Calculating sap sugar content...

[barnbc76]

I don't have a SAP hydrometer, just one for syrup. should I base my calculation as to my sugar % based on prefilter quantity or after. When I filter some inevitably is stuck, and hopefully the niter. I guess it will matter less the next time I filter as some of the syrup is recaptured when the filters are rinsed in the new SAP. So far I have done 100gal of SAP and gotten 2.7gal of syrup with another 30gal boiled the other day waiting to be checked for density and filtered about 1.5 gal. Perhaps I will know for certain only at the end of the season?

[bowhunter]

If you're getting all the way to syrup i.e. using a hydrometer you can calculate your sugar content using the amount of sap and the syrup you make. I'm going to assume you are emptying the pan after the 2.7 gallons. So you divide the gallons of syrup into the gallons of sap. In your case 100 divided by 2.7 equals 37.03 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup. You then divide the 37.03 into a constant 87 which gives you 2.35%. This is a good estimate of your sugar content. You can refine the number by adding in syrup still in the pan and some filtering losses etc. Hope this helps.