Mold?!?

[Hunt4sap]

Pretty much every one of the Pint jars that I put maple syrup in for just bulk purpose this year has a real thin amount of mold on top under the lid? What did I do wrong? Luckily this is only about half a dozen of them or so but it's still aggravating with how much work I put into it having this happen...

[lyford]

Not that big a deal if it’s just for personal use and not for sale. I’d guess you either canned the syrup at too low a density or temperature or both. If it were me I’d pour all your effected syrup into a pan skim off any mold and bring the syrup back to a boil. Then adjust density until you’ve got it correct and can the syrup at 190 degrees.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Make sure you use new caps and boil the bottles. Now as stated if its for your personal use and it was to density but not bottled in total sanitary conditions it will be OK. The mold won't continue to grow or ruin the syrup. In a way the mold killed itself off in the process of growing. I have a bottle of syrup that turned moldy and I opened it up poured some syrup out and resealed it and after 10 years the mold has not continued to grow. The is a nickel size floater in the bottle.

Now if its under density I don't know what that would do to the flavor.

[maple flats]

If it is under density, it could ferment, thus creating pressure inside and eventually break something (the lid, the seal or even the bottle, but bottle is less likely but possible.)
Do you have a hydrometer or refractometer to verify density when you bottle? If not, I think it would be a great Christmas present, be sure to let Santa know.
Then read and follow the directions on how to use it. You can make a hydrometer cup out of 1.5" PVC pipe and a cap if a SS one is not in the cards.

[Hunt4sap]

Yes, and i use it every time
Thinking it's more likely b/c of jars or lids not be boiled before...

[maple flats]

Even if the jars and lids are not boiled first, if you pack at over 180F and turn the bottle upside down for 1-2 minutes after filling and tightening the cap, you should not get mold. The heat in the syrup should kill any mold spores.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I would not get yourself into the habit of boiling your jars and lids. I would start with making sure that the containers you buy are stored in a clean environment. You want to handle the jars as little as possible. When removed from the box you flip them over and fill them ASAP. Caps should be not played with or put in a dirty environment before use. The person installing the caps should wash their hands and keep them clean.

Washing caps probably adds more bacteria than it removes. Plus washing the paper seal type lids will be a disaster. Plus don't to so skimpy on the syrup fill to the very top and refrain from wiping the lip if you over fill. With a plastic seal cap if there is a small amount of syrup on the lip it will seal just fine. You can dunk in hot water to clean the external syrup off the bottle and let air dry. Speed is the key in bottling so fill it and cap it ASAP and move on to the next one.

[crzypete]

I stopped boiling jars when I can anything including syrup. I read a great trick a few years ago to bake your jars at 220 in th oven for ten minutes. Way less work and same effect as boiling. I am mostly reusing jars that I have from inventory. Syrup is for personal use and to give to friends, so not worried about using new jars to sell. Google it, you’ll see it is an acceptable practice and I’ve had great success as well.

Pete

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have to say that I'm not sure what you all are trying to kill with baking to 220 or boiling to get the crud out. Dang just pop for new bottles and tap a few more trees with your spare time.

[Super Sapper]

Preheating smaller bottles can help keep the temperature from falling below 180 once the bottle is filled. Depending on how cold it is where you bottle pints on up should be safe if you are at 185 to start. With smaller bottles having a much larger surface area compared to volume preheating may be necessary but does not hunt unless you get them too hot. An 8 ounce bottle at 220 degrees with 186 syrup may go over 190 and form niter. The bottom line is if all surfaces inside reach at least 180 for a couple of minutes after it is sealed it should kill anything inside.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Maybe another question to ask is how you bottle and what kind of bottler your using. I have seen some people pouring syrup from sauce pans using plastic funnels or ladling it from a bigger pot. Keeping it sanitary is key and minimizing the surfaces the syrup touches before it hits the bottle.

[Hunt4sap]

Thinking back on ones that have mold, I did use funnels/ laddles for filling the moldy ones

Ones that are good were filled from a actual bottler I purchased second hand...

I will minimize overhandling syrup this season and just use finisher/ bottler since I'll have alot bigger/ concrete floor SS I'm redoing...