Timing Questions when boiling

[O3C]

I have some questions regarding when to do some things when boiling. I have spent several nights reading and searching the archives, but am still a little confused on some things. For some background, this is my second year with maple syrup. We have a seasonal dairy herd that we sold last year to a son and daughter in law, so we never had time to try anything like this ,but I am hooked ! I built an oil tank firebox with a 30 x 48 flat pan that was an old milk tank lid, so it is only 2 inches deep. The sap comes in one corner and exits the opposite side corner with 2 dividers lengthwise and has a valve at the syrup corner. I used this last year but had no idea when to let the syrup into a pot on a propane turkey cooker. We made about 2 gallons of syrup that we finished on the kitchen stove, filtered through some milk filters , and canned in mason jars. So here goes the questions: I am planning on boiling the sap until it is layering off of a spoon near the valve, then letting the near finished syrup into a pot on the turkey cooker and finishing it there with a hydrometer. Some of that sap will have been in that one corner for6-8 hours on a hard boil, Is there a chance of it being too hot for too long ? The threads about sweetening a pan and just leaving it there till the next boil, it will probably be a week until I have enough sap, is that too long for it to sit ? Should I let it cool, pour in a 5 gallon bucket and stick it in the fridge until the next boil ? I will be filtering going from the evaporator to the turkey cooker and my pot has a valve on it that sits about 1\2 inch off the bottom. So can I either filter again before bottling at 195 or letting it sit in the fridge for a day and then bottling cold letting it settle out in the pot ? Is one better than the other ? Is sugar sand the same as nitre ? I have to admit, I am pretty jealous of you multi generation sugar makers that have family members that can talk you through the problems before they turn into trainwrecks, especially when you only get one crack at this a year ! Thanks, Ron

[Shaun]

If the weather is cold it is fine to sit for a week. I am taking a year off to build a sugar house. I tapped 2 trees for the kids that's all. I will just keep adding sap to the same finish pan and boil when the sap flows on a turkey fryer for a week/month. When the weather stays above 50 for an extended period I may drain my pan? By then the season is usually winding down.

Any filtering should be done hot. If the syrup is for home consumption a few pre filters is fine. May be some sediment in the bottle, not much. Sugar sand is the same as Nitre.

[Sugarmaker]

Wow, You have a lot going on in your post.
First your pan may not work well. I have syrup levels at 1.5 inches and syrup boils up to 5-6 inches deep when ready to come off. You may have some boil over? I guess your just using this 2 inch deep pan as a preheater pan and finishing in the propane pot?
Keeping sap cold will never hurt it. You were in the dariy business. You should handle sap in a similar manner. Did you let your milk set out for days? So if you have boiled the sap it will keep longer than raw sap.
First make sure your syrup is 67 Brix.
filter as hot as possible.
heat syrup too only 180 max for canning.
Have fun with your new hobby.
Regards,
Chris

[O3C]

Sorry for all the questions at once. To be a little clearer, I have the sap running into an old flat top bulk tank until I am ready to boil. I was just a little suspect to the idea of leaving the sweet unrefrigerated. So if I get to syrup and filtered and don't have time to bottle, I can heat it back up to 180 to bottle, will that disturb the nitre and have to be filtered again, or does it have to boil to disturb the nitre ? Hope that question makes sense, Thanks, Ron

[cfenton86]

If you don't have time to bottle don't worry. Just heat it back up when your ready just like you said. I would go a little closer to 190 just to leave a little room. Heating will not disturb sugar sand

[maple flats]

You are best to heat it to over 190, then filter it. That can all be done in bigger batches by adding several smaller batches. Then after you filter it, only heat it to 180-185 for canning and don't let too much water vapor escape to condense it more or you may need to filter again.

[O3C]

Thanks for all replies, also found a thread that really helps that you guys already responded to from Feb 3. I'm sure you get tired responding to the same questions all the time , but it really helps. thank You, Ron