any way to re-process dark syrup into light syrup?

[Helicopter Seeds]

Just finished a 3 gallon batch, took about 110 gallons to do it. It is a darker batch than I have made before, still tastes good.

Just wondering if additional filtering would lighten it up. If I added a pint of water, filtered, re finish boiled and filtered again, would it get any lighter?

[leaky bucket]

No way I know or heard of to lighten syrup . a filter presswill lighten it a little but not a grade or so colour has everything to do with boiling time and heat and also pan cleaning. You said you added water and boiled more ! What brix is your batch ? Should shoot for 67 brix .
Pans should be changed \ cleaned every 4 -6 hr boiling and the flue pan drained and washed every day. If wood fired . hot fire , fueled every 2 min or so . then you may get lighter syrup . it's not easy.

Mike

[Helicopter Seeds]

Thanks Mike,
I used the hydrometer, so it's good there, actually going to re-check at 60 degrees F.
I cleaned the pans from last batch, but did not really polish them down, just hit them with scour pad to knock off scale. this is second day of boiling, so definitely more time .. Why would that cause it to darken?

Hard to stop that frequently without getting to much fumes.. next year I need fire covers for when they are not on.

[Cedar Eater]

The biggest factor in darkening is high skin temp of the pan. If you could keep the skin temp below the caramelization temp of sucrose you would get very light syrup. It would take you forever to boil it though.

[Ray_Nagle]

I've seen Dr. Tim say that bacteria is a big part of the syrup color (I think he said the other big factor is boil time as mentioned above). More bacteria in your process (from tap to evaporator) means darker syrup. During warm periods since the season started, I've gone out and cleaned all my collection buckets with a solution of bleach and water a few times. Not sure if the cleaning was responsible, but my syrup has been much lighter this year.

[abbott]

First: Why do you want it to be lighter? There's absolutely nothing wrong with good tasting dark syrup.
Second: The biggest thing you can do to change the color is to boil it promptly after it comes out of the tree. Especially if it is warm outside. The cleaning measures Mike suggests could help you make lighter syrup, but are probably way more effort than they are worth. I clean my syrup pan maybe every 30-40 hrs of boiling and my flue pan 1-2 times during the season. But it makes a bigger difference late in the year when the niter builds up faster.
Third: Once you have syrup, there is no (ethical) way to lighten it. Adding water and boiling it down again will only darken it more. After all, boil time is one of the factors in darkening the syrup in the first place.

[Sugarmaker]

Enjoy the dark syrup!
Regards,
Chris

[saphound]

The only way I can think of is to mix it in with a lot of light syrup...if you happen to make some in the future. Of course that will darken your light syrup some depending on the ratio, but you'll end up with something lighter than you have now. Personally, I prefer the amber over the light color.

[DrTimPerkins]

Once you have syrup, there is no (ethical) way to lighten it.

I agree, but would have said instead, there is no LEGAL way to lighten it. The illegal ways we have methods to detect, but I won't share the details. :D

Color formation is due primarily to microbial conversion of some portion (fairly small) of the sucrose in sap to invert sugar (glucose + fructose). Invert sugars are much more active in Maillard reactions (a series of chemical reactions of sugars, amino acids and other constituents found in sap) to form color and flavor. Secondarily, invert sugars caramelize at far lower temperatures than sucrose.

So the answer is no....you can't LEGALLY make your syrup lighter other than by blending light syrup in with the dark to make something in between.

[Helicopter Seeds]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I like the syrup myself, but as I was hoping to sell some this year I wanted to be prepared for any market feedback... It is delicious and clear. Just dark.

The other reason I ask is that there happens to be this grading system for color, and the darker stuff doesn't sound as good. Who wouldn't want grade "A"?

I am not even putting the grading letter on my bottles for that reason. Of course, I could use the opaque plastic bottles for this batch.

and TOTALLY not interested in messing with it by adding chemicals, or anything else unethical let alone illegal. I am not even comfortable with using RO, but I have read a lot of the claims that it doesn't affect flavor.

Sounds like the most important thing I can control is to boil sooner after collection, although this batch had ice in it all week, so it never got warm. I'll have to boil mid week perhaps.

Maybe also an effect of tapping early (January 23rd) like as was intently debated here. They haven't slowed down at all though. If this is a sign that I have microbial action in my drill holes, then I expect to be wrapping up shortly too. The sap looks and tastes the same, but if it is as Dr. Tim says, only a small portion needs to be converted, I probably would not even notice.

[DrTimPerkins]

Sounds like the most important thing I can control is to boil sooner after collection, although this batch had ice in it all week, so it never got warm. I'll have to boil mid week perhaps.

Maybe also an effect of tapping early (January 23rd) like as was intently debated here. They haven't slowed down at all though. If this is a sign that I have microbial action in my drill holes, then I expect to be wrapping up shortly too. The sap looks and tastes the same, but if it is as Dr. Tim says, only a small portion needs to be converted, I probably would not even notice.

Yes. For light syrup, keep it cold and process it quickly. The microbes in this case are not in the tapholes so much as in the collection equipment (tubing or buckets) and in the storage tanks. Microbes in tapholes affect the compartmentalization process, and thus sap yields (especially in the 2nd half of any season).

[maple flats]

My fastest seller is dark syrup, enjoy. As long as it has no off flavor you have the best product. However, you can blend to get light. Just take about 500-1000 gal. of golden and blend in 1 gal of dark, you might even get away with 2 gal of dark. As you blend, the mix darkens rather fast, but getting it lighter is almost impossible.

[Eds Constructors]

I have produced both light and amber this year, and I must ask,what is the difference between the two? My first batch of the year was light and since have been amber. Times between boils have been close, as well as boil times) first boil was all freshly cleaned everything! I have been cleaning all pans everytime, but not buckets,collectors, or storage. Is that the reason for change? Also if sap is frozen,(mother nature) is it the same as fresh sap when thawed? And could a 35 gal barrel of sap be reduced to actual syrup? Will be eagerly awaiting! Lol
Thanks ahead

[Run Forest Run!]

Ed, you are doing everything right. And, yes, frozen sap is the same as fresh when it is thawed. As the sugaring season progresses the colour of the finished syrup will usually change several times over. The trees and Mother Nature decide for the most part. You can have light one time, dark the next and light after that. It's always a surprise.

[Sugarmaker]

My fastest seller is dark syrup, enjoy. As long as it has no off flavor you have the best product. However, you can blend to get light. Just take about 500-1000 gal. of golden and blend in 1 gal of dark, you might even get away with 2 gal of dark. As you blend, the mix darkens rather fast, but getting it lighter is almost impossible.

Dave,
Good summary!:)
Regards,
Chris

[maple flats]

While freezing will not yield syrup, it has been called the poor man's RO. When a portion has frozen but much is still liquid, throw out the ice, it contains such a small amount of sugar that it's not worth boiling, what is left then has a higher sugar %.