Finish by temp only

[acorn roadster]

Another first timer here. I am finishing by temperature only because I don't want to spend any more money so no hydrometer. I have taken my syrup to 219-220 but it still seems thin. Also no niter formed after letting it sit for a few days. Should I keep going hotter? Water boils at 212 every time I've tested. How hot is too hot to go? Is going by temperature alone just going to be a crapshoot?

[brass maple]

Is syrup sheeting of a large spoon. I use a large metal grill spatula. If you get large sheets of syrup falling off of it, you are close if not at syrup

[buckeye gold]

Yes going by temperature alone is somewhat of a crap shoot. However, if it's for personal use only your probably close enough at 219-220. I never could get the sheeting thing when I first started, it takes a trained eye. I do notice that if I dip some up in a glass measuring cup and pour it out syrup will stick to the sides and sheet off, but thin concentrate will pour out pretty quick and clean. To me $17-20 for a hydrometer is not a big expense if your going to continue. I would not attempt to make syrup without one.

[happy thoughts]

Going by temp alone can be a crapshoot. Not all thermometers are accurate and some types are more accurate than others. You need to be careful about touching the sides or bottom of the pan when taking a reading and the syrup needs to be deep enough so the temp sensing part is submerged.

If your operation is too small to justify a hydrometer purchase then look for sheeting like brass maple suggests. Here's a picture of aproning or sheeting. If it drips in single drops off the side of a spoon or spatula, it's not done yet. It should look like a curtain

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5254/5587900466_bd3380a05e.jpg

[CampHamp]

How hot is too hot to go? Is going by temperature alone just going to be a crapshoot?

I think it's only a crapshoot if you don't set your baseline in water first - but if max water temp is 212 at that same hour, then you have syrup at 219. Above that number by a couple degrees then you'll have less syrup and it will form crystals in the bottle over time (like rock candy).

[happy thoughts]

Even if temp is accurate at predicting density, +7 F isn't going to get you quite to syrup. 66 brix is theoretically reached at +7.1 degrees F and 66.9 brix, the VT standard, at +7.5 F above water's boiling point. Those decimals of degrees can make a big difference since since sugar concentration directly affects syrups boiling point.

[Cedar Eater]

I finish by temp, but I check it with the sheeting method. My digital thermometer always reads the boiling temp of water at somewhere between 216 and 216.5*F, so I just bring the temp up until it first starts to tickle 224. I shut it off then to check for sheeting and I always have it by then. I still get some crystals in about a third of my jars.

[saphound]

I'd like to know how you're not getting any niter. Niter doesn't form after a few days, it forms while boiling over 200 or so degrees. But anyway, if your syrup seems thin after it's completely cool, take it a couple degrees higher, say 222-223. It might end up a little heavy, but it won't be thin. That's the way I like it, myself.

[bill m]

If you are selling syrup to the public the sheeting method is not accurate enough. Why not just buy a hydrometer? A thermometer that will be accurate enough will cost more then a hydrometer. If using a thermometer you must check it in a pot of boiling water 2 or 3 times a day because it will change with the barometric pressure. Today I boiled water to clean my evaporator. It started at 211.3 at 10 AM, by 1 PM it was up to 211.8 and at the end of the day ( 4:00 ) it was back down to 211.4

[Eds Constructors]

In several of the "old time" country hardware stores here in CNY, they sell maple supplies and I noticed that the thermometers had marks at several locations indicating sugar, candy, and syrup was at 230 degrees. I am only in my second year but noticed on my 3 different thermometers, all read different ,but all were boiled around 223 and still were shy on the hydrometer 65 brix. I just didn't want to burn it. I've had the pleasure of having syrup over boil on my stovetop, NOT FUN!. I'm sticking at 65-66 or 220 at 60 seconds never turning away to even blink-lol

[happy thoughts]

If you are selling syrup to the public the sheeting method is not accurate enough. Why not just buy a hydrometer? A thermometer that will be accurate enough will cost more then a hydrometer. If using a thermometer you must check it in a pot of boiling water 2 or 3 times a day because it will change with the barometric pressure. Today I boiled water to clean my evaporator. It started at 211.3 at 10 AM, by 1 PM it was up to 211.8 and at the end of the day ( 4:00 ) it was back down to 211.4

For a small home producer with no intention to sell, sheeting works well enough. I've been using it for the last 10 years and have never had a bottle spoil or crystallize. One reason I don't buy a hydrometer is because they aren't easily found in my area and when I find them they are $30+. For that price I can almost buy a gallon of syrup. It is also a fragile instrument with a single use. Most people here say to but two because you will break one. I can use a my $20 digital thermometer for a lot more than just making syrup. But yes, If you're selling you'll need a hydrometer.

