Bulk Storage

[Flatfoot95]

When storing bulk syrup I presume that it must also be packaged at over 180 deg. I dont currently own a canning unit that will heat at least five gallons at a time. I was planning on storing in 5 gallon containers and bottling 5 gallons at a time as needed. Is the process for bulk storage the same as bottling? Or am I missing something. I am expanding for next year and expect 125-175 gallons next year. Help...

Also I have access to 5 and 2.5 gallon pail with lids. How would I know if they would hold a seal if I used them?

[ibby458]

For several years, we put up our "bulk" in gallon tins. It's a convient size to break down for repackaging into pints, quarts, etc. If someone wanted a gallon - well, it was already for them. We bought a ton of extra metal seals and caps, and if you wash the gallon tin as soon as it's emptied and dry it well, it stays looking just like new.

If you prefer the larger units, I'd suggest some pails that have a rubber rope gasket, like the cake frosting pails that I get from the cake shop. I'd take out the gaskets, rinse EVERYTHING in boiling water and pour my 180+ syrup into it, then snapping the lid on tightly. I've never done this for long term storage, but I think it will work. Caution - the bucket will get very soft from the heat. Don't try to pick it up until it cools some.

Wal-Mart has turkey fryers pretty reasonable that will heat 5 gallons easily. You could also heat several pots full on the stove (At the same time), and just pour as much as you need into the bucket

[mountainvan]

5 gallon pails, white food grade buckets, the blue smurfit, or the gray metal, should be bottled at 190, at least that's what I do. I store all my bulk in pails for ease of everything. To rebottle I empty the pails in the canner reheat to 190, check grade, flavor and sugar% and bottle it. To see if they leak put boiling water in it , seal it , and flip it over.

[Father & Son]

I picked up some 2 1/2 gallon containers from Mann Lake beekeeping supplies. They are easier to handle than the 5 gallon containers. You can hot pack (180 deg) with no problems. These containers are soft enough that when you fill them to the fill line on the neck you can gently put pressure on the sides to elevate the syrup level to the top of the container to cap with little or no air space. The price is right too !!!!!!!

Jim

[Flatfoot95]

I get my pails from Dunkin Donuts. They are for frosting and glaze. Do you think these would seal alright? The 2 1/2 gal glaze pails are great, stackable and easy to handle.

[Sugarmaker]

We use the same 2-1/2 gallon jugs from Mann Lake, but I store the bulk syrup in a freezer until I need to can into smaller sizes.
Chris

[brookledge]

If you are going to make 125 to 175 gallons of syrup you should be looking at getting into stainless kegs or Dr. Pepper or something around the 15 gallon size. The biggest problem with plastic is that light will go through the container and darken the syrup. I have stopped using plastic for bulk for that reason. You will lose a grade if it is kept for 6 months or longer. You could do what Chris does by putting it in the freezer but if you have 30 5 gal pails thats alot of freezer space. If you don't care about the syrup getting darker then you can use plastic just remember to heat it to 185 but would be better to heat to 195 so that by the time you fill the container it doesn't cool down below 180.
If you are going to be doing this for a while or even getting larger in the future go to the stainless now you be glad you did
Keith

[Fred Henderson]

I would like to find some 15 gallon SS drums but where do I start to look?

[gearpump]

I just had someone give me a S.S budweiser keg. I think that it would be ok for syrup. The only problem is that it will need some sort of bung welded in the top to cap it. Has anybody used these before?

Marty

[brookledge]

I use kegs and they work great. All you need is a rubber expansion plug that you can get at either hardware store or auto supply store. I believe the size is 1 7/8". When using the plug I put a ziplock or sandwich bag over the hole then put the plug in since the rubber is not food grade. You may be able to find food grade plugs and then would not have to worry.
When you have a keg party instead of turning in for your deposit just keep it that way it only cost a fraction of what it's worth.
They hold 15.5 gal or you can get 1/4 keg holds 7.75 and 1/6 keg holds 5.23 gal.
Keith

[maple flats]

Are these kegs SS or aluminum, I thought they were Al?

[maplwrks]

Contact Andy Hutchison at Mt. Pleasant Sugarworks in Leicester, Vt. for Dr. Pepper 15 gallon barrels----- 802-247-3117

[markcasper]

Aluminum went out years ago, at least as far as I know. I filled something like 12-14 kegs this year. All the 15.5 size. Fill them with hot water off the preheater a few times and thouroughly shook them. They never seem to hold an odor either b/c of stainless. I picked up the idea of putting a piece of plastic in the top first from brookledge. Around here they call them test plugs and are something like 2 bucks. They work swell!. Mark

[markcasper]

marty, you take the snap ring off the top and twist the bung to a certain location and the whole thing comes right out. Then use a test plug for the cap instead. Be sure to relieve the pressure if their is any. One time I nearly blew my head up as i twisted the bung and the whole thing shot up in the air nearly hitting my head. Mark

[gearpump]

I wish I would have found out about that snap ring before I took it off!! Thank God there was not too much pressure behind it. I only got soaked with stale beer! I didn't change my clothes and went to hardware store to find a valve or something and everybody was giving me a weird look! I must have smelled like a 24-7 drunk.

