Making Light Syrup

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I know we only have so much control over the grade of syrup we get, but is there anything I can do to stack the odds in my favor for making golden delicate?

Last season I actually started with dark, went to medium, then back to dark. I use buckets and RO and I try everything I can to keep all my equipment clean.

[psparr]

A bubbler will help.

[doocat]

fast production, cook every day. The longer you hold sap the darker the syrup will be especially late in the season.

[Sugarmaker]

Tell us about your operation:
Type/mix of trees
how often you gather
How often you boil
Type of evaporator
pan configuration
heat source
rate of evaporation
picture of rig boiling

I think if we had this we could make some good recommendations that may help??
Regards,
Chris

[lakeview maple]

A bubbler, search old threads on Maple trader and read the results. It worked awesome last season for me.

[maple maniac65]

What type of soil do you Have? Do you have sugar sand or Niter? I almost never get sugar sand therefore I have a hard time making any golden delicate.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Ok let me try to answer all the questions:

I have a 2x4 flat pan, continuous flow, manual feed (from small "preheater" tank), no pre-heat. Wood fired.
I always boil the day I get the sap. I use a home-built RO and I keep it very clean.
I usually run about an inch deep and I use auto-draw (which takes some manual input to tweak for each boil)
I use the traditional galvanized 20 qt buckets and collect with clean 5 gallon plastic buckets. Then I dump it in a 275 gal tote and trailer it home.

The trees are almost all sugar maple. There's a couple black maple I tap (I'd say maybe 4-6 taps total out of 140)

Soil: Not sure, but I do generally see a lot of niter. And since I started using RO I have to change the pan direction every boil.

Some of my theories are:
- Just haven't had the right season for golden delicate
- Flawed technique - maybe poor management of pan fluid level, maybe my tanks and equipment aren't as clean as I thought, or maybe poor pan fluid temperature management
- Soil
- Issues boiling concentrate where I wind up with pretty wild swings in the gradient. For example, sometimes I am getting syrup in the center of the pan before the draw-off channel. Shorter boils cause problems because I can't boil long enough to stabilize the gradient.

You can see additional pictures of the boiling on Facebook...see my link in my signature. 1470214703

[Maple Man 85]

What type of soil do you Have? Do you have sugar sand or Niter? I almost never get sugar sand therefore I have a hard time making any golden delicate.

What does Niter or Sugar Sand have to do with creating golden delicate? I would have thought that because there is less of this there would be little to zero scorching in the pan resulting in lighter syrup. Could it be possible that folks with buildup simply clean their pans more creating better climate for light syrup?

[Clinkis]

Pretty much all I make is light syrup. Have a hard time makin dark. Some of the keys to light syrup as other have mentioned are good sanitary practices and processing sap as quickly as possible. Also the least amount of time the sap spends in the pan the better. Thus continuous flow evaporators or small batches, and using an RO also help make lighter syrup.

[mudr]

You can see additional pictures of the boiling on Facebook...see my link in my signature.

Link does not work, says "The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in." Did you change the security settings? I know I've creeped on, errrr, uh, perused your page before....

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Link does not work, says "The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in." Did you change the security settings? I know I've creeped on, errrr, uh, perused your page before....

Should work now

[ennismaple]

You will make the lightest syrup possible with the equipment you have by boiling the sap as soon as you can. Bubblers help lighten syrup. RO to over 10% concentrate lightens syrup (6-8% can actually darken it if I'm not mistaken). More flue pan and less flat (syrup) pan lightens syrup. Consistent heat from oil or propane burners also makes lighter syrup than wood due to the temperature fluctuations associated with opening the doors and adding more wood.

Dark syrup is in high demand as long as it has good flavor! Take what you are given, boil it and sell t!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

You will make the lightest syrup possible with the equipment you have by boiling the sap as soon as you can. Bubblers help lighten syrup. RO to over 10% concentrate lightens syrup (6-8% can actually darken it if I'm not mistaken). More flue pan and less flat (syrup) pan lightens syrup. Consistent heat from oil or propane burners also makes lighter syrup than wood due to the temperature fluctuations associated with opening the doors and adding more wood.