[Joe Hillmann]

Another way to tell when it is done is the bubbles will be tiny, about the size of pin heads and it will foam up very easily.

[Cedar Eater]

If you are selling syrup to the public the sheeting method is not accurate enough. Why not just buy a hydrometer? A thermometer that will be accurate enough will cost more then a hydrometer. If using a thermometer you must check it in a pot of boiling water 2 or 3 times a day because it will change with the barometric pressure. Today I boiled water to clean my evaporator. It started at 211.3 at 10 AM, by 1 PM it was up to 211.8 and at the end of the day ( 4:00 ) it was back down to 211.4

In my case, I'm not selling to the public. And American Indians made syrup and they didn't even have thermometers, much less hydrometers. And a hydrometer won't help me when I'm engaging in another of my hobbies, smoking meats. The problem with the sheeting method if you do it right is that you will be over the optimum and will be making some rock candy, which dissolves quite well into cheap Canadian whiskey.

[Cedar Eater]

Another way to tell when it is done is the bubbles will be tiny, about the size of pin heads and it will foam up very easily.

I like to go a bit past that point. I just turn the fire way down and let it slowly come up on the right temperature.

[Ravenseye]

I'm never done at 7+ degrees over boiling and my hydrometer tells me that. Bad thermometer I guess but I wait until the tiny bubbles start to crawl up the finishing pot and then I'm almost done.

[DrTimPerkins]

Is going by temperature alone just going to be a crapshoot?

It is not a crapshoot, but it also isn't fishing shoot in a barrel. Temperature elevation is going to get you in the ballpark, but will not guarantee that you won't be slightly high or slightly low. If this isn't a bother to you, and you're not selling syrup, then it isn't a problem.

So why isn't it possible to get right on the correct density with a thermometer? Besides the issues related to elevation and barometric pressure affecting the boiling point of water, there are several other factors that conspire to make it difficult to be precise. First, how good is your thermometer (and your measurement technique)? When was it last calibrated (can it be calibrated)? Can you read it to the tenth of a degree, half a degree, a degree, two degrees? You really need to be able to read it within at least half a degree for it to be useful in this way. Is it a stem type, dial type, or electronic? All have certain issues you need to be careful about. Electronic thermometers are often the least sensitive, but people seem to think that because it shows a number (maybe out to 2 digits after the decimal point) that it is actually accurate to that point. If it is an electronic thermocouple, it could be off by +/- 2 deg F and still be considered to be "correct", because that type of instrument naturally has high error limits. In addition, PURE sucrose solutions have very strong relationships between Boiling Point Elevation (BPE) and density, but maple sap/syrup isn't typically a PURE sucrose solution....it has some other things in there (invert sugars, amino acids, defoamer), which vary from batch to batch and thus affect the density/temperature relationship. Finally, at the proper finishing density, the relationship between density and temperature is strongly curvilinear, and going up very steeply just at that point, so even a very small change in temperature results in a high amount of change in density (see figure below). So being off in your measurement just a little due to any of these things can result in a fairly sizeable difference in density, and given that many of these factors can change over the season, it isn't surprising that you can be off somewhat from time to time if you use temperature alone to determine your finishing point. Either live with it, or if you want/need to get a better handle on density, get a hydrometer or refractometer.

13910

[DrTimPerkins]

... American Indians made syrup and they didn't even have thermometers, much less hydrometers.

Actually, Native Americans made predominantly sugar (as did the early colonists). Far easier to store and transport a solid than it is a liquid.

[Cedar Eater]

Actually, Native Americans made predominantly sugar (as did the early colonists). Far easier to store and transport a solid than it is a liquid.

I knew that, Doc. I was just trying to get the most out of my Luddite response to the "buy a hydrometer" meme. :lol: I take pride in making syrup that is good enough. If I could make my own hydrometer by scribing a line on a test tube and dropping the right number of BBs into it to match the density of syrup, I would probably do it, because that would be cool.

