Liquid Gold Disaster!

[chuckinduck]

Well I've only been doing this maple syrup thing a little over a year now, so I'm still a greenhorn. Yesterday I had just finished filtering off my syrup, and had brought it back up to 185-190 degree's to begin bottling. I asked my wife (bless her heart) to help pour the contents of the pot, into the glass pyrex measuring cup we had, when it happened. As she began to to pour it, and the syrup reached the rim of the cup, which holds 8 cups of liquid, the whole glass cup exploded!! My syrup went all over the floor, cupboards, countertop, and me! I wanted to cry. Luckily, the pot still held a couple of pints of syrup, but I lost a good 70-80% of my efforts. What a heartbreaking moment. So I guess my question is, what would be a better alternative for transfering finished syrup, as I've been told not to use plastic cups because of the heat giving the syrup a "plastic" flavor?

[happy thoughts]

Why not just leave it in the pot and use a SS ladle or cup and a funnel? JMHO but on transferring to another container, you're going to lose heat. Maybe even enough heat to be below safe bottling temps especially toward the end of the batch.

and sorry for your loss:cry:

[twitch]

stainless steel pot and pans mason jars will not explode. Seen it happen with a glass pan of brownies that got set on top of one of them flat top electric stoves gramy in law didn't realize the burner was still on and that exploded like a hand gernade went everywere and ruined here brownies which are very good.

[jmp]

Thats a shame. Would it be easier for you to transfer directly to your mason jars from your SS pot? Less heat loss as Happy Thoughts mentioned.

[DonMcJr]

First of all I am sorry for your loss:cry:

What I do is after I get it to temperature for bottling I leave it in the pot on my electric stove with the burner on the lowest setting. I put a funnel in the Syrup Bottle and pour it right from the main pot. On each side of the syrup bottle I put a can full of vegetables so the bottle won't tip over. When that bottle is full I set the pot back on the burner and seal the bottle and set up the next bottle with the funnel and can support, check the temp of my syrup with the digital thermometer again and do the next bottle, and so on...

Works for me, might work for you...and you might find something that works better!:cool:

[chuckinduck]

yes, in hindsight, a ladel and funnel would've been better options. But I had used the pyrex cup last weekend w/out issue. So I never gave it a second thought.

[happy thoughts]

Glass including pyrex can surprise you. A little bit of moisture applied to the outside if hot and filled can crack it. So can extremes in temp. Corningware which seems virtually indestructible, advises not placing them hot on a wet surface. The same goes doubly for anything made of glass or ceramic. Glass, by nature is brittle. The tiniest chip, crack or imperfection can act as a fault line of sorts so when it blows it blows. Ever watch a windshield crack over time? It will rip and run just like a a pair of nylons and run it will.

Again, I feel your pain at the loss of good syrup. Nothing better than hindsight, which is always !00% correct, to teach you a better way to do things next time. We've all been there once and probably more than 3 or 4 times in our sugaring adventures:). Just be glad no one got hurt from exploding glass and hot liquids. Much better luck to you next time:)

[peckfarm]

Restaurant supply stores have stainless pitchers (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&q=restaurant+stainless+pitcher&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15852494937232369819&sa=X&ei=teFUT7_yHqrA0AG1sZDgDQ&ved=0CF4Q8wIwBg) that work great.

[Asthepotthickens]

New here, sad and glad to hear that other go through starting pains like I did. I lost a mason jar full last year, I had just filled some and put one in the snow to cool "was sending it home with my son" bad idea because it split like a log. Princess auto had some stainless cans with a spout and a handle.

[Oddmott]

New pyrex is apparently exploding all over. There have been several warning notices circulated throughout the food prep/manufacturing industry. Another downside to all our manufacturing being done in China.

Properly made pyrex should never break from hot/cold stress. Try to get your hands on pre-90s pyrex for any kitchen work.

[Asthepotthickens]

55885589 Thinking about the measuring cups breaking so I went to the local antique store looking for old coffee pots and found this gem. Should work great it has a five inch opening and a spout.

[TerryEspo]

I love that pot !!

I wonder what it was originally used for ??

Terry

[happy thoughts]

I love that pot !!

I wonder what it was originally used for ??

Terry

It looks like a samovar to me, also called a Russian teapot. Very nice score asthepotthickens:)

[Brent]

After serveral syrup bottles shattering on us, we warm all in the oven before we add syrup. Never had one crack since.

And yes, as noted above, lots of brand name pyrex items have been shattering. There was an item on TV about it, but I think it was CBC's (not CBS, the Canadian Broadcast Corp ) or CTV a show. Folks getting showered with broken glass, burns from hot stuff hitting them etc etc

[Chainsaw Baby]

You can also buy a filtering pail with a spout... Pour the boiling syrup into the filter, then almost immediately into the container. They cost a bit of money, but I'll bet the syrup you lost hurt more than it will, spending the money!

I know how you feel. Not just the lost syrup, but cleaning up the sticky kitchen.

[Tithis]

From what I understand pyrex started going downhill in 1998 when one of the big manufacturers of it switched from using borosilicate glass to soda-lime glass. Soda-lime glass is less likely to break but not nearly as resistant to thermal shock.

Some things just aren't made the way they used to be, cast iron pans for instance.

[MJFlores]

I tell everyone who ever mentions Pyrex to throw it all away. After a heard of it exploding and hurting several people I took all mine..every piece and threw it in the glass dumpster at the dump. A friend had just turned her back on an apple pie she had taken out of the oven and set on the counter to cool and got glass wounds on her back, legs, and neck. She said she'd be blind if she was facing it.

[Asthepotthickens]

Its a coffee percolator it has an old school 110 cord and the aluminium strainer it works too

[maple flats]

When I first started I stopped in a local Salvation Army Thrift Store. I found a SS coffee server pitcher, 2 qt size @ $.50. I still use it on occasion. It has a really small dent in the bottom and the handle has 2 pcs of hardwood covering the SS handle part, one wood has a small section missing.
Go look in any second hand shop, you might find a bargain.

[SPILEDRIVER]

hey chuck not sure what you mean by not useing plastic because of the "plastic" flavor????id guess better then 75%of the maple syrup produced id bottled in plastic includeing mine,never had a tainted flavor from it???

[Big_Eddy]

For more information on the change in Pyrex glass- see the following link.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/gray-matter-cant-take-heat