Dark syrup is in high demand as long as it has good flavor! Take what you are given, boil it and sell t!

Thanks. I agree that there is more demand for dark, but for myself I like to get some light syrup. I've always liked it. As for RO I have heard and read about RO making darker syrup but I didn't know that above 10% it might be easier to make light. I will have to try 10% or maybe a little higher but the concern there is membrane fouling. I don't have pressurized recirculation. I just have a bypass that allows recirc without the use of a dedicated recirc pump.

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks for answering some of the questions.
You may already have the answer. You may not have had the season yet. We have made syrup for several years and have had some years where we made a lot of light and other years it tended to be dark.
Your trees should produce sap that makes light syrup!
Your pan is a little small but your getting a good looking gradient from the pictures you posted!
I made syrup for 20 years on older equipment in a batch mode. and had never made light syrup. till one day we scrubbed up the old pans and the sap was fresh and the bubbles in the syrup were almost white. I couldn't believe that we actually made some light syrup.
Keep your equipment as clean as you can. and maybe 2017 you will make some golden delicate!
Regards,
Chris

[madmapler]

I tend to make a lot of dark. My buyer prefers it because a lot of his other guys bring in light so I'm not losing sleep over it although I still try to figure out why. One thing is the amount of RO time. I've always recirculated to higher brix which means the sap is getting heated up considerably and the end result is warm (er) concentrate. I have a larger RO this year so hopefully I'll be able to go from truck to RO to evap. instantly. I also use poly tanks for collection and they are in the sun mostly. This year I've made some major changes by putting them on a slightly tilted platform and putting up plywood walls around them and on top like a box. It's all painted white with reflective paint and covered with a white tarp. It sounds complicated but it's all panels that screw together in less than an hour and can be transported in a pickup. I also cut out a 30" hole in the top of the tanks which make them super easy to clean during the season and especially after. I can get right on top and hop in to wash them if I want. Dark syrup is good but it's always nice to have some control over it IMO.

[Wanabe1972]

I made a lot of dark syrup last year due to the weather i think. We stayed cold until late then the temps got real warm real fast. Most freezing nights barely got below freezing and the thaw was early in the morning. I had a lot of sap but work 12 hour shifts so by the time my sap hit the RO some was already 12 hours old and my sap was a touch cloudy all season due to this. I'm putting my releaser and tank in an insulated box and in the shade of the barn this year so hopefully I can make some lighter syrup for some candy. Most of my family and customers ask for dark so it doesn't really matter to me but the appearance of the candy and creme would be nicer with light syrup. We actually had a day boiling that it was 80 degrees in the sugar house way too warm for sugaring.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Well one I can say for sure is that my sap temperatures were mostly warm this past season. Between warm weather and RO I boiled some sap that was well into the 50s temperature-wise. I am looking forward to the next season and hoping we don't have a repeat of last winter.

[MapleMark753]

I'll throw my two cents in here as well... same thing others have said but maybe in a bit of a different way.
We have seen a direct correlation between the amount of time from when the sap comes out of the tree, and when its boiled. Collected nearly immediately and RO'd right away, and boiled right then, tends to make golden/lighter syrup. More time of sitting sap (even at the tree bag/bucket) tends to make darker syrup. Temp does the same tendency for us, colder sap tends lighter, warmer sap tends darker. Course like most we do have the progession from golden to dark as the season progresses.
Sounds like you keep stuff pretty clean, so as your schedule permits I'd only suggest collecting sooner or more often, and boiling as soon as you can after that.
I sure don't know even half of all of it, but it does seem like there's some magic in there somewhere too.:)
good luck, Mark

[Maplewalnut]

and using an RO also help make lighter syrup.

I would agree to an extent. Using an RO and single passing sap can help produce light syrup. Recirculating sap multiple times to achieve +15% sugar has a tendency to produce darker syrup.

[Clinkis]

I would agree to an extent. Using an RO and single passing sap can help produce light syrup. Recirculating sap multiple times to achieve +15% sugar has a tendency to produce darker syrup.