Marty

[Fred Henderson]

I just got off the phone with a very nice lady from Mt Pleasant Sugar Works (Andy Hutchison) , she said that the 15 gal Dr Pepper barrels were $95 each and that they had never shipped any. She did not know what the shipping charges would be. Its is about a 6 hour drive for me so unless I was bring back a truck load it would not be worth the trip. Beer kegs are starting to look real good.

[brookledge]

I don't know if anybody has ever used soda kegs but here is alot. Maybe someone has used them and can leave feed back if they are good for syrup or not.
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-gal-Stainless-Steel-Fluid-Dispenser-Tanks-Kegs_W0QQitemZ7629643717QQcategoryZ66962QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem
Keith

[NH Maplemaker]

I used 5 of this type container this year! So far they are working.Open one the other day to make up a few more jugs,and syrup was fine! Will be able to tell you more as time goes on. One thing I do know is not to use the root beer one's as you can't get the smell out of them, and I was tolled that you can tast the root beer in the syrup. But that is only what I was tolled!! Hope this helps a little :lol: Jim L.

[H. Walker]

Try www.thesyrupguy.com for stainless 15 gal. kegs. They weld a fitting on the end for a plug. I bought 13 kegs and they gave a 10% discount. They are in Ontario Canada so I don't know what the shiping would be but the list is $59.00 minus 10%. I use the kegs during the season for short term storage and for long term storage I seal the plug tight and put them in the frezzer.

[markcasper]

95 bucks @ 1. Thats a bit overkill. Find some college aged kids and I am sure you will find a few with a stash of them. Kegs that is. Marty--as for taking the snap rings off, its best to have an array of screw drivers and chisels. Every one seems to come off easier or harder than the one you did before and an assortment of tools makes a big help! Mark

[gearpump]

In mcmaster-carr.com I found an FDA test plug that fits the S.S beer kegs. At $40 they are a bit pricey, but the keg was free and should last for many years. There part number is 2926k44.

[brookledge]

As far as a rubber expansion plug, I have about 25 kegs that I have been using for years. I purchased them from auto supply store and hardware store. They are not food grade but what I do is take a heavy duty ziplock bag and lay accross the opening and then push the plug in, that way the rubber never comes in contact with the syrup. It works fine.
Keith

[mapleguy]

When storing syrup for long periods the best containers are stainless steel of course, however there are plastic barrels on the market made especially for maple syrup. Always store your syrup in as cool a place as possible, the deep freeze is great , but limited in space. Be VERY careful when using recycled containers, many (mainly plastic) will retain the taste of what ever was in them before. I know several who have tried using used juice barrels, etc and which resulted in some bad tasting syrup even though they were washed several times before reuse.

[danno]

For short term (2-4 weeks) has anyone tried the green/agua 6 gallon camping water containers sold by Walmart in their camping department. They are about 6" wide ant 18 " tall. These are cheap but relatively sturdy. Don't know if they would hold up to hot packing, but for short term, kept in a cool, dark place, I think I may give it a try.

I want to try to settle my sugar sand to the bottom to ease the filtering process before bottling this year.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Danno,

For settling out sugarsand, 5 gallon buckets with lids work the best and you can put the syrup in them as hot as you want as long as they are not the real flimsy ones. This way, it is much easier to pour the syrup off of the top before the sugarsand wants to start mixing and you can see what you are doing. Check with some foodservice places and you can likely get them for next to nothing or free. :D

[fred]

I WOULDNT USE ANYTHING LESS THAN 30 GAL DRUMS. I FILL MULTIPLE SIZES EACH TIME, AND SPEND LESS DAYS FILLING.ESPECIALLY WHEN I KNOW I AM GOING TO SELL THE PRODUCT ANYWAY.

[Homestead Maple]

I use both 15gal. Dr. Pepper and the 5gal. S/S soda kegs. If I'm just doing a batch of cream or candy I like the smaller containers so I don't have to open up so much at a time. I was concerned about getting these kegs clean enough but I now use a brewery cleaner that you can get from NorthCountryMalt in Champlain NY and it will clean and sanitize and you don't have to be concerned about rinising after cleaning if you mix it correctly. It's USDA approved also. There's two kinds, SaniClean (non foaming) and Star San. Some people have concerns about keeping a vacuum in the soda kegs, I bought a 20lb. cylinder of Nitrogen gas, (it's inert) a regulator, and a quick coupler to fit the inlet valve on the kegs and once the keg cools down I top it off with 35lb. of Nitrogen. There's no magic number here. Even though the kegs are rated for 135lb. I suppose less would do it but even at 35lb. it hardly takes any gas. I should mention that I cut the outlet tube off the kegs off just below the poppet valve. You don't want to have to clean any extra tube that you don't need to and it could be a place for bacteria to hide.

