Frozen Sap

[flyzone13]

So I had a good run of sap up until a few days ago when the Mother Nature decided to step back in and the temps dropped. I have about 200 gallons of sap that was crystal clear in the tank and today when I when I was taking some of the ice out I noticed that it was staring to get a bit cloudy. Is that an issue or should I be fine until I boil it down? I really hadn't planned on boiling until the temps came back up but if I have to I will.

[RileySugarbush]

I had some in a collection tank that got a little cloudy even in the cold weather, while the main tank, on the north side of my sugar house was shaded and still clear.

If it is starting to get cloudy I would boil it right away. Still probably good but it's a sign it is starting to spoil. If it smells OK as raw sap, and maybe a little test boil on the stove, I'd go for it.

[motowbrowne]

Personally I wouldn't worry about it if there's ice in the tank. I don't think it's gonna spoil at 32 degrees. I'm in the same boat. Got all my sap cooked, but got about 400 gallons delivered yesterday and this morning. I could probably cook it this week, but I'd rather not fight freezing temps, so I'll probably wait until the end of this cold snap. It's your call though.

[RileySugarbush]

Moto, I'll tell you a story!

My current partners used to boil on their own on a half pint. They had lot's of pretty cloudy sap one time that showed close to 4% so they went at it, working over night in a big batch. After all the work, it turns out the density wasn't sugar, but something else, because all they got was a gallon or so out of 100+ gallons of sap. And an incredible amount of sediment. We guessed was the result of the bacteria eating up the sugar. The density was still there, but not the sugar.

Since then, we have no problem with an occasional bit of cloudy sap, but we sure don't let it sit around like that!