Where did my syrup go?

[cfenton86]

First year with raised flue evaporator. I understand that when I first started boiling it was going to take quite a bit of sap ran through the evap before drawing syrup. I have been consistently drawing syrup once the pan was sweetened. So far this season I have boiled 1400 gal of sap. I have 15gal of syrup bottled. Last night I emptied the front pan and have about 6 gallon that I am goin to put on finish pan plus I had 3 gallon of syrup that I had drew off on last boil but hadn't filtered. The back flue pan I have not drained yet and am gussing there is about 20 gal of unfinished sap/syrup in there. I checked all sap going into pan at and was consistently 2%.

15 gallon bottled
6 gallon from front + 3 gallon of unfiltered should produce 6-7 gallon of syrup

15+7=22 gallon syrup

PROBLEM: 1400 gallon of sap at 2% = 32 gallon of syrup

Where is the other 10gal of syrup???

I can't believe that there is 10 gallon of syrup in the flue pan out of the 20 gallon of sap/syrup still sitting in there!

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I did 1560 gallons of sap and got 28 gallons on flat pans......are you sure your sap is at 2%. A lot of times that's just a hopeful number.

[Sugarmaker]

I would double check your instrument for checking sap sugar content. I had a sap hydrometer that was 1 brix high! Calibrate with water and see if it is zero.
You made a good pile of syrup!
Regards,
Chris

[GV2]

I used a sap hydrometer for 5 ears and this year I purchased a temperature compensating refractometer and calibrated as instructed. After working to get the 2 tools in agreement it looked like I was boiling sap just above/below 2% throughout my season. After doing the "wrap-up" math I was at 84 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup or 1.03% sap. Go figure!

[DaveB]

I've had that happen where I think I have a certain amount of sap and expect a certain amount of syrup but always wind up with less. I know I was amazed when I first discovered how much syrup I was leaving behind in my evaporator. Now I always draw that off and finish it elsewhere.

If you are certain that your sap was 2%, you might have had less sap than you thought. While it's easier to measure the sugar content, it's harder to measure how much that you have. If you're off by 25-50 gallons every few days, that adds up. The sugar isn't going anywhere so the only thing that can vary is the actual amount of sap that you have. Let's say your tank has a line on it with a number that says "150" and that number is actually calibrated and accurate. Then let's say that your truck is not perfectly level. You think you have 150 gallons but when it's level it's really 130 or 180 gallons. Like I said, that number is only good if the number is accurate which I don't think we really know if it is. I think it's in the ballpark, but I wouldn't do my measurements based on that.

I don't doubt your sugar content but how about the number of gallons of sap that you had?

[cfenton86]

All very good points. I measured all the sap coming in and it was always 2%. I agree, I may have a faulty hydrometer. As far as knowing how much sap I have boiled, I have a 40 gallon tank above the evap that supplies sap to preheater. When it gets to the 10 mark I fill back to 40 and check on a sheet that another 30 was boiled. It's not the end of the world but it is a little frustrating trying to figure out what is going on. Thanks guys

[maple flats]

Do you have a hood? If yes, test the "water" that drains from the hood. You could be having sweet jumping (boiling geysers) landing in the hood gutter. Then again finish everything and see what you get.
How much did you put in the pan when you got your first draw? That is likely close to what is in there now, and it started at 2%.

[cfenton86]

Do you have a hood? If yes, test the "water" that drains from the hood. You could be having sweet jumping (boiling geysers) landing in the hood gutter.

This was also a concern of mine. I have also wondered if my preheater may have a leak that is dripping into my condensation tray that drains out the back of the evap. I will be checking the drain water tonight when we start up

[Waynehere]

I would double check your instrument for checking sap sugar content. I had a sap hydrometer that was 1 brix high! Calibrate with water and see if it is zero.
You made a good pile of syrup!
Regards,
Chris

Wow, great idea I never even thought of.... I was getting 1.5% all season from my huge yard trees that were always giving 3-3.5% in previous years. I tried my hydrometer in plain water and found it was .5% low. So that makes me feel better that I have been getting 2% all season... Great idea.... Now to get a new sap hydrometer. :)

[Sugarmaker]

The old rule of 86 works, I guess its been upgraded to rule of 87 ? Anyway if your not getting what you expect then You need to check everything from the tree to the draw off. As mentioned water going in is not good and sap going down the drain is not good either. Calibrate, check and look.
Your doing a good job looking at your numbers, and questioning the results. Sugar content to finished product should work out, if not question everything:) or just keep making syrup.
Example
I log all the sap we bring in. This year our 650 taps produced approximately 6622 gallons of sap and we made approximately 154 gallons of syrup from that sap. Also boiled sap from two other friends and made 30 gallons of syrup for them.
Regards,
Chris