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View Full Version : What happens if you boil old sap?



themidnightsapper
02-22-2017, 04:32 PM
I have seen and read a number of posts about how long sap will keep, how to preserve concentrate by refrigeration, etc. We are in our third year of making syrup and our first year of making any real volume (14 gallons so far). Question is what happens if you boil sap or concentrate that is old? Does it just taste bad, will it make you sick, have you lost most of your sugar so you do not get much syrup, or what....just curious.

Snappyssweets
02-22-2017, 06:35 PM
My experience is it gets a slight off taste and it seems to cook quicker ends up with a more molasses flavor too.

maple flats
02-23-2017, 06:07 AM
It's best to boil everyday and finish all the sap. That said, many can't do that. If you must hold sap, keep it as cold as possible. I used to use 90% shade cloth over my collection tanks and I also banked snow as long as I had it to bank against the tank. It is best not to concentrate (RO) until you are ready to boil, just hold it as sap. Concentrating also concentrates the micro organisms. If by concentrate you mean what is in the evaporator and has been boiled, it will keep well for a few days. When you do get to boil the older sap, you will get less syrup because the micro organisms have been feeding on the sugars and the syrup will be darker. It can still be good syrup, just less of it than if you had boiled it when it was fresh.
This said, I have never boiled sap that smelled real bad, but before my RO I did boil a few times with sap that started to have a slight sour smell and had turned cloudy.