Storing pre-boiled (reduced) sap.

[MJFlores]

Does anyone boil and reduce sap and then store that until they have enough for a good boil and draw off? If I were to boil down some say a few gallons to maybe half a gallon, would it store longer in the fridge..say an extra week until I'm able to gather enough sap for a boil? I'm obviously small time, just 15 taps on red maples so I don't get much per week. Right now I only have 2 gallons of sap gathered over the week so I'd like to keep it and do a boil next week and figured boiling may extend the storage. If I try to boil it all the way to syrup I'll only get maybe 2 ounces of syrup...hardly worth it. I hate to dump it so just looking for advice.

[katmike]

I do to an extent because I'm a hobbyist. I think also once you bring it to a boil or at least 180 degrees you 'reset' the spoilage clock since you've killed the bacteria that causes it to spoil in the first place. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Of couse, raising the sugar content should help. But if you're going for a high grade that's not the way to go.

[TwinBay]

Freeze the smaller volumes of sap.
2 gallons fits into a chest freezer no problem.
For storing larger volumes, I freeze the first 10-15 gallons of sap right in the buckets, right into the freezer.
Then you have giant sap cubes to place within storage tanks. I get 5 days no problem with raw sap.
Some posters talk adding blocks of ice, but Id be nervous introducing water from any source...

[happy thoughts]

Yes. I do this in even smaller batches than you, but a week in the fridge sounds a bit long to me depending on the concentration of your sap. Mine usually gets reboiled every couple of days. Each reboil if long enough will kill anything new that may have grown. In my case it usually helps clear the sap/syrup as on standing, sand will settle out. That said, any growth can affect color and flavor. It's easy to get yeast and mold growth if you're not careful handling post boil. Yeast just love to grow in sugar. Just ask any beer, wine or bread maker. You want to be very careful not to re-introduce microbes into your sap/syrup which will be essentially sterile going into your jars (edit for clarification- "if packed hot").

Here's the way I do it though mine is not the only way. I'm no expert, just a long time home canner.

-The first thing I would recommend is to use only very clean jars/ buckets and lids. Handle the containers just as you would bottling for syrup. Run the containers, your funnel, and ladle thru the sani-cycle of your DW if you can. Keep everything as clean as you can including the surface you'll be working on.

Try to use containers that you can fill to capacity. Less air in the jar means less oxygen available for microbial growth at the surface where yeast and molds will grow first, so there's less chance for spoilage in the fridge. Don't count on the cold fridge temps to stop mold growth. Mold WILL grow in the fridge as any of us with unidentifiable refrigerated leftovers can tell you:).

Since yeast and molds will want to grow on the surface, try to keep the surface area small. This is one reason I like jugs with a neck.

Although it may sound counter intuitive, imho you don't want a good seal on the jar at this point. Sap at this state is not ready for canning nor would it be safe for long term storage in a sealed jar. Keep the lids tight but don't let them seal,

You can also freeze your sweet sap for longer keeping. That may be your best bet for long storage if you have the room.

To the best of my limited knowledge, to "reset" the spoilage clock would take temps of at lest 194F for a period of time that I'm not sure of. I doubt a few minutes would be enough. Length of time held at a certain temp is as important as the temp itself. 194F is the minimum temp for killing food borne bacteria, or so I've read. Most yeast and molds get killed at about 150F. Again length of time to keep at that temp is unknown to me. Personally I'd want to bring near syrup back to boiling if stored for any length of time, because it has not reached syrup density at which keeping qualities can be assumed to be the best.

Again, just the way I do it. Hope something in there helps. Have a great season and may the syrup flow:)