Newbie question - re: Partial boiling

[MJCP]

Is it possible to boil my sap partially, then refridgerate it, and finish boiling a different day?
Last year was my first year with one tree, and I spent all day boiling down about 8 gallons of sap using a propane burner.
This year I will be tapping about 8 trees and hope to have a larger yield, but would like to try this Partial boil method.
Thanks for your comments

[JSEDLAK]

This is also only my second year. From my undrstanding of it you should be fine doing that as long as stuff gets kept cold.

[Run Forest Run!]

I use a propane burner too. Last year I had too much sap to boil down in one day, so put the "concentrate" in a stock pot in the fridge overnight and then poured it into my pan the next day. I had no problem whatsoever doing that. I added my remaining sap to the concentrate and had superb results. Just keep your concentrate chilled. Have fun MJCP!

[maple flats]

That's what an evaporator (bigger ones) are made to do. On my 3x8 I run my sap thru the RO, concentrating to 8%, then I fill the pans and start boiling as soon as the pans have enough and I have 30 gal concentrate ahead. When out of sap, I watch the concentrate tank. When down to 20 gal I stop firing the evaporator. Then it just sets in the pans until the next boil. The only time I finish it off is at the end of the season, or if we have an extended warm spell with no sap flow.
You will be fine waiting. If you can protect it from animals, just store it in a cool area, no need to refrigerate.

[DonMcJr]

So Maple Flats, is that what I should do on my Half Pint just on a lower scale?

[LukeDawg11]

I did this for my first boil this year -- boiled 2/16 and put the almost in the freezer. Finished this weekend and made some beautiful amber colored syrup. You should be fine as long as it stays cold.

[Maplemonkey]

How far should it be boiled down to eliminate spoiling. Is 10 gallons sap boiled down to 2 gallons safe?

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Yes, you should be fine, I did it many times last season. Put it in a container that you can get it out of easily, I used milk jugs and that screwed me as I needed to wait until it melted to get it out of the jugs. A 5 gallon pail would be ideal

[BlueberryHill]

How cold does it have to get before you have to worry about freezing/pan damage?

[Maplemonkey]

ok so evaporate 80% of the sap, set it aside until able to collect more sap, and boil the new sap to 80% set it aside and repeat until you have a bunch of boiled down sap and finish it all at the same time, correct? And keep it cold, correct?



Yes, you should be fine, I did it many times last season. Put it in a container that you can get it out of easily, I used milk jugs and that screwed me as I needed to wait until it melted to get it out of the jugs. A 5 gallon pail would be ideal

[happy thoughts]

ok so evaporate 80% of the sap, set it aside until able to collect more sap, and boil the new sap to 80% set it aside and repeat until you have a bunch of boiled down sap and finish it all at the same time, correct? And keep it cold, correct?

Yes, cold or frozen. The only thing I would add is that if you're going to be keeping it for a more than a few days then make sure the storage containers you use are very clean and preferably recently sanitized. Boiling sap for even 15 minutes is going to kill off most organisms except for bacterial spores. You don't want to contaminate the near sterile syrup with with a less than clean container, In particular, yeast that is abundant everywhere including the air will readily eat your sugar, It would also help to keep the partial syrup in the smallest container possible to minimize air space.

[MJFlores]

I do this frequently. I try to keep all my sap in my fridge and make syrup on the weekend. Usually during the week at least once, sometimes twice a week I boil down 4 or 5 gallons to one gallon out on the propane burner on the deck. On the weekends I boil that dumped in with fresher sap and try to make syrup on Sunday late in the day. This way, I begin refilling containers starting Monday after work and the cycle continues. Also, I've learned the hard way that if I'm feeling tired on Sunday, I shut everything down, let it cool and put it back in jugs to finish the next night. Twice, I've fallen asleep while "watching" the boil and have lost a week's worth of sap and a stainless pan. Very frustrating! :cry:

[farmerfletch]

You could probably boil it down some then throw it in the freezer, then when you get ready to finish boiling pull it out of the freezer and take the ice out, sugar doesn't freeze but the water in it does so taking the ice out concentrates the sap more. I've heard it called "poor mans RO"


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[bcarpenter]

Yep, that's what I do. Boil as long as you can, I usually let the hot sap cool outside or in my garage, and once cool I will stick the concentrate either in my fridge or into a chest freezer. It all depends on where I can find the most room.

[Quagmire33]

Over the past couple years I would start my homemade evaporator after work and boil for a few hours. I'd cover the pans and leave them outside for the remainder of the night and the whole next day until I got home from work and started the whole process over again. I never had a problem. It was always at least 30 degrees over night so it getting too warm and spoiled didn't seem like an issue for me. I did have a friend that did the same thing except he forgot to cover the pan and a mouse found his way into the pan, died, and ruined hours of boiling for him. So always remember to cover the pan.

[SWohio]

I am small time and using a turkey fryer. I boil 5-10 gal. runs to about a gallon. I then hold this to the side, keep cold in the garage. Do another 5-10 boil down then hold. repeat until I have a week's worth. I then will combine the "near syrup" and finish. I find it easier to watch temp and finish with a larger amount. I have done the small pot and pint of syrup and it boils over, temp hits fast, just no room for error. Adding the "near" back to the boil causes darker syrup. I want the sugar on the fire for as short a time as I can get. Long batch= kettle, good stuff, dark, caramel-y flavor, can get a bit burn-y and pitch black. Continuous flow evaporators not only can do a lot of syrup efficiently, they get the sugar off the fire quicker= lighter syrup. Sap on the other hand, if it is not frozen, I mean frozen will not keep for two days. 1 day and there is a noticable difference. Sap needs to be below freezing to store at all. Fresh, clear, ice cold sap is best. Boiled down "near" is more stable and if kept very cold can last a week. (I have not tried storing longer. usually just a few days. As I finish each weekend). As a side, I saw an earlier post about sun and cold runs. I find that very bright sun and just a few degrees above freezing, while not producing the most amount of sap, produces good clear sap and quality syrup. Warmer days and heavy runs is good and quanity goes up, sap is not as clear and syrup is often darker. Give me sunny 36 degree days. just babbling now so I will stop.