sap consistency

[CTsugarMan]

hey all

im in ct, and on my 3 boil day, on homemade equipment, so its slow going. I have 45 gallons of sap left and it looks be getting cloudy and the sides of the container it is in are starting to feel a bit slimy or really slick, and the is a small amount of foam in the barrel also. My question.. is the sap bad?? or how do you know when the sap is bad and it needs to be tossed out??

Thanks
gene

[happy thoughts]

Cloudy may be OK but imho slimy is telling you something. Foam is telling you it's fermenting and you've likely lost sugar. If you're going to boil it, I'd boil it separately and not mix it with your other batch until you know it's syrup worth eating.

[CTsugarMan]

There is just a slight amount of foam on the top its in a 45 gallon drum, and if i gathered it all up (foam) it would be about area a 8" fry pan... so is the sap lost? and not worth the wood/time to boil it?

thanks so much

[happy thoughts]

Cloudy, slimy, and foamy are all indications of microbial growth. There are some that might boil it down anyway. If it were my own, I'd toss it.

[CTsugarMan]

thanks for the advice. I think it should go, i have enough for this year already boiled.