Refractometer without having to rob a bank

[Chainsaw Baby]

Hey all. I was looking at the price of a syrup thermometer and they are not cheap, so I Googled for a refractometer. This was several years ago, so I have forgotten the name of the company selling them, but they sold to the fruit industry (think canning) and there was a 0 - 80 Brix refractometer for $90 USD via mail order. It works quite well!

[bearair]

http://mapletrader.org/ I bought two off of Ebay for $25.00 a piece. One was for 0-10% BRIX. And the other was for finished syrup. They are not high quality but they work just fine. The 0 -10% was harder to find but just keep looking.

[PerryW]

call me cheap if you want, but I have never tested sap in 30+ years of sugaring. I would put the money into more taps.