White waxy substance on top of finished syrup?

[timbley]

Hi everyone,

I have a small backyard operation. My third batch of the year ended up kind of funky and I'm trying to figure out why.

While finishing the syrup, I noticed that it had a bitter aftertaste. When I brought it up to temperature for canning, as it cooled in the pot it formed a very thin waxy layer of cream-coloured gunk on the surface. I skimmed it off, but bringing the syrup up to temperature again and letting it cool just formed more. Same bitter aftertaste remained. To be honest, I can still taste it in my mouth... doesn't seem to want to go away. Or, maybe I'm catching a cold - who knows!

I tried canning it anyway. Two of the 12 jars I made now have a white foam in them that doesn't seem to dissipate.

Does anybody know what this could be? As an experiment, part of this batch was boiled over a charcoal fire (never doing that again, what a mess). I'm wondering if the charcoal might have tainted the sap somehow??

Thanks for any ideas
Tim

[mapleman3]

do you use some kind of defoamer? how do you keep the foam down...or what have you been filtering the syrup through? how do you clean the filters?

[220 maple]

Timbley,
Was your forth batch ok or is the third batch the last batch you finished.
When it's bitter tasting to me it has bud sap in it. Did it smell ok cooking?
If the steam smells bad also a dead give away for bud sap. Did you have a hard freeze between your 3rd and 4th batches? My amish friend in Pa. tell me 17 degrees or lower for an extended period of time will kill the buds, I have seen red maple buds freeze and start over.

mark 220 maple

[Brent]

I have seen a very fine stream of bubbles being sucked into my bottles ( when laying down) as the syrup cools and contracts, making a vacuum inside the bottle. The tiny bubbles then collect on the top when I stand them upright.

Rapping the bottle sharply seemed to get rid of a lot of them. A few days later, they seemed to be gone on there own anyway. This might be what you see.

I have also seen the oily/waxy stuff on my finishing syrup without the after taste you mention. They may not be connected. I might just be the beginning of budding sap.

[timbley]

Thanks for the questions, folks.

We haven't had any freeze between my 3rd and 4th batches, and the taste of batch #4 is good... no bitterness or waxy residue.

I just use a tiny amount of Crisco as a defoamer... typically about half a teaspoon for about 10 gallons boiled down. I filter through orlon, and it was a clean filter that I used for that nasty batch #3. However, I clean my filter by scrubbing it with dish soap and then rinsing it. Maybe I didn't rinse it enough? That crud does kind of taste soapy now that I think of it...

I think I am going to try to re-finish the sap... put it back in the pot, heat and cool it a few times and skim the residue during cooling, to see if I can just get rid of it that way. Nasty stuff...

Thanks folks!
Tim

[Sugarmaker]

Dish soap not rinsed could be the problem. Switch to a new filter might help. We just use hot water to wash and rinse the filters.
Good luck, you may not be able to save that batch. When syrup gets a flavor it may not be possible to correct it. I never tried Crisco but I see others use it regularly.
Regards,
Chris

[brookledge]

You should never use soap to clean your filters. Just clean hot water.
Keith

[syrupmaker]

Top rack of the dishwasher, no soap, just run it through a wash and rinse!VWALLA :P

Rick

[mapleman3]

I still run mine through a few hot rinse cycles in the washing machine.. sometimes with a capful of bleech then extra rinsing...

[Father & Son]

Jim,
Doesn't bleach hurt those filters? I used bleach on one this year and it turned it yellow. I figured it was ruined :(

Jim

[maple flats]

I just run mine thru the washing machine, no soap 2x. My washer is a tumbler which is more gentle however. Works fine.

[mapleman3]

Jim I use very little bleech, sometimes I just use a bit of backing soda.. and always multiple rinse cycles.

[mountainvan]

I spray my flat falts from the back with hot water to get most of the sand off, spraying from the front just pushes the sand in deeper, then run though the washer with hot water only.