im not a happy sugarer today

[whitetail farms]

i tried my first ever boil today and i really didn't have enough sap the probably wasn't even an inch deep in the pan but it was a week old and i didn't want it to spoil,not even a gallon of sap and in 1 hr i scorched the possible one cup of syrup i would have got,so i guess i just gotta clean the pan and hope for more sap so i can get enough to really boil,if i keep sap in a 5 gallon sealed bucket under a wagon out of the sun with ice in it how long could it last before i have to boil it,thanks nick

[tbear]

Depending on the temperatures, daytime highs and the overnight lows, I always try to limit my storing of sap to 7 days. I'm sorry to hear about your problematic first boil. It's something we look forward to all year. That being said...if it was easy everyone would do it. Keep a stiff upper lip and keep at it. You can make it happen!

[Daze]

There is another solution. I only have a few trees to tap. I empty my jugs every other day or so depending on the weather I am usually not getting more than 1/2 a gallon of sap each time. I then take it home and boil it down part way. typically I reduce the volume by about half. I then pour the boiling hot liquid in to a preheated clean mason jar, put the lid and ring on then let it cool. From there it goes in the fridge. Two days later when I bring home more fresh sap I pore it in to the pot, add the sap I reduced two days earlier, boil it until I have reduced it by half, and again pour the boiling hot liquid in to a preheated clean mason jar. I keep repeating this process until I have a jar of sap that is a golden color (about like light honey) but has not fully reduced down to syrup. When I get it to that stage I leave it in the fridge and start a new Jar with my next batch of sap. When I get about 1 gallon of partially reduced sap I can then reduce it further and make it in to syrup. This is not a good option for some one who is working with gallons and gallons of sap but for the home syrup maker with just a few taps it is a fantastic solution.

There are lots of advantages to doing it this way. The obvious is you reduce the volume so it is easy to store. You are also pasteurizing the sap so any bacteria or yeast present in it are killed which will help eliminating possible spoilage. Another advantage is you are vacuum sealing it in jars so the risk of future contamination is almost eliminated.