Cleaning collection buckets

[kevin.graves35]

Hello all,

Just thinking ahead to the end of the season. I use 5 gallon buckets and also some 15 gallon barrels with bungs for sap collection. What do you use to clean them at the end of the season? I was thinking a diluted bleach solution and sit for a few days with a good rinse...

Thanks,

[maineboiler]

I use a lot of 5 gallon plastic buckets with drop lines and also tree hanging metal buckets. I clean them at the end of the season with dilute bleach solution and a good rinse. Does the trick

[Smeds]

I happen to brew beer too, so I use 5-star PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) ... an alkaline cleaner. If it's good for my beer, it must be good for my sap/syrup!


PBW is an alkaline, non-caustic, environmentally and user friendly cleaner
Cleaner is very effective in removing thick, difficult, and caked-on organic soils
Effective substitute for caustic soda cleaners and household cleaners
Can clean items that cannot be reached with a brush or sponge by simply soaking and rinsing
Safe on skin as well as stainless steel, rubber, soft metals, and on plastics

[berkshires]

One general thought to share: Cleaning and sanitation are different and related. Without proper cleaning, sanitation won't work. This is because all sanitizing solutions I know of are "used up" pretty easily by organic matter. So if you have all kinds of bugs and crap stuck to the inside of your buckets (as I know I do by the end of the season), and you think you can just sanitize and rinse, the sanitizing solution may not actually do much. You need to clean first and then sanitize.

Cheers,

Gabe

[NhShaun]

I have only ever cleaned my buckets and barrels with hot water and a non abrasive sponge. They are going on their 7th season and are still as clean and white as the first.

[Balrog006]

I happen to brew beer too, so I use 5-star PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) ... an alkaline cleaner. If it's good for my beer, it must be good for my sap/syrup!


PBW is an alkaline, non-caustic, environmentally and user friendly cleaner
Cleaner is very effective in removing thick, difficult, and caked-on organic soils
Effective substitute for caustic soda cleaners and household cleaners
Can clean items that cannot be reached with a brush or sponge by simply soaking and rinsing
Safe on skin as well as stainless steel, rubber, soft metals, and on plastics

I do this as well, then a dunk in Star-San to disinfect everything, buckets, lids, lines, taps-etc. Set everything out to dry in the sun and pack it all away for the season.

Before I return things to service I give them a rinse to remove any dust or bugs that found their way onto things in the last 10 months and then a quick dip in Star-San again then out to the trees to start collecting sap.

The benefit of the food grade brewery style cleansers and sanitation is they are no rinse and won’t alter taste, smell or color of the sap or syrup.

[buck3m]

I don full rain gear, gloves, wear glasses and use a pressure washer on them, then set the buckets out to dry. I haul and store them horizontally to keep them from sticking together.

[Michael Greer]

Start with hot water and dish detergent, just like in the home kitchen. I don't sanitize buckets like we do glassware. If buckets get old and uncleanable, they are "retired" to the garden shed for other purposes.

[bigschuss]

Start with hot water and dish detergent, just like in the home kitchen. I don't sanitize buckets like we do glassware. If buckets get old and uncleanable, they are "retired" to the garden shed for other purposes.

I do the same. Never felt the need to sterilize everything. Just figured the evaporator would do that.

[berkshires]

I do the same. Never felt the need to sterilize everything. Just figured the evaporator would do that.

Likewise. I think cleanliness of buckets is the most important, not sterilization.

GO

[tgormley358]

Likewise. I think cleanliness of buckets is the most important, not sterilization.

GO

The reason to sterilize in addition to cleaning is preventing mold which increases clean/prep time the following season. Without sterilizing I’ve found most buckets acquire serious mold that takes more than a simple rinse at the start of a new season.

[bigschuss]

The reason to sterilize in addition to cleaning is preventing mold which increases clean/prep time the following season. Without sterilizing I’ve found most buckets acquire serious mold that takes more than a simple rinse at the start of a new season.

I have never had mold in my buckets in the 20 years I've been doing this? I clean them...I let them dry in the sun...and I put them away for the season. I don't even clean them when I start the next year. Never had a problem.

[Swingpure]

Would you ever clean your buckets mid season? I read a couple posts on another thread, where in one case they compared sap to milk, where it spoils after 7 days and in another case in the larger collection barrels, they talked about pumping out all of the sap in the barrel, so that new sap is not intermixed with old sap going bad and filled with bacteria.

Does the sap residue on the sides of the bucket go bad, or just the fact they are kept cold in the snowbank and are constantly refilled is good enough, so that you do not have to clean them mid season?

[Pdiamond]

I never had to clean mine until the end of the season.

[DRoseum]

If you collect and boil daily it won't be a problem unless there is a prolonged warm spell (fairly high temps for more than a day). However, gathering tanks/barrels will develop some slime in them over the course of the season and should be cleaned out (even of its with water and brushed a bit) every so often. These obviously get worse with warm spells too. Sap is like milk and if not kept cold it will spoil.