Foam

[backyardsugarer]

Now that I am boiling really hard I can not keep the flue pan from boiling over. Will butter work to keep the foam down? Also could this mean that I have too much sugar in the back pan?

Chris

[syrupmaker]

Chris....use the sap hydrometer and test the flue pan sugar content .If its high you might have to start over. I would think that it is just dirty foam and you can skim that off a bit through the hood.Wear a long sleeve shirt though.

Rick

[Salmoneye]

Butter works fine...

Not 'technically' legal for sale here in VT anymore, but you can bet it is still done...There are also people that still use condensed milk (not evaporated milk) in a can...There are still some that use the ageold piece of salt pork hung on a string at the highest acceptable foam level...Foam comes up and just touches the salt pork and as if by magic, the boil returns to the sap level...

Like I said...Not 'legal' for sale, but for home and gifts it is more than fine...

The trace amount of salt added by useing butter or pork set off the maple like you would not believe...My last couple batches of the year that will be used at home or for cooking are always done with Land-O-Lakes, lightly salted butter as the defoamer...Not to mention that I love showing the next generation the trick with the Indian Maidens knees...

:wink: :wink:

[Dropflue]

I use the dry granulated defoamer with the defoamer cup hanging inside the flue. I found this works the best. I never have any foam overs, and the defoamer will not affect the taste of the syrup.

However, Monday when I was boiling I put a small pinch of defoamer in the syrup pan to calm the boil, but it disturbed the gradient in the pans so much that the thermometer went from 7 degrees to 3 degrees in 5 seconds. I had to wait another 30 min to get back up to syrup temp. I'll never do that again.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

You can get an 8 ounce bottle of defoamer for around $ 3.95 from most suppliers and it would last you 2 or 3 years.

[mapleman3]

funny I did the same yesterday, and couldn't figure out why after that it took so long.. funny :?

[Fred Henderson]

I use unsalted butter and it works great. Just by pure accident I tryed something new, put a few drops of the liquid butter in the float box. There is now no foam in the float box nor in the back pan. It seems to follow the sap/syrup all the way thru to the draw off point.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have a question about defoamer, should you use it in the syrup pan or should you not use it?? I use it quite frequently without any problem and mainly in the last section because that is what foams the worst.

Am I hurting myself??

I do like Fred's idea about a little at the regulator box! :D :D

[Salmoneye]

Hey Brandon...

I too use it in the last section and have only noticed the effect described above (the temp at the draw lowering) when the defoamer brings the level of the foam below the thermometer...I can not see how using it up front would make a bit of difference in the gradient or could possibly drive the sugar back to the sap pan...Makes no sense whatsoever to me and I have never seen anything close to that...

Doesn't mean it does not actually happen, just that I can not screw my noggin around the concept without a tad more explanation and seeing actually happen...

[mapleman3]

The more foam you have in the front pan the lower level of "liquid" is there so the float lets more in... then when you defoam the foam goes back to liquid and now your level is a bit higher thus mixing a bit I would think... then your temp goes down.

Anyone try those little foamer cups the dealers have? they hang over the side of a pan so when the foam gets up to the cup it subsides.

[Salmoneye]

Ah Mapleman3...

There is the crux...

I have no float valves...

[mapleman3]

Ah Salmoneye, your two pans are conected, so the boiling sap still migrates to the lowest point ie. the syrup pan when the liquid level is lower from the foam....it's a thought...

[Salmoneye]

Dunno...I just don't get the effect of lowering temps in front of my draw when I defoam the syrup pan as desrcibed by others unless the syrup literally goes below covering more than half the thermometer probe...I usually run my last section so that the whole probe is under 'water'...

[powerdub]

The foam actually traps the steam and keeps heat in. If look the next time when you de-foam you will notice that a fairly large burst of steam will come out once the foam goes down. The temp on mine does the same thing but it usually comes right back up. On floated front pans a lot of foam will fool the float into thinking the level is higher than it really is. It will let in a bunch once you de-foam. As far as de-foamers go, I would put the real defoamer you buy from a sugaring store in the freezer during the off season. It does go rancid and you will get an off flavor syrup once it does. Other than that I would and do use it as often as needed to keep the foam down.

[oldemaple]

I use a dropper bottle with whole milk in it. One dropper full of milk squirted into the foam takes it right down.

[saphead]

To foam or not to foam,that is the question. I've used just about everything over the years and freshness seems to be a key. I've always tried not to add anything to the syrup pan unless absolutely necessary. Keep the foam down out back,thats where the work is being done,break the surface tension and let her boil! Sometimes I'll take a little butter and draw a line on the flat edge of the syrup pan if it's one of those foamy days,avoids the mess, but remember to clean it off at the end of the day. Two years ago I was at a sugarhouse up in Jacksonville,Vt. and the V.P. of Leader happened to be there,so of course I picked his brain and made mental notes of every he did and suggested. He had Marty (owner) firing every 5 minutes and after each fire,add 1 drop of defoamer in the steamaway and 1 drop into the feed end of the drawoff section of the syrup pan. It worked like a charm with minimal defoamer used. If you want to keep foam down for the whole season, boil a knockwurst in the back pan ,you won't have foam but you'll only have syrup acceptable to someone from Bavaria! (Had to add that,saw it done once)