Need recomendations for Hydrometer and Therometer

[claystroup]

I am a newbie and will be sugaring for the 1st time next spring. I have been gathering and buying the needed equipment to get started on a small scale (15-20 taps next year to start). I need to buy a hydrometer (short or tall?) and Hydrometer Cup (short or tall and 1" or 2"?) and thermometer for my batch pan evaporator (2' x 3') and finishing set up (stainless steel stock pot on a gas turkey fryer burner). What would be recommended for a setup such as this? I don't want to buy a 1" test cup and find out later I should have bought a 2", etc. I would eventually like to expand as I have about 40 trees I can tap on my property plus another 10 or so on my neighbors. If all goes well this next year my plans are to upgrade to a larger evaporator like a 2 x 4 Mason continuous flow but that's about as big as I would like to get. But I am retiring May 2016 so those plans could change if I really get into this! Thanks, Clay

[maple flats]

Clay, welcome to our little group. Please be warned, this is addictive. You can start with 15-20 taps and before you know it you grow to 1000 and can't stop there.
While a hydrometer cup will likely be in your future, you can just use a cup made from 1.5" or even better 2" PVC pipe with a cap glued on one end. 2" would only be better because it will hold a larger volume and thus not lose temp as fast. You will still want to fill it, dump back in the container it came from (that was at boiling temp) and fill again, to get the cup heated enough. Then slowly lower the hydrometer in and get the reading. If you want to go first rate, start now with Murphy Cup. With that you don't need to even know what the temperature is at, you just fill the cup and lower the hydrometer into it. The dial will tell you what the hydrometer should read at that temperature. If it reads less, you need to boil more, if it reads higher you need to dilute it, with either sap or distilled water or any good clean potable water is ok. In reality the dial on the Murphy Cup is a thermometer, but rather than having the degrees marked it has the ideal density reading at that temperature.
The longer the hydrometer the more accurately you can get a reading. In general short is a basic model for sap buying and long gives a more precise reading. I'm not aware of different lengths in syrup hydrometers. You don't really need a sap hyrometer, unless you are a figures type of guy who needs to know all the readings. I didn't get a sap hydrometer until I had been making syrup for a few years.

[ScottyWelden]

Dave (and Clay), please excuse me for butting in, but I was considering using a hydrometer next year (my 2nd)--and the pvc idea sounds great. I hear the hydrometers are prone to breaking, and pvc would seems to be a gentler cup, less likely to crack a hydrometer. Would you agree? --oh, Clay, I had a blast my first season.

[n8hutch]

Go with the 2" hydrometer cup, we let a guy talk us into a 1" cup a few years back and we didn't like it. Ended up going back to our old 2" cup. I Agree with Dave, I am going to get a Murphy cup this year from Smokey Lake .

[maple flats]

Yes a PVC cup is easier on a hydrometer, but the cup is not how they usually get broken. The end you pick them up by is small and can be slippery. They get droppen on the floor. You never get another chance when you drop it. A thing to realize with a hydrometer is that it must be lowered slowly into what ever cup or even a pot full of syrup you are testing. The paper with the numbers on it inside the hydrometer will slide down a little if you drop it into the liquid, then it gives a false reading. When you get a new hydrometer, lay it in the box it came in, hold it tight to the end of the box on the small end and mark the box to match the red line labeled 211 F. Then if it gets moved you can gently tap the small end of the hydrometer somewhat like you would to re seat the loose head of a hammer. repeat until the red line aligns with the line you marked in the box. It is now accurate again. When doing this bring the small end down on a slightly padded surface, it might be your hand, maybe it will need to be firmer.

[lpakiz]

I would add, that the height of the cup should be 1 inch shorter than the hydrometer. This allows you to hold in to the hydrometer until it rests on the bottom. If it rises, note the point that it floats at. Then remove it, clean it and re-insert it to the approximate point where it will float. Now you can release it with no danger if it dropping to the bottom of the cup, invariably breaking the last hydrometer in your county.
If money is any consideration, you can do without a thermometer and still make goods syrup with only a hydrometer.

[Super Sapper]

You can also use a briefcase thermos for a cup. You can find them at Goodwill for a bout a buck if you want.

[unc23win]

You want your hydrometer and cup to be the same length they do sell long and short cups and hydrometers for sap and syrup. Longer is more accurate basically because its easier to read (the marks are spaced out more). So a long hydrometer = long cup. I like long hydrometers and long 2" cups. You can see them at www.mapleguys.com and www.bascommaple.com. You can make a hydrometer cup as mentioned the key is how fast the temperature drops and having enough height of syrup to make it float. The Murphy Cup is an awesome idea if you want to spend the $ note their standard is for short hydrometers I special ordered a longer one. Some people use Amish cups which are stainless and a little cheaper. Good luck and welcome.

[Moser's Maple]

just to add a little something would be with what ever you decide on for a hydrometer and thermometer I would suggest to buy at least 2 of each so you have a back up. I'm also partial to certified hydrometers because they have gone through the certification process and have met the accuracy criteria.

[maple flats]

While i'm not familiar with the graduations on a short syrup hydrometer (never have seen one), if it is like the sap hydrometers, the long has lines at 1/10 brix, while the short has lines at 1/4 brix. This is why the long is easier to get the reading more accurately. If the long vs. short syrup hydrometer are the same, it is easier to read to .1 brix than .25 brix accurately. Another point is actually learning how to correctly read the hydrometer.

[unc23win]

just to add a little something would be with what ever you decide on for a hydrometer and thermometer I would suggest to buy at least 2 of each so you have a back up. I'm also partial to certified hydrometers because they have gone through the certification process and have met the accuracy criteria.

I keep 4 new on hand of both syrup and sap and use certified only. They were on sale this spring so I replaced 1 of each after I broke 1 of each this season. Like most things sap/syrup related an inventory on hand is always good to have.

[maple flats]

I have 2 long ones for sap and 4 or 5 for syrup. I probably shouldn't say this, but since 2003 I've only broken 1. I had 1 long sap, 1 short sap and 2 syrup then I bought all a guy had along with my first finisher and lots of other goodies when he needed cash as he was getting into business for himself and needed start up cash, he had 3 long syrup. I finally bought a spare long sap this year, as I got to thinking what a bind I'd be in if I broke a sap one and had some sap to buy. Trying to buy sap using my short hydrometer would prove a challenge to read the sugar % accurately enough to be fair to both sides.

[claystroup]

A big thanks to everyone and the info you have provided, I know what direction I want to go now. Thanks again, Clay

[WMF]

The Leader long stem syrup hydro is the best one that I know of out in the marketplace right now. They are a bit more expensive and are more fragile but how much is accuracy finishing syrup worth ? Buy two so when you drop one you can still finish the job.

[bstewar]

I keep a spare on hand and without fail, I end up using my spare after breaking my hydrometer every season. This year I broke my hydrometer on the last day after boiling - trying to put it in the box.

[maple flats]

Mine are all stored in the box or tube they came in. Some came in a box, others came in a clear plastic tube with foam at each end, the bottom has a solid foam and the top has a hole cut in the foam to slide over the hydrometer neck. So far, so good.