I recirculate mine multiple times to 12-14% and my syrup is always really light. I have tough time making dark. I think this is larger due to the fact, as others have mentioned, I fire with propane. Last year I didn't make any dark to the dismay of many of my customers.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I recirculate mine multiple times to 12-14% and my syrup is always really light. I have tough time making dark. I think this is larger due to the fact, as others have mentioned, I fire with propane. Last year I didn't make any dark to the dismay of many of my customers.

Clinkis, your XLE 4040 does okay at those sugar levels? I'm assuming yes since that is how you do things.

[wiam]

Clinkis, your XLE 4040 does okay at those sugar levels? I'm assuming yes since that is how you do things.

Not answering for clinkis but I used xle's when I had my 4" machine. First pass to 8-9. Second pass to 17-18. That was 4 membranes. Two sets of 2 in series.

[markcasper]

I know we only have so much control over the grade of syrup we get, but is there anything I can do to stack the odds in my favor for making golden delicate?

Last season I actually started with dark, went to medium, then back to dark. I use buckets and RO and I try everything I can to keep all my equipment clean.

Is your tapped trees on the south sidehill? north side? in the open, which would be the same as south side? If you have a south slope and you lose the snow, you are pretty much going to make dark syrup after the snow leaves. If your sap temp is in the 30's and 40's and is only a day old, you should be able to make light syrup. What are you storing your sap in? If it is in closed plastic tanks that can't be scrubbed out, your probably going to NOT be able to make light syrup. If you truly would like light syrup, I'd suggest ditching the buckets and go with plastic bags. They will make the lightest syrup of any method. Tubing saves labor, but it warms the sap more than any other method.Keep your sap cool. If your dumping in the late afternoon and then not boiling til the next day, the sap does not cool down if your tanking it, it'd be better to leave it hang on the trees and gather in the morning providing it doesn't get that cold. Just my 2 cents.

[Clinkis]

Yes I can go to 15+ no problem with my RO. I fill a 55 gallon drum of sap and recirculate it until it's about 10 gallons of concentrate and then send it to my head tank and start over. At which point it is usually 12-15% depending on my starting sugar content. I have a recirc loop the same as yours but I don't usually use it. It's more efficient for the way my operation is setup to just recirculate in the barrels right before I send it to the evaporator.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Not answering for clinkis but I used xle's when I had my 4" machine. First pass to 8-9. Second pass to 17-18. That was 4 membranes. Two sets of 2 in series.

Thanks. I think the problem for me is that I have only one membrane. The recommended brix for a 4x40 single membrane is 8 brix (per CDL rep). You can go to higher brix with multiple membranes. I think Clinkis is having good luck going higher without problems, so I might give it a shot.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Is your tapped trees on the south sidehill? north side? in the open, which would be the same as south side? If you have a south slope and you lose the snow, you are pretty much going to make dark syrup after the snow leaves. If your sap temp is in the 30's and 40's and is only a day old, you should be able to make light syrup. What are you storing your sap in? If it is in closed plastic tanks that can't be scrubbed out, your probably going to NOT be able to make light syrup. If you truly would like light syrup, I'd suggest ditching the buckets and go with plastic bags. They will make the lightest syrup of any method. Tubing saves labor, but it warms the sap more than any other method.Keep your sap cool. If your dumping in the late afternoon and then not boiling til the next day, the sap does not cool down if your tanking it, it'd be better to leave it hang on the trees and gather in the morning providing it doesn't get that cold. Just my 2 cents.

All south slope for me. If I get what I want for 2017 I will have about half the taps on tubing. I always boil the same day I collect.

I had issues with the plastic bags. They tend to fall off in the wind. I also had many leakers due to squirrels and/or the bag rubbing on the bark of the tree.

Hopefully this coming season I will get some early runs in the colder weather.

[Clinkis]

I believe the key with a single membrane is to do multiple passes and recirculation whereas with multiple membranes the same can be achieved with less passes or recirculation.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Well I am happy to report that tonight I think I made my first ever golden delicate (light amber). I will know for sure after filtering and grading, but I can say with confidence it's lightest I've ever made. New tubing, fresh sap, cold weather, boiled promptly, and a float box. Maybe it's just the season, but I'm thrilled to finally make a light syrup.