Early Season syrup ropey

[Fairfield Sugarmaker]

Anyone had ropey syrup with early sap they sat on for a while between cold spell this season? We have and what a pain to say the least!! The rig gets a bath tomorrow and we start fresh again, wish us luck. Would love some feedback on possibilities.
we let a fair amount hit the ground prior to catching it and we sat on it for almost 3 weeks...it was RO'd at 8% but kept cold there was 5 inches of ice on it keeping it cold. Had a off smell when we finally flooded the rig, was ropey and not moving in the pans, a week later with fresh sap the same problem...the rig is being washed tomorrow...looking for ideas on why

[DrTimPerkins]

looking for ideas on why

Bacterial action is slowed, but not halted entirely at cold temperatures. Sap is like milk....by concentrating it first you made it much more attractive to microbes, and they could get energy from it easier. Most of the microbes in sap will live quite easily through very cold temperatures. If your tubing was not cleaned in any way, it probably had a heavy microbial load from what was left in the tubing system from last spring. So even though it has been cold, they could still live and multiply....just more slowly, but you probably started with a heavy load to begin with. Just like milk will go bad eventually in a cold fridge, so will sap.....and especially concentrate.

[Fairfield Sugarmaker]

Thanks Tim, that is what we were leaning toward and why the rig is getting cleaned tomorrow. Well, next time...we won't wait!! Learn the hard way.

[TerryEspo]

I am now confused.
I have read so much here about concentrating sap to have it hold over longer. Now, here I am reading it helps the microbes,,,geesh, The more I learn about syrup, the more I realize I know nothing about it !!

My thought will be to boil what I get as I get it, lol.

Good luck everyone.

[michiganphil]

Terry,
When most people talk about concentrating to have it hold over, I believe they are referring to boiling it down and keeping it 'til the next run. Keeping sweet in the pans will hold over much longer than RO'd sap. The sweet has been boiled and will kill off that bacteria, while the RO will just concentrate without sterilizing.

[DrTimPerkins]

The sweet has been boiled and will kill off that bacteria, while the RO will just concentrate without sterilizing.

Correct. And the sweet in the pans can be boiled again briefly every now and then as needed to kill anything that starts to grow until the sap starts to run again.

[mantispid]

Now if you pass your sap through a 0.2 micron filter, it'll produce sterile concentrate as long as your gear remains sterile... Of course, those things are pricey ($70-200) and you'd need a lot of pressure just to get through it, and you'd likely go through a lot of them. >_<

[Bruce L]

Dr. Tim, what about raw sap that has been sitting in a milk cooler for over 1 week now, insulated so it hasn't frozen. Should I dump it or save it? About 200 gallons, but not enough to boil, would just fill the pans to depth to light a match. I hate to waste any sap this year, but better wasted than make poor syrup.

[DrTimPerkins]

what about raw sap that has been sitting in a milk cooler for over 1 week now, insulated so it hasn't frozen.

Try boiling a small amount in a saucepan and see what you get.

[TerryEspo]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I missed the fact in the original post about the RO. My fault. Yes, I was referring to sweet in pans keeping longer.
I may have to leave sweet in my flat pan this year as it is such a poor start, not sure.

Glad people replied to help me understand this.

Thank-you.

[DrTimPerkins]

Now if you pass your sap through a 0.2 micron filter, it'll produce sterile concentrate as long as your gear remains sterile... Of course, those things are pricey ($70-200) and you'd need a lot of pressure just to get through it, and you'd likely go through a lot of them. >_<

This might well remove the microbes in the sap, but probably would not reduce the metabolic by-products of those beasties. The alcohol and other things they produce will still remain in the liquid....even if you run them through an RO.

[Bruce L]

Dr. Tim, pumped the sap up to the holding tank today, looks cloudy and both my wife and I noticed a smell coming off of it, so it's going back to the ground instead.

[KevinS]

Dr. Tim, pumped the sap up to the holding tank today, looks cloudy and both my wife and I noticed a smell coming off of it, so it's going back to the ground instead.
I see you are cleaning the pan. I suggest you make sure you resterilize your holding tank and line to the evap along with the line and pump used to fill the holding tank... just to be safe. no point in risking sweetening the pan twice for nothing

[DonMcJr]

LOL Terry I was thinking the same thing until you helped get it clarified! :o:cool:

[peckfarm]

What is a small amount, and what do I look for?

[Fairfield Sugarmaker]

Well i started this thread so i figure I will give you an update, we cut our losses and dumped what was in the pans, rinsed, washed with acid and rinsed some more. We boiled Sunday and had wonderful results and made syrup like it should be!!