First Timer- Corn Flavour to syrup

[STP92x]

Hi there,

I decided to tap the two big maple trees in my backyard with some metal taps I borrowed from a friend. I got about 20L of sap and boiled it down on the turkey fryer in what I was told is a stainless pot. When I got down to about 3 inches of reduced sap I transferred it to a non-stick pot and boiled it on the burner on the bbq until it hit 220F.

The syrup looks great but has a corn flavour and smell to it. Any ideas why?

Thanks,

Stefan

[67HEAVEN]

Was the pot used to boil corn on the cob last summer/fall? :lol:

[Russell Lampron]

Looks like you made some good syrup to put on corn fritters. 67HEAVEN is onto something. Were the pots properly cleaned before being used for sap and what are you using for collection and storage containers? Were they clean? A lot of things can contribute to an off flavor.

[STP92x]

I washed all of the pots and containers with hot water and dish soap before using them. I used 2 gal sap buckets for collection and white food grade pails from Home Depot for storage.

Stefan

[Russell Lampron]

Looks like everything was clean so it is probably the sap. The chemical make up of the sap changes as the season goes on and the trees come out of dormancy. See how the next batch comes out and let us know if the flavor changes.

[pipeline]

Hi there,

I decided to tap the two big maple trees in my backyard with some metal taps I borrowed from a friend. I got about 20L of sap and boiled it down on the turkey fryer in what I was told is a stainless pot. When I got down to about 3 inches of reduced sap I transferred it to a non-stick pot and boiled it on the burner on the bbq until it hit 220F.

The syrup looks great but has a corn flavour and smell to it. Any ideas why?

Thanks,

Stefani talked to a young back yarder who upgraded his burner 100000 btu i think and he said the extra btu was burning the non-stick coating off and into his syrup. doesnt sound like food grade!! probably not good for you!! pan is not rated for that kind of extreme heat

[RIFoster]

Corn flavor as in actual corn, the vegetable? Or corn-syrup flavor, as in, just sweet? My first two pints of syrup have almost no maple to them, maybe a touch if you close your eyes and smell, but the flavor is essentially carmelized sugar.

[STP92x]

I only used the non-stick pan on a side burner on the bbq which is likely around 15,000 by us like a stove so I don't think the non-stick coating would burn off. Maybe the better way to describe the flavour is caramelized sugar with a corn(vegetable) after taste.

I am going to wash everything again and try a different finishing pot for the next batch.

[Galena]

Even if the non-stick pan isn't to blame, you probably don't want to use it anyway. Tons of nasty chemicals in that crap. I use a combo of stainless steel hotel pans and graniteware pots to evaporate with, but I always finish with a stainless steel pot. No exceptions.