Candy Machine Leak

[SeanD]

First, let me say that making candy with a machine is awesome!

Next, I need a little help. Syrup leaks out the back of the trough where the worm gear enters. It's not a leak in the trough itself, but just a gap between the worm and the trough. There's a u-shaped plate that slides down to cover the top of the slot for the gear, but it doesn't seem to prevent the leak. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Sean
9765

Sorry the pic is sideways. It's right-side up on my end.

[sapman]

I agree. Just got my machine Friday, and one batch of candy and cream and I love it.

I have only had slight spillage from the trough. Typically for candy, I don't think there is enough syrup in there to leak out (1/2"). For cream, it's so thick that it didn't seem to work it's way out much. That's my extremely limited experience so far anyhow.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Mine gets a bowl under it and I try to not let the syrup get that deep.

[SeanD]

Ok, so it's typical. I'll try a shallow bowl and try to keep the trough shallow, too. I'm still new to it so I feel like I need one more set of eyes and one more hand.

Tim, I've got cream coming up next. Did you cook and cool the syrup in the pig or did you transfer it to the pig from a cook pot? The cook pot is easy to use and cool, but I'm afraid by the time it cools down it will be a solid taffy that is impossible to get out of the pot. The pig makes things easier, but I don't know how to cool it.

What was your syrup to cream yield?

Sean

[GeneralStark]

The key to preventing syrup from dripping out the back of the trough is to keep the level just below the shaft penetration. One of the techniques it takes some time to master is keeping the flow from the pig into the trough vs. the flow out the trough into the molds relatively constant once you get going. Two people can be an advantage in this situation. It gets especially tricky when you are filling different size molds as you don't need to close the valve or minimize flow on the trough snout as frequently with larger cavities. I typically am more apt to let the level get a little too low in the trough and then take a quick break to let it get caught back up than I am to let the level get too high.

When making cream with a candy machine, I cook syrup in any one of several pans that I have (pig or round cream machine pans) and then pour it into ss steam tray pans I get from a kitchen supplier and then cool the pans in a cold water or ice water bath. I picked up this trick at the Big E where the VT sugarmakers actually have a special table in which cold water is circulated to cool the syrup for cream which is heated in pig pans and then poured into steam tray pans. The steam tray pans are then set into the top of the table in the circulating water bath.

Once the syrup has cooled to about 80F I then scrape it from the steam tray pans into the pig pan for the candy machine. I will often do 4-5 gallon batches in 3 steam tray pans and fill the pig as I am making cream. The pig stays on the machine. Two people is helpful for this but I can do it alone as well. I generally fill 1 lb. containers as I am putting more cooled syrup in the pig and keep an eye on them as I am working.

[sapman]

For cream, I heated and cooled the syrup in the pig. I let it set overnight, which worked well since I couldn't think of a way to bathe it in water. It was a cold night in the 50s. So the syrup was probably in the 60s when I started. Only problem with this method is with such cold syrup you lose a greater amount since the stirring isn't done in the big pan.
I filled 14 8oz jars from just under a gallon. Better than any cream I've ever made by hand.

Does cooling to 80 degrees or so result in really smooth cream? I only ask because I've been told to take it down to the 50s ideally.

[Shaun]

I have had good luck putting the pig pan in a shallow plastic tote with ice and water to cool. I transfer the syrup to the pan, I just make sure I weight it down with something so it does not float. 1/2 gallon or so seems to cool quick. I have had good results chilling it to "cold temps".

When we make candy it is usually a 2 person job. my wife fills the molds while I monitor the level of syrup in the trough. Doing it my self I have had some candy disasters.

[SeanD]

Thanks for all the responses. This is all VERY helpful.

I thought that all that agitation of moving the syrup from pan to pan would cause premature crystalization. The Cornell bulletin even says to leave the thermometer in because the putting it in and taking it out can cause crystals to form. It doesn't sound like it is that sensitive in practice.

General - I saw a set up like that at the Mass booth, but it wasn't a whole table. It was a plastic container that circulated water around the cook pot. Then they poured it into the big cream machine. I must not have watched the pouring part, though. I can't picture it. At your booth why put it in steam pans to cool if it goes back in the pig? The scraping part is something I'm hoping to avoid if I can help it, but if it doesn't cause a problem with the cream, I may do it. I feel like I'm leaving all kinds of product behind.

Tim - That same Cornell bulletin says that the colder the temp, the smoother the cream, so no doubt you had an amazing batch. It says anything below 75 degrees is good to go. http://www.nnyagdev.org/maplefactsheets/CMB%20201%20Making%20Maple%20Cream1.pdf

Shaun - I'm leaning toward the tote method like yours. I don't have one big enough now, but I think it might be worth it if scraping from one pan to the next is unsuccessful.

Thanks again,
Sean

[GeneralStark]

I should say first that I rent a commercial kitchen to make my maple products so many techniques I have devised are to maximize my time there.

I find cooling to 80F at least is completely adequate for making smooth cream. I generally try to go cooler, but sometimes time is of the essence. ALso, the syrup will continue to cool (unless it is very hot out) as you are processing it. A couple times I tried having only cooled to about 90F and the cream still came out fine.

In terms of agitating the syrup, I have never had any issue with this. I have seen the same warning in Steve Childs book but I don't really see the issue. It takes quite a bit of activity to get the sugar to crystallize. If all it took was putting a thermometer into the cooling syrup to get it to cream, we wouldn't be spending thousands of dollars on this equipment.

I use the steam tray pans so I can maximize the amount of time my cooking pans are on the stove. Once again, when I am in the kitchen I am trying to be as efficient as possible and am generally making pretty large batches. Just the other night I made 40 lbs of sugar in 3 hours using 2 cooking pans and one pan on the paddle machine. When I make cream I am often making 40-60 lbs. in a kitchen session, and probably some candy as well while the cream syrup is cooling. The steam pans allow me to cool syrup while I am cooking more. Once again, scraping the syrup from the pans has never caused any issue. I learned this technique from other sugarmakers using a gear pump style machine. They cooled in steam pans and then scraped it from the pans into the hopper. I have never seen the sugar crystallize during this process, and even if it did I don't see why it would be an issue.

If I were doing small batches, I would probably just cool the pig pan after cooking in it as well.

[SeanD]

This is all good info. Once I get the hang of the technique, I'd like to make larger batches per session. Thanks.

Sean