[johnpma]

Tractor Supply out here has syrup hydometers 20% off so about $16.00......I use a small thermos for my test cup Has plenty of room for both the hydrometer and the thermometer

Finished for a few years by temp....hydrometer is worth the investment

[Galena]

Interesting thread. I'm a hobbyist so I take a three-pronged approach: I go temp, bubbles and sheeting. I like to see those tiny bubbles that make the surface of the syrup look like almost like suede. I use the sheeting method to see how thick and slow the drops and aprons get - if the 4th drop is hanging there forever, I usually am done. And yes I use a regular candy therm (though difficult to read as both my reading glasses and the therm itself get steamed up). can't speak for the first few years I did this but in the last 3 or so, pretty sure I haven't finished off a batch at less than 221. 222-224 is the range at which I usually go for, and get all those microbubbles and aprons off a big stainless steel spoon.

I did have a hydrotherm but it broke as it kept dropping to the bottom of the cup and cracked the glass. However, I now want to start entering syrup in competition, so will be taking some to a local guy who judges at the fairs and has a refractometer etc and a knowledgeable palate. Will be interesting to see how close to Brix I have been getting!

[saphound]

Another first timer here. I am finishing by temperature only because I don't want to spend any more money so no hydrometer. I have taken my syrup to 219-220 but it still seems thin. Also no niter formed after letting it sit for a few days. Should I keep going hotter? Water boils at 212 every time I've tested. How hot is too hot to go? Is going by temperature alone just going to be a crapshoot?

Ok, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that a first timer..that doesn't want to spend any more money, :lol:... and making his first post, is not making syrup to sell.
That said, yes it can be a crap shoot going by temp alone, density goes up fast at that critical time at the end, as Dr Tim says. Also frustrating is you can have 4 or 5 different thermometers, dial, digital and glass candy(mercury?), like I do and they don't all agree. But it doesn't really have to be accurate, you just have to use the same one each time. If he's stopping at 219-220 and the syrup is thin to his liking, go a degree or two higher. Still too thin, go higher. Take notes, you'll find your sweet spot with that thermometer. Another trick I've learned besides sheeting, is at 220, I kill the heat and dribble a little on a room temperature plate. It quickly cools down, then try to wipe it off with your finger for a taste. You can visually see if it's thin at that point if it doesn't want to stay on your finger on the way to your mouth. Then I'll take it to 221 and check it again. If you can't wipe it off the plate without leaving a stubborn sticky maple "glue" on the plate, you better thin it a little or you're going to have sugar crystals form in your syrup. My sweet spot with my thermometer is 223, yours could be different. I have been checking it with a hydrometer and the hot test reads about half way between 59 and 60. The last batch I made was very small, had about 7 gals of sap to either boil before it spoiled or toss out. I boiled it, but it didn't make enough syrup to even fill my test cup, so a thermometer test was all I had. Made a nice pint of syrup with that sap. :)

[johnallin]

And I'm going out on a limb by saying $16 to check density accurately would seem to be reasonable considering the time spent to get to that far in the process - hobby or not.
You may get close without one, but you also may be cheating yourself by not knowing that you've made perfect syrup.

Here's the limb part...send me a PM and I will send you a hydrometer, no charge and no strings. I received tons of help early on this is my way of passing it on.
Please don't choke on $16, there will be many more expensive items down the road for that...ie. fancy bottles, pans, labels. Make good syrup first - the rest will fall into place.

[brass maple]

I always find that the7+degree rule works for me. As my pan starts to boil I let it start a rolling boil and check my digital thermometer at that point. Add 7.2 degrees and I have syrup. Checked it with a hydrometer many times and am close enough that for my own use don't even worry about it. I always find that where I'm located the boiling point is from 209 to 210. And to back it up I have an app on my phone that uses elevation and barometric pressure to give boiling point. So far it seems to be accurate

[bill in il]

I am an inexperienced year 4 sugar maker trying to help you learn from my mistakes. I did my first year like you with temp only. I made syrup and didn't kill anyone in the process. My second year I got a hydrometer and realized I need to take mine to 221.5 or so to have proper density. That was after checking in boiling water to calibrate and it showed 213 so the plus 7 rule is great on paper but not in practice.

