getting density exactly right

[PerryFamily]

Looking for suggestions on getting density spot on. I have notices a very small amount of sugar crystallizing in the bottom of finished containers. Seems as though the syrup was packed a little too dense. Looking to how other producers get density exactly right. My procedure is as follows:

I draw off my syrup slightly heavy to begin. Constantly checking with a hydro until the syrup coming off is too light.

Now with heavy syrup in the pail I adjust density with lighter syrup from the evaporator until it is just right ( I thought )

Into the filter canner till the next day.

The syrup is re-heated to approx 180-185 then graded and into containers.

Can density be accurately checked with cold syrup?

If still heavy, what would you lighten it with ? water?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

I think it is a isolated batch but want to be sure the product is top notch.

Merry Christmas

[red maples]

You can accurately check the density at any temp.
I thin with RO water only because I have a little one under the sink one in my kitchen. Its the purest water you can have. no minerals at all.
but you can get distilled purified water from the store its RO water basically. I personally don't like to use well water or city water because of all the extra minerals your adding to the syrup but thats just my opinion.
When you are reheating make sure you have it covered and also make sure any condensation that forms on the lid goes back into the syrup. once the temp of the inside of your canner is greater than the outside temp you will get condensation forming on the inside. that can change your density quite a bit. Also make sure you get your hydos tested and always store them on their side when not in use this way there is no way the paper inside can slide down.
Depending on how you filter its possible to loose water to the filters if ther are too dry so make sure if you are using cone or flat filters to add a little hot water right before you use them.
always make sure you check it again right before you heat it up to bottle.

I forget what the equation for temperature vs. Brix or Baume is I have a chart I got from the maple guys which I use regularly to check instead of calculating it every time makes things easy. I am sure someone on here knows its in the NA maple book as well.

OK I think thats it. It can take practice to get it right. I am sure we all still get crystal on the bottom from time to time. I have a person that likes it because one they are done syrup the get the sugar out and eat it, its maple sugar rock candy!!!

[ennismaple]

Brad has it pretty much bang on. Every time you re-heat syrup it will darken a little and will get thicker - sometimes up to 1 Brix depending on how you re-heat. We've brought a batch up a few Brix by leaving the lid off the re-heater while it warmed.

[jrgagne99]

Maybe this only applies if you are planning to sell your product, but...

It is my understanding that when thinning out heavy syrup, you should not add anything that is not directly derived from maple sap. Otherwise you can't officially call it "pure maple syrup". So that rules out well-water, city-water, and even bottled-water or distilled-water from a grocery store. RO permeate (from sap, not from city-water or well-water) would be ok, but in my opinion, even RO water is undesirable, because it has not been boiled and sterilized.

For these reasons, I only use thin syrup from the front pan to thin out the heavy syrup. Depending on how light the syrup in your front pan is, it can take a lot of "light" to get your "heavy" to be spot-on. For example, if you have a gallon of syrup that is one Brix heavy, it would take a gallon of "one-Brix-light" to equalize it, but it would only take one pint of "eight-Brix-light" (eight pints in a gallon).

This is essentially the Pearson's Square method that is featured in the North American Maple Producers Manual. Interestingly, they also provide a table that gives dilutions amounts for water...

[adk1]

to me its all just alittle too scientific. yeah, some of my jugs have crystals in them. None of them have mold though! I always go heave cause it seems that is what folks like. I just tell them that there might be crystals in the bottom and not to throw them out when done. Break them up somehow and eat them like rock candy! haha

[PerryFamily]

thanks for the responses. I totally agree that the crystals were not a huge deal but I would like to pack in glass at some point so I would like to get it right.

[red maples]

It is my understanding that when thinning out heavy syrup, you should not add anything that is not directly derived from maple sap. Otherwise you can't officially call it "pure maple syrup". So that rules out well-water, city-water, and even bottled-water or distilled-water from a grocery store. RO permeate (from sap, not from city-water or well-water) would be ok, but in my opinion, even RO water is undesirable, because it has not been boiled and sterilized.

...

I didn't even think of that any thoughts anyone????

In my opinion when you boil/ RO/ steam away what ever your removing water in its purest form from the syrup so if you were to thin with permeate (RO water) your basically putting the water that came out of the syrup back into the syrup. then you are heating it up to 180 - 190 when you bottle it hot pack it etc. so you are heating it to purify it.

