Throw away sap in evaporator?

[penfrydd]

It's been 45 years since I last tapped and that was 350 taps with extended family all pitching in. Now I've got just 21 taps. I stockpile my sap in snowbanks until ready to boil.

Question: It's been a few days since I boiled. The sap in the evaporator is still clear. I think it's still good. Seems I remember sap getting a yellowish tinge. That was either bad sap or late in the season. I just don't remember.

Penfrydd Farm
21 taps
half pint

[bigschuss]

It's been 45 years since I last tapped and that was 350 taps with extended family all pitching in. Now I've got just 21 taps. I stockpile my sap in snowbanks until ready to boil.

Question: It's been a few days since I boiled. The sap in the evaporator is still clear. I think it's still good. Seems I remember sap getting a yellowish tinge. That was either bad sap or late in the season. I just don't remember.

Penfrydd Farm
21 taps
half pint

It's been cold for the past few days. If it's only been a few days you're probably good. Light the evaporator and get a boil going...you'll know if it's bad. It will smell funky. I have a feeling you're fine.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm thinking that you are going to be fine too. Boil some of it before you dump it. Too many people on here dump cloudy and yellowish sap without even trying to boil some. It will probably make dark syrup but it will probably be the best tasting syrup of the season.

[maple flats]

I agree, as long as it was boiled before it sat in the pan for days, it should make good syrup, likely darker than it would have if finished earlier. Remember, the darker the syrup the more intense the maple flavor.

[BAP]

I too would save it. If it was boiled and where it had been cool out, you should be fine.

[Scm]

..........

[penfrydd]

I used to run a B&B and had to have a Food-Safe certification. It was always stressed that 40 - 140 degrees was the danger zone for pathogens in food.

If my sap is staying below 40 degrees, I'm thinking that may be better than repeatedly warming it up and into that danger zone.

Penfrydd Farm
21 taps
half-pint

[Russell Lampron]

I used to run a B&B and had to have a Food-Safe certification. It was always stressed that 40 - 140 degrees was the danger zone for pathogens in food.

If my sap is staying below 40 degrees, I'm thinking that may be better than repeatedly warming it up and into that danger zone.

Penfrydd Farm
21 taps
half-pint

You are correct and once it has all reached a temp of over 165* all of the bacteria and mold spores are dead. So once it has cooled after that keeping it below 40* it will last for a long time before it spoils. I have kept sweet in my evaporator for up to 3 weeks when we had a cold snap after the season started. It was frozen solid for most of that period though. I have kept it for close to a week with above freezing temps during the day and little to no freeze at night with no spoilage too.

[penfrydd]

I don't know that all the bacteria are dead. I grew up on a dairy farm. I'd see what they called the plate count for bacteria, before and after pasteurization. As I recall (and it was a long time ago...) the count would go from something like 13 million, down to 1 million. So there's still tons of bacteria there, just not so many.

I don't know the temp differences between a boil and a pasteurization. That may make lots of difference.

Penfrydd Farm
21 taps
half pint