What refractometer is most loved?

[Illinois]

Looking to buy a new refractometer to replace our very old sap refractometer. I see models advertised that will test sap and syrup. A digital model sounds attractive after squinting at a blurry scale for al these years.

[Sugarmaker]

I am sure the digital ones are nice. some are several hundred dollars and can do sap and syrup to (Misco). Personally I still use a long stem hydrometer in a 5 gallon bucket of sap. Just depends what you want to do with the tool. If your checking sugar content at each tree then the hydrometer is not the right tool. I do have a sap refractometer that I still use around the evaporator to check concentration at various places during a boil. Not sure I helped much?
Regards,
Chris

[mountainvan]

I like my Hanna refractometer. I can test sap, concentrate and permeate, and finished syrup. Not to be used out in a cold rain, but like with all equipment if taken care of can last a long time.

[Illinois]

Thanks for your input. I see H2O has a refractometer for sap another at 30 brix for concentrate I assume and an 80 brix for syrup. Perhaps I should keep my sap refractometer and just buy the unit designed for syrup. We've always relied on the hydrometer to test at 211 when heating and bottling. Would the refractometer be more accurate than the hydrometer?

[S.S.S]

We have run a misco refractometer for 5 years that will test sap to syrup that is hot or cold. It works great and is far better then using hydrometer for testing syrup to get it right on when bottling.

[carls47807]

I too use a Hanna. It works up to 85 brix and has always given consistent results. It also has auto temp compensation,
But it takes a minute or 2 to properly correct (during that time the sample is cooling as the unit is compensating and they meet in the middle). The only downside to the hanna is it creates a bubble with a relatively large surface area. I’ve noticed that evaporation from the sample on the meter slowly changes the reading .2% or so if you let it sit.

[DrTimPerkins]

All types of instruments are subject to different types of errors (instrument and operational). You have to understand these errors and attempt to limit their influence on the readings.

We've gone through (or tested) just about every type of refractometer out there. We currently all use Misco units for sap, mainly because of the cover (which limits evaporation and changing readings) and the larger well. It can be used for syrup as well, and we will use it for syrup on occasion, but for hot syrup there is much more possibility of error (as with all types of refractometers) due to the sensitivity of the instrument to temperature variation between the unit and the syrup, so typically we use a hydrometer for the final determination.

Since we switched to filtering off the evaporator (directly from the draw-off tank), we use a Smokey Lake Murphy Cup and Gold Hydrometer for hot syrup. Once you understand how to use the thing (which can be tricky), it is very simple.