What can I do with 60*F sap?

[jdircksen]

We are having a warm spell in central Ohio. I collected sap at 10pm last night, but it has been 55*F through the night. Today it will reach 62*F while I'm at work, and I can't collect again until 5pm.

I was told that I shouldn't keep it. However is there a chance it is salvageable? Is there a test I can do other than smell/cloudiness?

[whity]

How much sap are you talking about? To much to put in a fridge/freezer? We keep a couple 1 gallon water jugs frozen for that reason. If we have a warm spell and don't have time to boil, we will tie the frozen jugs in the sap

[jdircksen]

Right now I have 25 gallons in a food safe trash can, stored in a dark room. I like the frozen jug idea, but I don't have any right now. I'm afraid my silver maples will bud next week, so this may be my last batch, I'd hate to dump it.

[lords sugaring]

When in doubt dump it out ! I know it sucks I've been there myself. Last thing you want to do is get your family sick or worse a customer and having the liability that follows. You never know who will sue you for everything you've got! We live in a sue happy world today where people will sue you for something you say or even if you look at them the wrong way. Judging by your tap count it's probably just for yourself or family members but is a few gallons of sap worth the risk ?

[jdircksen]

Yes, the syrup is just for family. I was just hoping that since I am really careful about collecting into buckets with lids, storing in clean buckets, and boiling in clean pans, that I wouldn't have bacteria.

I'm still learning. I just don't know how to tell if the sap is bad.

[Michael Greer]

You will be able to tell when it goes bad by a yeasty smell. If it smells like a bakery, that's the smell of microbes eating the sugar. One thing that I have done in a similar situation is to get it all into the pans and bring it to a boil. Microbes are everywhere, and are unavoidable, but boiling kills them. This could buy you another day.

[HannahL]

Clarity is all I have ever went by. If it starts getting cloudy then I toss it but you're talking less than 24hrs so I would think you should be ok.

[RileySugarbush]

I made some fantastic dark syrup from slightly cloudy sap. You won't get anybody sick, you're boiling it! I say go for it, especially since it may be your last sap, and it's for home use. If you are concerned, boil a gallon down inside and taste it. It may be lighter with a quick boil, but it should show any off flavors.

I would guess you are good to go.

[Russell Lampron]

I have made a lot of good tasting syrup with slightly yellow and cloudy sap. Save it and boil it. It may make dark syrup with a bitter aftertaste but that taste goes away when you use that syrup for making baked beans. The taste is caused by the bacteria that will grow rapidly in the warm sap.

[maple flats]

Yes, the syrup is just for family. I was just hoping that since I am really careful about collecting into buckets with lids, storing in clean buckets, and boiling in clean pans, that I wouldn't have bacteria.

I'm still learning. I just don't know how to tell if the sap is bad.
No such thing as sap without bacteria after it leaves the tree. Microbes are everywhere. That being said, even cloudy sap can make good syrup, however it will be darker and since microbes feed on the sugar, you will get less syrup. It's rare that the syrup is unusable.

[jdircksen]

I gave it a try and boiled it. It had been less than 24 hours since it came out of the trees. It was slightly yellow but that might have been dirty tree runoff. I ended up with 35-40 gallons of sap for the day. Result was 84oz of syrup.

17623

[Michael Greer]

Good work! The thing that folks fail to understand is how many variables there are in syrup-making. If you could arrange a perfect day, where the weather was exactly right, the equipment was perfectly clean, and the sap could get to the evaporator and up to boiling in the very shortest time, you would undoubtedly make the finest and fairest syrup, but we all know that only happens by chance. Clean all you want, and the weather will be too hot. Get perfect weather, and the runs will overwhelm your storage capacity. Get everything just right, and run out of time and have to put it off 'til tomorrow. Any of these lead to darker syrup...which my customers love.

[Run Forest Run!]

Great job with your syrup! It looks wonderful. Hopefully your warm weather will hold off and you'll get another run or two.