Frozen Sap Buckets

[lords sugaring]

Hi,

I need some help dealing with frozen sap buckets. They are all pretty much frozen solid near the top with minimal liquid in them but the liquid is now starting to over flow out the buckets. I don't have storage large enough to empty 100 3 gallon bucket sized ice blocks into a container and thaw it out. Suggestions on dealing with this ? I would love another one of those 70 degree days right about now !

[tgormley358]

I think many of us have this issue at the moment. I was just reading in another forum more on the guidance to toss the ice because the sugar in it is under 1%, while the remaining liquid is well above 3 even 4%. Some call it the poor mans RO.

[lords sugaring]

I can debunk that myth, I drained my pans before this freeze up into seperate containers, the sweet pan bucket froze about 4 inches on top and so has the back pan content. I'm not having a great season so I'm not about to throw out well over 100 gallins of frozen sap. I guess I'll keep collecting the liquid and leave the ice to thaw itself out.

[Michael Greer]

I must have been really cold. My sugarhouse has been cold for four days and this morning it was 20 degrees in there. Nothing was frozen.

[West Sumner Sugar]

We had 100 over flowing 2.5 gallon sap tins all frozen solid last weekend. Happens at least once a season for us. Its a pain for sure.

[Page Meadow Maple]

I had 60 frozen buckets. They were full—solid blocks of ice with small amounts of liquid at the bottom of the buckets. I collected the liquid in one container and brought the blocks of ice inside, placing them in big plastic garbage cans (new Rubbermaid ones on sale at the local hardware store).

I measured the sugar content using my hydrometer. The initial bucket I had set aside, containing the unfrozen sap straight off the trees, was off the scale measuring 10++. The color was a light amber. I originally thought I was going to have to toss it because of the slight discoloration, but it turns out (as I read here on this forum) it was actually nature’s RO at work giving me a super high sugar content!

As the blocks of sap slowly melt, I have been pouring off the liquid and measuring sugar content. The first day was 6 Brix, the second day 3.5 (which is my typical level as I have roadside sugar maples), and the third day it was down to just under 1. I am now tossing out the ice chunks! No use wasting wood on what is left, especially with a week of perfect sap conditions ahead!