[saphound]

That's a very generous offer John, but with all due respect to all the fine producers here, I find the legally "perfect" syrup, imperfect. Before I started making my own, I used to buy legally perfect syrup and it is too thin, especially if you warm it up, which I like to do. Now that's just my opinion, but others have said the same thing..they like it a little heavier. I do have a hydrometer, and I want to see the red line just a hair above the syrup. If I were selling it, I wouldn't...less syrup to sell. That red line is a minimum, not a maximum. There is room to go a little heavier, not much, but a little, to avoid a bad sugar crystal problem. Anyone making syrup for their own use, gets to decide what perfect is. Just my opinion. ;)

[johnallin]

That's a very generous offer John

Thank you. I wasn't referring to legally "perfect" syrup but that for a seemingly small investment, the new maker would be able to easily determine if she/he was at or above proper density. What happens after that is personal choice, anything below that is not syrup.

Unfortunately lots of syrup sold by the big chains is poor quality and possibly not to standard. Similar to your experience, I never liked Maple Syrup from the big stores...most of it was bitter tasting and thin. It wasn't until I made my own, and tried some local product from small producers, that I realized just how good it can be. A hydrometer and test cup was my second "real" purchase.

I don't rely on syrup for an income, for me it's a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy, but I do take a lot of pride in anything that I make. Over the years I've found that accurate measuring tools - and Knowing How To Use Them - play a big part in the quality of the finished product, whether it be syrup, a wood table or building a sailboat. As they say in the projects "One man's ceiling is another man's floor."

[Cedar Eater]

Here's the limb part...send me a PM and I will send you a hydrometer, no charge and no strings. I received tons of help early on this is my way of passing it on.

Thanks, but my objection to a hydrometer has nothing to do with money. I hear these stories of the "paper falling down inside" and the breakage, and the need to get an accurate measurement of the temperature when thermometers are notoriously inaccurate and I think to myself, "Why take the risk when the results could be just as much a crapshoot as measuring just the temperature?" At least with a thermometer, you can calibrate it or know the bias. Given its temperature dependency, how do you calibrate a hydrometer?

[saphound]

Thank you. I wasn't referring to legally "perfect" syrup but that for a seemingly small investment, the new maker would be able to easily determine if she/he was at or above proper density. What happens after that is personal choice, anything below that is not syrup.


I hear ya John, sorry for misunderstanding, I thought you were referring to legal syrup as perfect syrup. And I agree with your entire last response. The OP should invest in a hydrometer, heck I bought 3 hydrometers my first year..a long and short sap hydro and a long syrup hydrometer. I love tools..I've got more tools than Carter's got pills. But he pretty much stated he wasn't going to buy one (yet anyway), so just trying to help him with his question of the the thermometer only method. What ever happened to that guy anyway..3 pages later and he's never been back! :confused:

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Thanks, but my objection to a hydrometer has nothing to do with money. I hear these stories of the "paper falling down inside" and the breakage, and the need to get an accurate measurement of the temperature when thermometers are notoriously inaccurate and I think to myself, "Why take the risk when the results could be just as much a crapshoot as measuring just the temperature?" At least with a thermometer, you can calibrate it or know the bias. Given its temperature dependency, how do you calibrate a hydrometer?.

How can you object to a hydrometer if you have no idea how it works? It doesn't need to be calibrated. It just works. You can make syrup, under syrup, over syrup......whatever you want but it's a far superior tool to the thermometer.

[DrTimPerkins]

At least with a thermometer, you can calibrate it or know the bias. Given its temperature dependency, how do you calibrate a hydrometer?

Hydrometers aren't really that much different than thermometers. They can be calibrated. I strongly suggest that you purchase a Vermont calibrated hydrometer since these have all been tested for accuracy by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. I know for a fact that there have been entire batches of hydrometers submitted for testing that were destroyed because they were all off. Even after you've had them for a while, the calibration should still be checked periodically using a standard solution. Around here, and at many different Maple Association meetings I've been at, free hydrometer testing is quite common.

[saphound]

How do you calibrate a hydrometer? Suppose you had your hydrometer tested and it was off..can it be fixed/recalibrated?

[DrTimPerkins]

How do you calibrate a hydrometer? Suppose you had your hydrometer tested and it was off..can it be fixed/recalibrated?

Generally the position of the scale cannot be readjusted, but testing can reveal if it is reading a bit high or low. If it is, you need to manually adjust your result. Example....testing reveals it reads 0.5 points high, you subsequently subtract 0.5 points from every reading after that.