As far a RO water being undesirable I totally disagree. you can't get water any purer than RO water. It removes everything, period. If you RO well water you discard what ever is bad, when you RO sap its the opposite your keeping everything else and getting rid of 100% pure water. either way its from well or sap its 100% H2O. with no other minerals. and besides what you are actually adding back in is a very minute amount. compared to what you are thinning.

[ennismaple]

The Canadian regulations state:

5. (1) Maple syrup may be graded only if

(a) it is produced exclusively by the concentration of maple sap or by the dilution or solution of a maple product, other than maple sap, in potable water;

So - diluting with water is OK. Unless your tap water is really bad you shouldn't notice any difference in syrup that has been thinned.

[mike z]

I've been thinking about this one (thinning with water). How can it be 100% syrup if some of the product isn't derived from the tree. I know, there's really no difference in taste etc. it just seems wrong. Now, what about filter aid? I think Crystals at the bottom is like a prize. Course, it's not as special if you get too many prizes.

[jrgagne99]

Yeah, and of course we all add de-foamer too. And that doesn't come from a maple tree. So, who knows...

[twitch]

to me its all just alittle too scientific. yeah, some of my jugs have crystals in them. None of them have mold though! I always go heave cause it seems that is what folks like. I just tell them that there might be crystals in the bottom and not to throw them out when done. Break them up somehow and eat them like rock candy! haha

That is my theory to have not had one compliant about rock candy in the bottom I am always afraid that i am not dense enough and seem to always get to dense and there ends up being crystals in the bottom seems it can only make so many crystals if the rest of the remaining liquid syrup must get to the proper density and stop making crystal. then you have perfect density syrup with candy in the bottom it is a lot better then a green fuzzy goop floating on your THIN syrup. People seem to like candy!!

[killingworthmaple]

I could agree with that. If you sell it right to the customer that it's better, for the small local seller it may be a plus. I have found that people prefer the syrup a little heavy compared to a little light. However I understand that heavy syrup isn't "right". If you sell to the public in any large numbers I would imagine a person would want there syrup right on the money.

Nathan

[adk1]

Yes, if Iwere selling in bulk, right on the money would be what I would strive for..Selling in bulk goes by weight and the heavier the syrup the more its worth

[christopherh]

Is there a problem with drawing the syrup off slightly light and obtaining the correct hydrometer reading on a finishing pan vs drawing it off heavy and thinning? I usually pull the syrup off the finishing pan right when I see the red line, if I see the whole red line on the hydrometer its always heavy.

[adk1]

Interesting, I thought that the bottom of the red line was the correct reading

[christopherh]

I'll have mine calibrated this year, would like to hear from others on the red line. I also use a misco refractometer to double check. One year I had a small crack in the bottom which threw things way off. I now have two hydrometers on hand.

[Brent]

If you get an AccuCup from the Maple Guys with its built in thermometer you will discover that it is nearly
impossible to get and keep the sample in the cup at 211 degrees. It's astonishing how fast it cools.

Try taking a cup of hot syrup with a hydro in it and put it aside and watch. In a couple of minutes the red line
will be a long way from where it was when you took the sample.

I have a couple of expanded temperature / density charts on our web site. The links are pretty close to
the bottom of the page.
http://duffyslanemaple.ca/Making-syrup/making-syrup.html

With these charts and the AccuCup you have all you need.

I always draw heavy, filter hot and do the final tweaking in the canner tank with distilled water.

And RO water is not the purest water you can get. All membranes pass some minerals. The nano-filtration (NF)
membranes pass more that than true RO membranes. All the membrane manufacturer's have chart about
mineral passage on their web sites. It's not much, but it's real. About the purest water we can get is distilled.

[red maples]

I have a very deep syrup pan so I can actually hang my cup in there it keeps it nice and warm so I scoop right out of the syrup pan next to the thermo and check it immediatley I try to get it out right at the red line then draw off finished and then check it against the temp then I go by temp but this must done everyday to check to make sure its right.

I have become pretty good at the aproning off the flat scoop too.

but I like to let it go 1-2 degrees above the finish line then draw off 1-2 degrees below the finish line. now if I have to thin with water which I don't like to do but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do especially if you open a big storage container in the middle of the summer and realize you went way to heavy and need to thin where are you gonna get thin syrup or sap now unless you saved some in the freezer. but I would rather just remove the extra water when I am heating it to bottle or hot packing a bulk container.