Newbie screws up big time

[cablebandit]

So I have 4 maples on my property. We finally decided that this year we would try and make some syrup. I tapped them a little over a week ago and got about 5 gallons of sap over the course of the week. The temps are really wacky around here.

So today I went to boil down what I had since I only have storage for 6 gallons. I get my 10 gallon stainless pot out on the turkey fryer and get a good boil going. After getting that five gallons going good I go out and check the taps since I didn't check the buckets this morning. Holy Smokes! I got another 3-4 gallons over night.

Now I'm boiling down 8-9 gallons. Everything is going great....then I walked away. :( I still had at least an inch or more covering the bottom of the pot. I came back ten minutes later to smoke...not steam. Everything in the pot was burned.

Now I'll probably be spending as much time scrubbing the pot as I did boiling it down. I'm pretty angry with myself because I was trying to get it close enough to finish on the stove at a later date. I guess I should have erred on the side of too watery.

Hopefully the trees will run well enough for me to give it one more try before giving up.

[Shawn]

Trial and error that's how we learned and still and I mean still leave to collect and leave someone in charge and they get talking with someone in the sugar house and you come back in and HOLY ##@@$%%^%^^^&&&& either ready to draw off or the boil is zero as they forgot to put the wood in:lol:

[campus189]

You will plenty of time to get more sap :)
A lot of us have done this, just some of us like myself don't want to admit to it. lol
It's kind of like learning the hard way, lol
As long as you don't do it more than once like I did.
They you really get upset with yourself.
After all the scrubbing, I think you will remember this little setback.
It took me doing it 2 times for me to learn. lol
Why only an inch on the bottom ? Just curious.
I make sure I have 3-4" Minimum, so If I have to sneeze, or go to the bathroom, I wont burn it. :)

[Evets]

That sux like an Electro-Lux! Don't give up now though. Just think how good it could have been and will be next time, if you don't drink so many, I mean, get distracted.:o:)

[BlueberryHill]

Don't give up! Look at other threads on here on how to clean a scorched pot or pan. Lots of good ideas listed here.

[Ausable]

Well! All part of learning. It can happen to any of us. However - At the most critical part of the boil - where a syrup hydrometer probably would have said - Houston! We have Maple Syrup - kill the Fire. lol You go for a stroll. When You Batch Boil - You can get away with a lot----------Except-----at the end. As You now well know. Hey! You paid Your dues - Now collect lots of sap and make some great Maple Syrup. --Mike--

[cablebandit]

Thanks for the kind words.

Why only an inch? Beats me. I figured I'd end up with less than a pint of syrup so an inch would be 3-4 times that.

As you said, live and learn. I'm just mad with myself. I'll hope for more sap and go for a motorcycle ride to clear my head.

[Loon Lake Louie]

You only make progress when you understand your mistakes. Sounds easy but ya gotta work at it!!! I feel your pain....

[campus189]

You wouldn't believe some of the mistakes people make when it comes to making maple syrup, myself included.
Some of us like myself make have a "DUH" moments whether we are just starting out or been doing it for years.
Just when I think I have something mastered and is stupid proof, I go and find a way to screw it up.lol

[psparr]

Check out this videom your not alone!

http://youtu.be/EqreE_O6mBU

Good to get it out of the way early. Theres plenty more to "learn".

[campus189]

I just watched the video. Very funny. I wonder how many of us started out thinking it was easy like the video described.lol

[WindyPoplars]

Sorry about the loss of syrup. But there will be lots of good syrup ahead for you.
If you want to clean the pan easily, cover the burnt bottom with water and add a few tbls of powdered laundry detergent. Put on a lid, and bring to a boil for a few minutes. The burnt crud will slip right off. Repeat if it needs a bit more help.

[325abn]

Don't bother cleaning that round pot, just go out and buy a new rectangular restaurant pan.

[82cabby]

Welcome to the club man! Two or three years ago I boiled from Friday afternoon after work to Sunday. Like an idiot, I kept the sweet sap in the pan the whole time (I'm a small batch operation, 70 taps). Sunday I went in for dinner and scorched the whole batch. Ruined the batch that had easily 100 gallons of sap in it. Even worse was the loss of the firewood which was in short supply that year. I spent hours cleaning out the pan.

Lots of people on this forum made me feel better by telling me: "everyone scorches a pan eventually", and they were right. Chalk it up to experience. The next 2 weeks should easily replace the sap you lost.

Good Luck!

[maple flats]

There's an old saying that you're not a syrup maker until you've burned a pan. You just got that part out of the way early, so you can now call yourself a syrup maker. If this is the worse thing you ever do, you're way ahead of most of us.
if your sap was just 2.1% sugar, you were almost at syrup at 1" depth. 2.1% will take slightly over 41 qts of sap to make 1 qt of syrup and 1" might be close to a qt. As you near the end, you can not walk away. Since you're on propane, just shut off and check for more sap, then come back and relight the burner. Wood fired is much more difficult to deal with.

[maplestudent]

burning a pan is almost part of the curriculum.....kind of like an initiation of sorts

[stoneslabs]

Yup, don't get disheartened... there isn't a sugarer out there that didn't burn a batch or 2... or twelve :lol:

after watching the videom, it kinda makes me ponder, we have to be crazy to boil that sap out yonder!

[eustis22]

Yabbut it's a GOOD kinda crazy, not that kind that makes you invade countries that haven't done anything to you.

[cablebandit]

I finally got the pot back to it's former glory. Now I'm just waiting for some more sap.

[maplerookie]

All I can do is laugh. I too burnt a batch this year. what is even worse I stood there and watched it happen. Lol. more sap will come. boil it down and make liquid gold.