Jelly sludge in filter?!?

[anthonyk]

I'm a relative newbie (fifth year sugaring) and I ran into something new to me tonight. Just finished the a batch and I found a jelly like sludge in my filter (wool cone). I'm no stranger to sugar sand, but this is off the scale, so I'm wondering if it might be something else?

The only thing different about this last batch from previous is that I had boiled mostly ice (yeah, slow year so far, I'm desperate) and I didn't pre-filter. Because of my current work situation and the limitations of my rig (over sized hotel pans over dual propane burners), I can only boil for a couple of hours a night, so it took several days to process.

[psparr]

End of season buddy sap or old sap will get snotty.

[anthonyk]

Yeah, the sap sat for a few days so I guess that could be it. Trees aren't budding here yet, probably a couple of weeks away. I think the sap might've been a little past prime. The syrup tastes fine but the odor might be a bit off, hard to tell right now since it's still hot and I've been obsessing over it for the last couple of hours.

[Clinkis]

I've had several batches I've filtered this year with that in it. Seems to be the year I think because sap was definately fine and syrup was still excellent.

[crazyjackcsa]

I've had more sugar sand this year than in any year previous. It matches your description perfectly.

[anthonyk]

I've had a lot of sugar sand this year as well, it seems like more than past years, but that could just be that I'm paying closer attention this year. I got a couple filters from the wife for my birthday (she knows what I like!) and I've been really happy with the results. I'm using a synthetic cone for pre-finish filtering and a single quart wool for finished syrup. Cleanest my syrup has ever been, should have done this in year two!

[Russell Lampron]

Because the sap sat for a while it most likely had a lot of bacteria growth in it. That dead bacteria does look slimy in the filter. It won't hurt the syrup flavor at all. It just makes filtering a pain because they clog up fast.