Food Grade containers from cereal maker

[Dan2010]

I have some containers that I acquired from a cereal maker that contained flavoring syrup. I can't completely get rid of the smell inside (smells kind of like fruit loops). Will this affect the flavor of the maple syrup to much? I am cleaning some with sanitizer and some with oxy clean.

[gmcooper]

Not sure what the flavoring is but it may be difficult to remove. I had a few barrels that had Mountain Dew syrup given to me for sap. I tried many things including soap, bleach, baking soda and others to no avail. We gave up and cut the barrels in half and used them as water tubs for cattle. 25 years later I swear you can still smell the mountain dew inside.
Good luck.

[Daveg]

Can you line the containers with a new, food grade plastic bag? I see that they have narrow openings, so that may make emptying a little problematic. I've had bad luck with containers that had heavily flavored/scented concentrates in them. I'm not positive. but I think plastics like these have microscopic spaces that make getting rid of scents very difficult. I know that the plastic on ski bases are called "sintered" which allows ski waxes to penetrate.

[smokeyamber]

I have two barrels that had chiles in them ... cleaned them and I can still smell the chiles a bit, they have not imparted any taste to the sap I had in them so .... you may be ok. In my case I took the chance... your call. One trick I did use was to clean them and then open then on a hot summer day and stand them in the sun, kinda cooked the smell out ( they are dark colored ). One easy test would be to put some clean water in them for a few days, then taste it...

[Cedar Eater]

It's important to remember that any taste that gets added to the sap can get concentrated when the sap is boiled down. That means it can get stronger right along with the maple flavoring and can become much more obvious in syrup than it is in sap. Or it could get boiled away and be no problem. Simply tasting water left in the barrel for a few days may not give you a valid indication of what will happen to the syrup. I suspect anything sweet and fruity will not add an unpleasant taste. Try a gallon of water sitting for two-3 days then boiled down to 2 ounces and see if the taste is strong and/or unpleasant. Keep in mind that the taste will slowly go away with continued use.

[Dan2010]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[BristolHills]

I just picked up some that had alcohol in them and was going to post the same question tonight. I have heard iodine will cure this. Anyone else hear this?? I have been trolling this site for a couple years getting lots of great info.

[Cedar Eater]

I just picked up some that had alcohol in them and was going to post the same question tonight. I have heard iodine will cure this. Anyone else hear this?? I have been trolling this site for a couple years getting lots of great info.

Alcohols will just boil away. What type of alcohol was it?

[BristolHills]

Cedareater, it was unflavored alcohol. They put in drink mixes. No real smell to it. 42 degrees this morning, going to tap some buckets while i figure out tap lines.
Thanks everyone.

[Cedar Eater]

Cedareater, it was unflavored alcohol. They put in drink mixes. No real smell to it. 42 degrees this morning, going to tap some buckets while i figure out tap lines.
Thanks everyone.

So it was ethanol. Very good. It will boil out leaving no residue. I would do nothing more than rinse those containers with water. If it was isopropyl or one of the stinkier alcohols you would need to do some testing to make sure it boiled out completely.

[BristolHills]

Thanks, that will make life easier. Just starting with 3/16, what are you running your lines into??