[saphound]

Gotcha..thanks Dr. Tim

[Cedar Eater]

Hydrometers aren't really that much different than thermometers. They can be calibrated. I strongly suggest that you purchase a Vermont calibrated hydrometer since these have all been tested for accuracy by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. I know for a fact that there have been entire batches of hydrometers submitted for testing that were destroyed because they were all off. Even after you've had them for a while, the calibration should still be checked periodically using a standard solution. Around here, and at many different Maple Association meetings I've been at, free hydrometer testing is quite common.

But you are still stuck with the probability of error due to improper temperature compensation and unrecognized slippage of the scale inside the tube. You're also still going to get variation from one mass-produced hydrometer to another. In my career years, I worked as an instrument systems engineer for a while. I know the weaknesses of simple and complex measurement systems. You even have to trust the making of standard solutions. Even if it's as easy as adding a cup of sugar to a quantity of water at a known temperature, you still have to trust the measuring devices for the sugar, water, and temperature. It all boils down (literally) to a SWAG, which is what I'm already doing anyway. Without the legal need for traceability to some industry standard for QA/QC reasons, I just don't see the point in bothering. It would be like a painter trying to meet an industry standard for blue when he painted a sky in a landscape painting.

[DrTimPerkins]

Careful measurement with calibrated instruments with care taken to minimize known errors will lead to a far better result than a SWAG. It all comes down to whether you wish to sell your syrup or it is all for personal use. If selling, you have an obligation to ensure that your syrup meets certain quality standards, which means that you should acquire the right instruments and use them correctly. If it is for your own use....do whatever you like, but don't be surprised that by using temperature elevation alone your syrup density isn't the same each time.

[Big_Eddy]

I take pride in making syrup that is good enough.

Cedar Eater - The majority of the members of this forum pride ourselves in making quality syrup. Food safe equipment and processes, correct density, correct filtration and correct grading. Too thin / too thick syrup, poorly filtered, with nitre deposits on the bottom may be "good enough" for you, but it isn't something to be proud of, and I wish you'd stop trying to convince us it is.

Spend $15 for an Orlon Filter and $15 for a hydrometer - You and your syrup recipients will be glad you did.

(Yes - I also read your nitre post where you stated "it costs a lot of money to make perfectly good syrup look as pretty as the commercial producers make it, but that it is really only a cosmetic difference and yours will taste better." )

[Cedar Eater]

Cedar Eater - The majority of the members of this forum pride ourselves in making quality syrup. Food safe equipment and processes, correct density, correct filtration and correct grading. Too thin / too thick syrup, poorly filtered, with nitre deposits on the bottom may be "good enough" for you, but it isn't something to be proud of, and I wish you'd stop trying to convince us it is.

Spend $15 for an Orlon Filter and $15 for a hydrometer - You and your syrup recipients will be glad you did.

(Yes - I also read your nitre post where you stated "it costs a lot of money to make perfectly good syrup look as pretty as the commercial producers make it, but that it is really only a cosmetic difference and yours will taste better." )

Yeah, I'll stop when the "buy a hydrometer" and "buy a filter" guys stop. I fully understand the need for those for people who have a commercial interest in making pretty syrup, but they can take some of the joy out of the hobby for people who don't need to do that.

[eustis22]

this is a weird argument

[Cedar Eater]

this is a weird argument

:lol: Just two schools of thought. If you're a strictly hobby producer, you can choose to be as persnickety as you want. If you're trying to sell syrup, the state decides how good is good enough. But when it comes to hydrometers, you can either make a better product or fool yourself into thinking you've made a better product. It all depends on how accurate your temperature measurement was and whether a piece of paper in a glass tube was accurately marked and placed.

[lafite]

smoky lake sells a hydrometer with the red line etched into the glass.

[eustis22]

yeah but that red line could be mis-etched. Ever think of that? huh? HUH?

[lafite]

I just wanted to chime in on this overly long thread....:lol:

[adk1]

I just wanted to chime in on this overly long thread....:lol: I have one of those Smoky Lake hydros, also have the murphy cup. Like the murphy cup for adjusting density and checking brix periodically. ( I just wanted to post on this thread before it gets locked)

[johnallin]

Yeah, I'll stop when the "buy a hydrometer" and "buy a filter" guys stop. I fully understand the need for those for people who have a commercial interest in making pretty syrup, but they can take some of the joy out of the hobby for people who don't need to do that.

