First time tapping, Light pink sap and other questions.

[Kirkstead]

Hey everybody, this is my first year tapping. I'm from central NJ, and I'm really excited about all of this because everyone in my family thought I was crazy and said only trees in Canada in Vermont have syrup and now I'm bringing buckets of sap back from the woods! I have 50 trees I'm going to tap this year and I've got ten tapped so far. All of them are reds at least 20 inches in diameter. For some reason one of the trees keeps giving me what seems to be a light pink sap, none of the others look like this. Has anyone had this happen? Should I toss it or boil it with the rest? Also, I have access to free food grade buckets that had cooking oil in them. I read in one article that you couldn't have even the slightest bit of oil in the sap or it'll ruin it. The buckets are completely washed and cut of any oil residue. Am I safe to use them? Any information would be great.

[GeneralStark]

Off colored sap when using buckets is often the result of rain washing or snow melting across the tree and dripping into the bucket. Whether or not to boil it is up to your judgement.

[Kirkstead]

Off colored sap when using buckets is often the result of rain washing or snow melting across the tree and dripping into the bucket. Whether or not to boil it is up to your judgement.

could this be the cause even if the buckets have sealed lids and the tube going in is sealed around the outside? Thanks for your input.

[GeneralStark]

If it is completely sealed then likely not the cause. Perhaps you drilled into a pocket of bad wood when you tapped? Do you happen to remember if the drill bit shavings were white when you tapped the tree?

[psparr]

How long was the sap in the buckets? And how warm was it? I've had buckets grow a nice pink some king of microbe in them. It settles to the bottom after a while. Usually happens toward the end of the season though.

[psparr]

As far as the buckets are concerned, canola oil is used as a defoamer.

[Kirkstead]

As far as I can remember the shavings were yellowish white ish? The temperature when I collected it was around 39 and the sap was sitting for about 12 hours.

[lpakiz]

Bring a little of it up to boil on the kitchen stove. If the steam smells OK, I'd go for it.
If you are still apprehensive, boil it separately. Probably could get away with boiling it inside on the kitchen stove. If it's almost syrup and still smells and tastes good, finish it there, or dump it back in your flue pan.