Has this ever happened to you?

[maple flats]

Yesterday i was boiling and I kept getting sugar in my draw off box. I used the scoop to clear it and dumped it the first time but then when it happened again I realized it was actually sugar, about 1/2" deep in the bottom of the box. I tasted it and realized it was sugar so i added it to my draw off pot and saved it for running thru my filter press. When I do my next filtering, after I bring the pot up to 200 degrees, I will stir it to make sure it is in suspension and will then run it thru the press. This sugaring continued all day even thou I run continuous draw when the temp is right. I have never had this before, has anyone else? I do draw off and have all season at 7-8 degrees above and then when it is in the canner I just filter and add small amounts of almost syrup from the evap., stir and test density until it is at 66.5-67%. I have found this much faster than what i did previous years where I often had to boil a little in the canner, sometimes as long as 30-40 minutes, using propane and time. The evap is woodfired and I have an almost endless supply in the form of slab wood from my sawmill.

[brookledge]

Are you talking about sugar sand?
I had a tremendous amount this year.
Keith

[powerdub]

We have had a lot of sand this year also. I talked to someone at leader the other day and they said they have fifteen pans to be fixed from it and expect to see more.

[Mike Van]

I'm happy one of those 15 pans isn't mine!

[mikemac0818]

I also had alot of sand, and have talked with several other sugar makers that had the same thing.

[maple flats]

I tasted it and it tasted like sugar, had a real nice flavor. This only happened that one day, but did it most all day long, I scooped it into my draw off pail, added some almost syrup from the evap and stirred it, reheated, stirred again and filtered it into the canner. The stuff was a mush like consistancy but the taste was sugar, no off or unusual after taste.