C.E. I don't think anyone cares how you decide to make your syrup, how you determine what is good enough, or is trying to push hydrometers or filters on you. I do think many of the producers here - hobby or otherwise - believe that making syrup is a learned craft and are more than willing to share their knowledge, tips and techniques with any who ask for it.

Maybe the rub is your insistence that common tools, used for generations, are only for those selling commercially and that they somehow take the joy out of syrup making. You're a non-conformist - you're making syrup in a converted clothes dryer - I admire that. But to argue against conventional methods, with only two years experience, truly does come across as strange.

Thermometers indicate the temperature, hydrometers indicate density so you know you have made syrup. The density is the same at 60° as it is at 212°, assuming both instruments are calibrated the only constant is the hydrometer.

[Cedar Eater]

Maybe the rub is your insistence that common tools, used for generations, are only for those selling commercially and that they somehow take the joy out of syrup making. You're a non-conformist - you're making syrup in a converted clothes dryer - I admire that. But to argue against conventional methods, with only two years experience, truly does come across as strange.

As I see it, the rub is the almost mantra-like dedication to the one and only true way to make good syrup, which just isn't necessary for the small hobby boiler and isn't historically how syrup has been made. I don't tell anybody "don't buy a hydrometer" or "don't buy a filter". I only say that you don't need them to make syrup that tastes very good, better than anything you buy at a store. What I hear from others is "do this, do that, and do this other thing" and "anybody who isn't jumping through all the hoops that the big boys and the state boards insist on isn't making syrup." It's almost comic. There are people like that in all kinds of forums from beer to biodiesel. At least Dr. Perkins seems to understand the difference between required for product consistency and necessary for good tasting syrup.

So maybe we can end this with a simple question. Is there anyone here who can't make good syrup without a hydrometer or a thermometer?

[saphound]

I get what you're saying, CE. It can be done, but the results will vary. Of course, it all tastes good, thus it's good syrup for personal use. But I had a batch or two last year that formed a little more sugar crystals than I would have liked to see. I want that sugar in the syrup, not on the bottom of my jar..it's taking sweetness right out of the syrup! A few small crystals is no big deal. So I was more diligent on checking it with the hydrometer this year. One batch, the red line was half inch above the syrup, but the temp seemed good. That would have formed sugar crystals for sure. I thinned it with a little hot sap and it read right where I wanted it to be. It's just a good way to double check before bottling. :cool:

[barnbc76]

Last year and part of this year I only used a thermometer, I used 3 different thermometers and all three read different. One was off by 10 degrees at boiling temp. the one I ended up using was a candy/deep fryer thermometer which seems to be accurate only at the perfect angle. Before I bought a hydrometer I would bring the temp to 219. Now when I check it at 219 w/hydrometer it doesnt even register because it was so thin. After a few batches of testing I boil down approximately half of what was originally in the pot when it hit 219. The end temp is somewhere around 221 (hard to really tell.)

I will say the thin syrup is still tasty, and I haven't had any problems with it refrigerated for a year. But now that I have the hydrometer i'm not second guessing anymore.

[adk1]

Ce if you like your syrup however you make it don't change. If u make syrup and bottle it for sale then buy a hydrometer and use it.

[acorn roadster]

thanks for so many replies and a lot of good info. When I started this thread by saying I didn't want to buy a hydrometer, the biggest reason was that I would have had to order one online and I didn't want to wait for the delivery - I wanted that syrup to be done! So I finished it with a lot of guesstimating and it turned out certainly good enough for my humble pancakes. If I do it again next year, maybe a hydrometer will be on the list.
Hope everyone had a good season

[Cedar Eater]

thanks for so many replies and a lot of good info. When I started this thread by saying I didn't want to buy a hydrometer, the biggest reason was that I would have had to order one online and I didn't want to wait for the delivery - I wanted that syrup to be done! So I finished it with a lot of guesstimating and it turned out certainly good enough for my humble pancakes. If I do it again next year, maybe a hydrometer will be on the list.
Hope everyone had a good season

It's funny that this thread popped up. I'm in the process of making my own hydrometer right now. I'm calibrating it by using syrup that I deliberately made too heavy.