When is sap too cloudy to use?

[dtsmith]

I'm a first year backyard hobbyist who has a couple of 5 gal buckets of sap that started to go cloudy in the last day or so. I can still make out the bottom of the bucket in each, but they're definitely not crystal clear. Is any cloudiness too much or is there another point when the sap becomes unusable?

Dan

[PerryW]

I have boiled cloudy syrup and made good syrup and bad syrup. If a small percentage of my sap is cloudy, i would dump it. If is all cloudy, I would boil it as long as it was fresh and my last syrup was still decent tasting.

[happy thoughts]

What perry said. If you have enough cloudy to make it worth boiling separately, go for it then do a taste test of some of the concentrated sap. Let your taste buds be the judge. If it tastes OK throw it in with the rest of the lot. You may get more niter and sludge than from fresh sap. The cloudy sap may also be a little less sweet if yeast are growing and feeding in there causing the cloudiness. You might not get as high a yield but some yield is still better than none.

[dtsmith]

Thanks for the replies. Since this looks like it will be my last weekend of boiling, I was wondering about doing a separate boil as a science project. I'll give it shot.

Dan

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

when it turns yellow dump it, ill boil cloudy sap all day long