How to cut down too sweet of syrup

[jimmol]

I know there is a way to figure this out using chemistry, but how many of us remember all that... Anyone have a rough starting point?

I have 7 quarts of 69.9% syrup. How much distilled water will I have to add to get it to 66.9%?

Thanks

[jrm]

It appears to me, and I'm no expert (!), that you want to reduce your sugar content by 3%. Therefore, I would think you need to increase your liquid by 3% of the total. 7 qts x 32 = 224 ounces x .03 = 6.72 oz. I'm thinking then, you would want to add 6.72 ounces to your heavy syrup in order to get your percentages.

That said, when I had heavy syrup last week, I didn't think to calculate it and added way too much sap, then just boiled down again. Next time around, I'd probably just add slowly and test.

[berkshires]

I'll give you the answer first, cause I'm nice.

7.314 quarts total = add .314 quarts (10 oz) distilled water.

Algebra, actually, not chemistry.

7q * .699 = Nq * .669

Solve for N

Cheers!

Gabe

[buck3m]

According to the official charts, assuming you've determined the original density correctly, you'd want to add 13.44 ounces.

[ecolbeck]

V1C1 = V2C2

In this case V2 actually equals V1+x where x is the unknown amount to be added.

so

V1C1 = (V2 + x)C2

Filling in 7 for V1, 69.9 for C1, and 66.9 for C2 and some algebra yields 9 ounces.

Or you could just add some water until it looks right......

[berkshires]

V1C1 = V2C2

In this case V2 actually equals V1+x where x is the unknown amount to be added.

so

V1C1 = (V2 + x)C2

Filling in 7 for V1, 69.9 for C1, and 66.9 for C2 and some algebra yields 9 ounces.

Or you could just add some water until it looks right......

Your formula is correct (or at any rate, the same as mine) but I don't think you solved it correctly.
7 * 69.9 = 489.3
489.3 / 66.9 = 7.314
7.314 - 7 = .314
.314 quarts * 32 oz/quart = 10 ounces

Cheers,

Gabe

[buck3m]

I just posted the charts for temperature compensation for your hydrometer reading, and how much sap or water to add to reach the desired density, at the bottom of this page: http://bucktrack.com/Maple_Syrup.html

[jimmol]

It ended up being 14 oz to bring it back to normal. The .56 oz was for the extra 6 oz. of syrup I had.

Thanks or all the equations and web links.

[ecolbeck]

Your formula is correct (or at any rate, the same as mine) but I don't think you solved it correctly.
7 * 69.9 = 489.3
489.3 / 66.9 = 7.314
7.314 - 7 = .314
.314 quarts * 32 oz/quart = 10 ounces

Cheers,

Gabe

Touche! I entered one of the number incorrectly into the calculator. :cry:

[berkshires]

It ended up being 14 oz to bring it back to normal. The .56 oz was for the extra 6 oz. of syrup I had.

Thanks or all the equations and web links.

Interesting. I think the reason ecolbeck and I were so far off is to do with the fact that we were using volumes, however sugar percent is measured by weight. I'll have to think more about it.

Thanks for the fun exercise - sorry my answer was so far off base.

GO

[buckeye gold]

Your error was in not multiplying by the specific gravity of Maple syrup which is 1.4 so 10x1.4=14

[wlatrout]

Man all those numbers make my head spin.I just cook it till it looks good on the hydro. and taste good and can it. Course I only get 30 to 40 gal. and sell to friends. They love it.

[ecolbeck]

Your error was in not multiplying by the specific gravity of Maple syrup which is 1.4 so 10x1.4=14

Buckeye gold and Gabe are right. The concentrations are weight based. According to appendix 3 in the maple producers manual an approximate conversion factor between volume and weight is 1.33. Using the Pearson’s square as described in the manual results in an adjustment of 13.4 ounces. Cheers to math and maple, two of my favorite things!

[maple flats]

While I'm fairly good with math, when I need to thin, I just add a little distilled water (or permeate, or almost syrup) and blend, then test again, and again until I get 66.9%. When I need to thin, I can only guess the amount in the bottler, I don't have an accurate amount.

[berkshires]

Buckeye gold and Gabe are right. The concentrations are weight based. According to appendix 3 in the maple producers manual an approximate conversion factor between volume and weight is 1.33. Using the Pearson’s square as described in the manual results in an adjustment of 13.4 ounces. Cheers to math and maple, two of my favorite things!

Thank you for your kind words. "Right" is a bit of an overstatement - I did correctly identify my error, so I'll take what little solace there is in that.

Anyway, I tried again, this time using weight. Here's what I came up with.

Given:
S = weight of Sugar in his seven quarts of too-heavy syrup
Wh = weight of Water in his too-heavy syrup
Wc = weight of Water in correct syrup

We know that:

S
---- = .699
S+Wh

And

S
---- = .669
S+Wc

Solving these two equations, we get
Wc = 1.149Wh

In other words, you want 1.149 times the weight of water in the correct syrup as is in the heavy syrup.

I'm pretty confident of that part. The next part I'm not sure about, which is calculating how much water is in that heavy syrup. Once I know that, I can solve it.

Just for fun, if I pretend that the heavy syrup is actually normal syrup, and then calculate the amount of water it would have in it, I come out with the answer of 14.8 ounces. I know that's wrong, and I expect it to be, but it shows that I'm in the right ballpark. I would expect the answer to be lower, which jimmol showed that it was. I just don't know how to make that last leap.

Well this was fun. I haven't used this much algebra since high school. I don't want to admit how many decades ago that was!

jimmol - sorry to hijack your thread with math!

Cheers,

Gabe O