Dark syrup

[Nbobich]

FOr being this early in the season I don't understand why my syrup is so dark! It tastes fine and isn't too strong.
The sap was collect with 3 days of the boil down so I don't think storage was a problem. We collect from all sugar maples. We cooked down 45 gallons of sap on a homemade wood oven using 2 steam pans which might have been the cause but idk! http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/25/buqyhy2e.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/25/8u5ateny.jpg


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[happy thoughts]

I haven't boiled yet, but a few others have been saying their syrup has been darker so far this year. It could be that. It also could be coloring from burnt sugars on the sides of the pan. Try not to fill above the scorch line and keep foaming down either by frequent skimming or using a defoamer. One or two drops of veg oil added only when needed helps, Lastly, there is something called stackburn, a darkening of bottled syrup caused by too slow cooling when hot bottles are placed next to each other. Make sure there is plenty of space between your jars as they cool. But that said, your syrup looks fine and if it tastes fine that's all that matters.

Good luck this year and may you make much more of that tasty stuff:)

[Spolcik]

Did you filter the syrup? filtering makes a huge difference in the color of the syrup.

[Nbobich]

Yeah that's what we thought we needed to do, so we filtered with triple layer cheese cloth and filtered 4 times! Got all the sand and soot out but still dark.


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[bigschuss]

Are you just batch boiling? That is, during the course of your boil are you just continually adding sap to your boil? 45 gallons on an outdoor rig used to take me about 10 or 12 hours. That's a lot of time for the batch to be boiling. I did it this way for 8 years and never got anything but what you have in your pics. Tastes great…great flavor. But dark. No big deal.

[Bentley Wood Maple]

For us early season dark/darker syrup makes me want to tear down the evaporator and clean everything up well. Dirty equiptment can be the issue.

[Nbobich]

That was the first time using the pans so i don't think dirty was the problem! We did batch boil so that's probably what it is! We boiled ours 45 gallons in 9 hours so I think next time we will do several batches.


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[325abn]

Nothing wrong with dark syrup, some of us prefer it!

[Ittiz]

My wife's fav is grade B. Some people like the extra flavor.

[Sugarmaker]

Everything was clean and ready to go this year as usual. First run syrup was grade A Dark and had slight off flavor. Second boil was just as dark and flavor improved. I think it was metabolic. Yea was a little disappointing. But you take what you get in this business.
Regards,
Chris

[Nbobich]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Next time we won't do one big batch we will break it up! Let's hope that helps!


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[Cabin]

FOr being this early in the season I don't understand why my syrup is so dark! It tastes fine and isn't too strong.
The sap was collect with 3 days of the boil down so I don't think storage was a problem. We collect from all sugar maples. We cooked down 45 gallons of sap on a homemade wood oven using 2 steam pans which might have been the cause but idk! http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/25/buqyhy2e.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/25/8u5ateny.jpg


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I just finished some syrup and got the same color range. Going to be a dark year???;)

[maplerookie]

it looks like it is going to be a dark year. maybe the super cold winter has something to do with it or maybe it is just the way we batch boil. any thoughts from Dr T
im?

[Spolcik]

Are you just batch boiling? That is, during the course of your boil are you just continually adding sap to your boil? 45 gallons on an outdoor rig used to take me about 10 or 12 hours. That's a lot of time for the batch to be boiling. I did it this way for 8 years and never got anything but what you have in your pics. Tastes great…great flavor. But dark. No big deal.


I don't think that's the issue I boil like that sometime 15 to 20 hours straight and still have pretty light syrup. Try getting some actual maple syrup filters made a big difference for me. Sugarbush supplies.com has hobby filter kits for around $25 comes with filters and a basket. Put over a stock pot works awesome. Great for us small time guys. If you just want the filters the filter pack is $7.50 comes with 4 pre filters and one final filter. I use them all together when one gets clogged take it out and so on till all is filtered. Then just rinse with hot water and reuse. If you only make a few gallons a year they will last while. You won't believe what it catches! I was shocked anyway.

[maple flats]

It might just be the year, or maybe your filtering method. Cheese cloth won't catch anything but the biggest stuff. You'd be better off using a cone or flat filter and several layers of pre filter. That will remove far better. Then, even for ultimate filtering get some filter aid (FA) from another producer near you (normally sold in 40-50# bags). Mix it in the syrup and then run the hot syrup thru the filters. Doing this you can reduce the prefilters to 2 or maybe even 1. Do not use the FA if staying with the cheesecloth, it will not catch the FA and the syrup will then have FA in it.

[happy thoughts]

If the syrup is dark no amount of filtering is going to turn it into fancy. Don't bother with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Only filters made for syrup are going to clear your syrup but you'll lose some syrup in the process. If you aren't making a lot, that may be hard to swallow:) There's also the added expense of another piece of equipment that may or may not be in your budget. I don't know how much syrup you'll be producing Nbobich, but if just a small amount you can let the sand settle out on standing. Put it in a big jar and keep it in the fridge for a day or two. Then carefully pour off the clear stuff, rehest to bottling temps (180-190*F) and bottle.

Just keep in mind that your syrup may not actually be as dark as you think it is. In a wide jar like your jelly jar, syrup will look darker. That's one reason why traditional syrup jars are thin in width. It makes the syrup look lighter so it looks more like the color for the grade standard.

[buckeye gold]

I had a batch yesterday that looked just like yours, but I know the cause. I had my annual "I'm an idiot in the sugar house" moment. I did not check my feed line from the head tank for ice and started fumbling around multitasking when I smell caramelizing syrup. Thank God the local idiot had saved a bucket of sap and ice and got that dumped in the syrup pan just before a major scorch. So then I drew all of it off until it ran more amber. However, I had heavy syrup that I had to thin. So too high of heat on a batch that was a hold over pan from the previous day done mine. As someone else said you need to clean if you have any scorching. so today I drained the pan and cleaned...after just four boils; yeah I loved that. With all that said my syrup is starting out darker this year anyway. So there may not be much you can do. Old sap or over cooking will darken it though. As for mine, it taste fine. So I'll keep it, but I won't sell it. I'll glaze some nuts and give the rest away to family. I made another batch after I cleaned today and it was back to light maybe medium syrup.

[5050racing]

Syrup loss,if you freeze the final main filter not the pre,you can dunk it in hot sap next boiling and the syrup will wash out and keep the dirt inside it then wash the filter in boiling water as normal.

[Dave Y]

There have been reports of darker syrup this season. There also have been reports of slightly of flavor on the first run. I made 23 gal of very dark syrup with a sight metabolic taste. I also have a friend that made 330gal of similar syrup. Batch boiling will make darker syrup but if thats all can do that is fine. Hopefully things will get better as the season progresses.