Spoiled Sap

[vinkandy]

I have a 300 gallon tote of sap that took a spoil in the past 24hrs. I'm planning on boiling tomorrow. I think our 65 degree day on Wednesday caused problems with my storage tank. It's a little foamy and cloudy, and has the smell of spoiled milk. I'm debating on just dumping all 300 gallons. Being a novice, could I still boil this sap tomorrow? It's my understanding that it will likely be very dark with a strong flavor. I'm more concerned about my family consuming it. I'm guessing the boil would kill any bacteria, but would like a professional opinion. Thanks in advance.

[Cedar Eater]

I'm a novice, too, but I have heard that if you dump sap, spoiled or otherwise, it's good to dump it on your garden soil.

[vinkandy]

Well, I just boiled down a pan on the stove to test it. It tastes like crap. Here's to dumping 300 gallons and pulling taps.

[Ed R]

if it was just for personal use I would boil it. The microbes will be killed by the heat. Anytime you have sap in a big container it goes bad faster than in smaller containers.
Sorry to hear it was not salvagable.

[jmayerl]

Spoiled sap will not make eatable syrup. At BEST it will be ropey and off flavored, most likely it would be worse than that. Dump it.

[austin357]

That sucks im worried about my 55 gallon drum of sap looked a bit cloudy this morn but did not taste or smell bad so i put some jugs of frozen water in it to help keep it cool till i can boil sunday evening after work sure hope i dont end up the same as you

[acerrubrum]

I think I have a similar problem. I've boiled cloudy sap (so long as it still tasted good) before without any problem, but always wondered about how to know when to dump sap.
Is there a rule of thumb on how long sap will stay good in weather above freezing?

[jmayerl]

This time of year sap can not sit longer than a day. Temps have been in the 50's, sun is high.....not good for sugar but great for bacteria

[acerrubrum]

thanks for the response, that makes sense to me.

[Mark]

This is the time of the season a guy from Warren Michigan calls producers and claims he bought some syrup and it was bad. I asked for a batch number and he claimed he had to call his wife to get that info. What he did do was call a store and ask them what batch numbers were on the jugs on the shelf. Store called me and let me know the time of the call and it was between the calls to me. Store felt bad they fell for it. He also called last season.

[Sugarmaker]

This is the time of the season a guy from Warren Michigan calls producers and claims he bought some syrup and it was bad. I asked for a batch number and he claimed he had to call his wife to get that info. What he did do was call a store and ask them what batch numbers were on the jugs on the shelf. Store called me and let me know the time of the call and it was between the calls to me. Store felt bad they fell for it. He also called last season.

Remember we are dealing with humans, and some don't play nice. That was a good thing the store called you!

On the cloudy sap thing. I have boiled cloudy sap. It usually makes darker stronger tasting syrup. Which is what we are now allowed to sell! I plan to boil the last sap ( which is cloudy ) on Monday, Will see if that works out or makes bad product?
I have also boiled crystal clear sap and made God awful tasting syrup ( Metabolic) So yes tasting the finished product is the answer. Also it would be of some value if you did make it into syrup and sold for off flavor bulk syrup.
Regards,
Chris