Syrup left in pan

[gmc8757]

What makes it ok to leave sweet in the pan for a week or so? Or is it not ok? As the weather is warming up, I'm wondering how long the sweet can stay in there. I have had sweet in the pan since the beginning of the season. I make a point to get rid of sap pretty quick, so just curious what the difference, if any, is.

[Sugarmaker]

What makes it ok to leave sweet in the pan for a week or so? Or is it not ok? As the weather is warming up, I'm wondering how long the sweet can stay in there. I have had sweet in the pan since the beginning of the season. I make a point to get rid of sap pretty quick, so just curious what the difference, if any, is.

Maybe you need to restate the question or its late and my head isn't working?
Should be Ok for several days to a week, But as the weather warms I would not go much more than that. You can push it out with water to get it made into syrup.
Your doing good! Have fun.
Regards,
Chris

[gmc8757]

Good point, it is late...sorry about that.
I guess what I'm trying to say is..Sap has a shelf life...so the sweet in the pan obviously does too. Is it ok to leave sweet in the pan from the beginning of the season because it's technically not the same sweet since day one....the old sweet is getting pushed out and the clock starts ticking on the new sweet?

[NhShaun]

I was curious about this as well. Weather doesn't seem like it will be dropping below freezing for at least 4 nights at the end of next week, with warm temps during the day. I suppose ill have to try and get as much out of the pans as possible.

[Ausable]

Chris gave You some good advice. I don't know Your set up?? When I Batch Boiled I would evaporate down to near syrup and filter off to a smaller pot till I had time to finish and bottle or can. Then - I started making maple on a small (2'x5') Continuous Flow Pan and I had to relearn the process - Same idea - different process for making maple. I learned about isolating pan sections and leaving the pans Sweet - so - making syrup started soon into the second and following boils. Also - I learned the hard way to make some covers to put over my pans once things cool down till next boil - as spiders - insects of all kinds - red squirrels and mice all seem to like maple syrup. LOL I have a true Sugar Shack - not a Sugar House or Sugar Mansion. Don't be offended if You already know all this stuff - It helps New Folks - just starting out - to understand the different terms and not to get confused about what we mean. Hey! Have fun and make lots of maple.

[Clinkis]

What makes it ok to leave sweet in the pan for a week or so? Or is it not ok? As the weather is warming up, I'm wondering how long the sweet can stay in there. I have had sweet in the pan since the beginning of the season. I make a point to get rid of sap pretty quick, so just curious what the difference, if any, is.

The main reason why the sweet in your pan will last a while (a lot longer then sap)is that it has been boiled and thus pasteurized and killing all the microbial. Obviously, over time, more can reform and how long this takes depends mainly on temperature. I've left sweet in my pan for a couple weeks early in the season when temps are colder. Later in the season, When temps are typically warmer, the time is less. Not sure what your setup is but my biggest issue is sweet in the float boxes as they don't get boiled. What I do if I have an extended period of time between boils is either drain evaporator and put sweet in freezer or bring evaporator up to a boil to pasteurize again and shut it back down

[Russell Lampron]

In the early part of the season I have left sweet in the evaporator for as long as 3 weeks. It was frozen solid and couldn't spoil if it wanted to. I have also had the sap in the flue pan turn to jelly overnight at the end of the season. If you have a drop flue you may want to drain it when it going to be real cold because I have heard of flues crushing and cracking when the ice expanded. I haven't had a problem with my raised flue and have had temps well below zero.

[lpakiz]

Another solution, which I use, is to schedule a boil after several days of warm, no-sap weather. If I suspect a pause in boiling will occur before more sap is available, I shut down and make sure the pans are a bit over-full. Then, a few days later, fire up with one filling of wood, which brings every thing to a boil, thus re-pasteurizing the sweet.

[PerryW]

Good point, it is late...sorry about that.
I guess what I'm trying to say is..Sap has a shelf life...so the sweet in the pan obviously does too. Is it ok to leave sweet in the pan from the beginning of the season because it's technically not the same sweet since day one....the old sweet is getting pushed out and the clock starts ticking on the new sweet?

That's what I do. I leave the sweet in the pans from the beginning of the season to the end. Once you bring sap to a boil, the bacteria is killed and it won't spoil as fast. I suppose if you have extreme warm weather for 7 days, the sweet might start to spoil, but then again, the seasons will probably be over anyway.

[Flatlander]

Chris:
Should be Ok for several days to a week, But as the weather warms I would not go much more than that. You can push it out with water to get it made into syrup.
Your doing good! Have fun.


I have been told this too and read about it. I tried it this season with a big warm up we had. I ran 50 gallons of condensate thru the piggy back after it had emptied of sap and cooked everything thing down. Pushed out several gallons of syrup. When I went to drain the flue pan the next morning, I noticed the "water" was colored. I tested it and it was almost 7% sugar.

Either something is wrong with my flue pan or I did not do something right. Curious as to how you push with water. Thanks.

[gmc8757]

These are excellent explanations and exactly what I was looking for. Didn't really get why sweet would last longer than sap, but the whole pasteurizing makes perfect sense. Thanks guys.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Chris:
Should be Ok for several days to a week, But as the weather warms I would not go much more than that. You can push it out with water to get it made into syrup.
Your doing good! Have fun.


I have been told this too and read about it. I tried it this season with a big warm up we had. I ran 50 gallons of condensate thru the piggy back after it had emptied of sap and cooked everything thing down. Pushed out several gallons of syrup. When I went to drain the flue pan the next morning, I noticed the "water" was colored. I tested it and it was almost 7% sugar.

Either something is wrong with my flue pan or I did not do something right. Curious as to how you push with water. Thanks.

You didn't do anything wrong and your flue pan is Ok. By pushing people are just saying that they are able to boil longer (and hence get more syrup out today) by feeding water into the flue pan when they run out of sap while boiling. A variation on this theme is to let the rig cool and then block the front pan off and drain the flue pan into pails. Then refill the flue pan with water and start boiling again and then add the pails to the front pan as the level goes down. When you have boiled all you can shut the rig down and then after it cools drain off the water from the back pan and you are ready for new sap on the next run. We do this sometimes when it looks to be several days for the next run.

[Sugarmaker]

Chris:
Should be Ok for several days to a week, But as the weather warms I would not go much more than that. You can push it out with water to get it made into syrup.
Your doing good! Have fun.


I have been told this too and read about it. I tried it this season with a big warm up we had. I ran 50 gallons of condensate thru the piggy back after it had emptied of sap and cooked everything thing down. Pushed out several gallons of syrup. When I went to drain the flue pan the next morning, I noticed the "water" was colored. I tested it and it was almost 7% sugar.

Either something is wrong with my flue pan or I did not do something right. Curious as to how you push with water. Thanks.

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. You will not get all of the sugar out of the evaporator with water as it is diluting the mix. so 7% for a few gallons may not be much of a loss when making lots of syrup on the evaporator.
So here is some more info on my operation.
Evaporator had maybe 100 gallons of sweet in it from night before. Maybe it was 10%?? So this would have maybe make 10 gallons of syrup? Brought in another 350 gallons 2% sap of sap next day. And was planning to finish with water for the end season. Boiled until the sap was gone started water behind the sap. Finished making syrup until the temp would not get above 212 F. made 17 gallons of syrup. Last gallon or so of syrup made does not have as good flavor due to the water.
Yes the water that was still in the evaporator had some color and may have had some sugar.
The other option would be to cool and drain the evaporator and take the sweet to a smaller evaporator/pan to finish.
Regards,
Chris