[maplehound]

Wood loader ,
Where do you get the gas and the couplers from? I have had some trouble getting them to seal, but ussually have good success with them. When I get a soda keg I remove the outlet, not just cut it off. ( if I can get the outlet to unscrew) Do you think that might cause me problems with sealing?

[Homestead Maple]

Maplehound,
I got my gas cylinder, which is a 20lb. and regulator from Merriam Graves. Any dealer of inert gas products should have it.The quick coupler that goes on the inlet valve I got on Ebay. These kegs are used by a lot of homebrewers for beer making and the quick couplers are usually listed with that kind of stuff or you could look under Pepsi ball lock in Ebay. There are two types of locks as you may know, pin type and ball lock, so make sure you get the ball lock. I paid around $10 for two of the couplers. I'll do a look on Ebay for you also and give you any threads for them. I have some of the kegs listed on the Trader and I've sold some to homebrewers and it's interesting what I've learned from the homebrewers about using these kegs. How do you plug the inlet valve hole after you take it out?

[maplehound]

Home stead,
Thanks for the information on the quick connects. If youfind any of them listed I would apreciate a heads up.
When I remove the outlet tub, I just unscrew the quick connect and lift the tube out, then put the quick connect back on. Sometimes the center ball gets pushed in on the quick connects and then I can't get them reseald. I was considering puting sealing wax on them.

[Homestead Maple]

Maplehound,

Check out item numbers, 270082743082 and 150084841817 on Ebay for those keg inlet couplers/connects.
As far as removing the tubes, I do unscrew the poppet valves and cut the tubes off close but I thought if I removed the whole tube it would interfere with the valve and seating properly and lose pressure in the keg.

[maplehound]

That is what I was wondering if it would keep them from sealing under pressure. Thanks for the Ebay #'s I will check them out.

[brookledge]

Another option is to totally remove the check valve and supply tube from the keg. Then get rubber expansion plug to seal it that way nobody will be tempted to push down on the stainless ball and release your seal.
Keith

[maplehound]

homestead,
Thanks for the #'s. I ordered 2 of the valves. Do I need anything else to use them? Like gauges? Do you think the gas could edversly effect the syrup?

[Homestead Maple]

Maplehound,
Did you get a regulator for your nitrogen bottle? If you got a regulator it should have a guage with it. As far as the nitrogen affecting the syrup, it will not. That's why nitrogen is used because it is inert. It adds no taste to syrup, dosen't combine with the syrup, won't expand or contract with the temprature, has no health affects, etc. I'll add a picture of my set up for using the nitrogen later on tonight. It's fairly simple. Nitrogen gas has a wide variety of applications, including serving as an inert replacement for air where oxidation is undesirable;

* To preserve the freshness of packaged or bulk foods (by delaying rancidity and other forms of oxidative damage)
* On top of liquid explosives for safety
* The production of electronic parts such as transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits
* Dried and pressurized, as a dielectric gas for high voltage equipment
* The manufacture of stainless steel
* Use in military aircraft fuel systems to reduce fire hazard, see inerting system
* Filling automotive and aircraft tires[1] due to its inertness and lack of moisture or oxidative qualities, as opposed to air, though this is not necessary for consumer automobiles.[2]

Nitrogen molecules are less likely to escape from the inside of a tire compared to the traditional air mixture used. Air consists mostly of nitrogen and oxygen, (over seventy percent of the air we breathe is nitrogen). Nitrogen molecules have a larger effective diameter than oxygen molecules and therefore diffuse through porous substances more slowly.[3]

A further example of its versatility is its use as a preferred alternative to carbon dioxide to pressurize kegs of some beers, particularly thicker stouts and Scottish and English ales, due to the smaller bubbles it produces, which make the dispensed beer smoother and headier. A modern application of a pressure sensitive nitrogen capsule known commonly as a "widget" now allows nitrogen charged beers to be packaged in cans and bottles.

[maplehound]

Home stead, Thanks for all the info. I am anxsious to try this. I havn't yet bought any nitrogen gas, will the gauges come with the bottle? I have to look around to find were it is available in my area. Also I am not producing syrup this year due to my back surgery so this may end up being used next season or on syrup that I purchase from other producers.

[Homestead Maple]

The regulator and guages will have to be bought seperately. I bought mine 2 years ago and I think the regulator and gauges were $45 and the tank about the same. I'm not sure where youlive but there may not be a Merriam Graves company near you but other companies that deal in gases should be able to set you up with the tank and regulator. I couldn't find a link here to add a picture of the setup.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/rockmaplesyrup/DSCN2540.jpghttp://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/rockmaplesyrup/DSCN2540.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/rockmaplesyrup/DSCN2541.jpg

[Homestead Maple]

Maplehound,
Check out Ebay items numer 130075507770 and 170078141229. The regulator and guages listed here are a good choice because it has a built in valve to control on/off while your topping off kegs. The cylinder is more than big enough to fill with but it has the right connection for the regulator.

[maplehound]

Thanks Home stead, You have been a big help. I will make some phone calls to see where I can get the gas and guages locally. If I can't get them at a better price I will consider these gauges and cylinder.