap out of, straight sided) I would go out in the early morning, and place several of those container of frozen sap into the sap tank to keep things cool. After slipping the frozen sap right out into the tank, I would refill them and put them in the freezer. I could only boil on the weekends so it really helped when things got warm for a spell.

[ahowes]

Yes, I am freezing as much sap as I can in order to put it into sap that will have to wait a few days. I realize it should be boiled as soon as possible, but my schedule (and a catastrophic failure with my arch) have made it difficult to keep up this year. Looks like we will have good runs this week and everything is lining up. My sap shouldn't have to wait more than 36 hrs. Thanks for all of the insight.