Boiling today

[farmer james]

I collected 29 gallons from 90 buckets, and am boiling right now, looks like a good week to sugar.

[valleyman]

Hey Farmer James- yep we're in the middle of a good run! Good luck with your boil.

[farmer james]

Just collected 35 gallons, YTD=85, and am boiling away.

[farmer james]

Thanks, and good luck to you and all of the sugar-makers out there!

[Cjadamec]

Trying to beat the snow forecast for tonight.

[farmer james]

Snow on the ground makes for a good run, or at least that is the hope. 60's on tuesday.

[Gord]

Small time boiler here. So far I've boiled enough sap for 144 ounces of syrup. It seems like each boil gets darker in color. Is this common?
I'm also interested in what you smaller operations are getting for ratios. I know 40:1 is the rule of thumb, but my maple trees aren't supporting that theory.
Thanks for any input.

[Calycanthus]

your mileage may vary.

look up the jones law. if you know the sugar content of the sap, you can be quite precise about finished volume. and yes, it varies. it can vary on the same tree within the season. the 2% number used as shorthand is just an average.

[Gord]

I would like to know if anyone here has used both methods on the final boil, hydrometer and thermometer. I'm curious if anyone has tested the same boil using both methods to see how accurate they are. I am using a hydrometer and was wondering what the difference is between the two, and if one is better than the other.
Thanks

[mellondome]

Hydrometer is what you should use. It is the "true" measure of sugar content in the finished syrup.
Temperature varies. It is only a working point. The temperaure that you are at syrup will change day to day. Sometimes it will change hour to hour. It will also change depending on how hard your boil is and where the probe is at in that boil.

[Gord]

Thank you mellondome. This leads me to another question. I see in videos, during the final boil, most boils are done at a lower temperature, and just bubbling away at the bottom of the pot. I'm thinking I might be over boiling. If I have, say 40 ounces of syrup, my boil is rising all the way to the top of my 20 quart pot. I was told once that you can't "over boil" the sap. I boil the sap over wood flames. I do the finish boil over propane. Am I better off slowing things down, once I make the switch to propane, and just let it evaporate slowly?
Sorry for the newbie questions. Just trying to get things right. I don't have the best of maple trees to work with. Just what's on my property. My yield is no where near 40:1 by any stretch. Just trying to get the most out of what I have.

[Cjadamec]

When finishing you run the risk of the syrup foaming and boiling over the edge of your pot. When that happens it makes a big mess and wastes a lot of syrup. That's why as you see people slow down the boil to finish. Boiling over can happen in the blink of an eye if you aren't careful. The other reason to control the heat when finishing is to prevent burning. The upper edges of your finishing pan can be much hotter than the part of the pan in contact with the syrup. Those hot edges can cause burning.

[Gord]

Thanks Cjadamec. That's what's happening. It's foaming up, and I can see the edges of the pot are turning the foam brown. I get a really good rolling boil with the wood, which I'm assuming is good. For some reason I was thinking I should have the same with the propane. I'm going to boil this week. I usually boil when I have around 30 gallons. As I've said in a previous post, I'm small time. I'll settle things down this time for my final boil.
Thanks again.

[farmer james]

The ratio on the Reds for me is 56:1, so not bad, I have had worse.

[khuberpt]

Trying to beat the snow forecast for tonight.

Do you have your pans directly over the fire? What are you getting per hour for evap?

[Cjadamec]

Front two pans are over the fire then there is a ramp under the back 3. I think at it's peak it's close to 20gph but I average around 15 if I keep things well tended. Still playing with how to run it. Wish I had a nice 2x5 flat pan. Already started looking for next season.

[Gord]

The ratio on the Reds for me is 56:1, so not bad, I have had worse.

Same here farmer james. 56:1 at each boil. For some reason the last boil was higher, as in less sugar, more water.

[Gord]

When finishing you run the risk of the syrup foaming and boiling over the edge of your pot. When that happens it makes a big mess and wastes a lot of syrup. That's why as you see people slow down the boil to finish. Boiling over can happen in the blink of an eye if you aren't careful. The other reason to control the heat when finishing is to prevent burning. The upper edges of your finishing pan can be much hotter than the part of the pan in contact with the syrup. Those hot edges can cause burning.

Much better today. Once the sap was getting close to syrup I slowed down the stove and let it boil slower. Once I switched from wood to propane, I kept it at a steady boil, but didn't allow it to foam up like I was previously. Very happy with this batch, and felt like it was a more controlled finish boil.
Thanks again.

[maple flats]

My average for last season, with over 95% sugars was only 72:1, most years it is in the 40:1 to 45:1 range. The temperature varies as the barometric pressure changes plus it is related to your elevation above sea level. Get it real close with the thermometer and always verify with the hydrometer or refractometer or hydrotherm.

[Cjadamec]

Finished another 5 quarts from this past week. Seems like everything has stopped running around me with all the warm temps. Looks a little like the end of my season if it doesn't get cold again sometime soon.

[Mike Van]

not much frost showing on the 10 day, another screwy year -

[tanta]

I pulled my taps. Had sugar moths and ants already. Okay with what I made and still teaching a few more groups and that's my primary focus anyway.