Big blue 5 gallon jugs.

[Justin Turco]

Would somebody please make a blue 5 gallon bulk container that you can actually drain! There is always a 1/4 of a cup down there you can't get out.

[maple flats]

I quit buying the blue jugs for that reason. I now use soda kegs and when they are all full I have some white plastic jugs I got from Bakers Maple in Bainbridge, NY that are complete draining design. Last year I pd about $15 ea and they work well They hold almost 6 gal ea when filled to top which i do.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

That's why I like the 5 gallon food grade buckets with seal tight lids. You can always get about every drop of syrup out of them and they are very easy to clean.

[220 maple]

Mapleflats
I hope you are refering to the 5 gallon plastic jugs that hold almost 6 gallons when filled to the top and not the soda kegs?????. Because if the soda kegs hold more than 5 gallon I will need to re-adjust our totals for the past 8 or 9 years.

Mark 220 Maple

[Russell Lampron]

When I pack my syrup in the 5 gallon plastic jugs it usually needs to be thinned out to can it. I put about a quart of hot water in the jug and slosh it around then dump it into the canner to get the rest of the syrup out.

[maple flats]

It was the plastic jugs from Baker Maple in Bainbridge, NY that hold almost 6 gal. They do have a 1, 2, 3, 4 gal mark but no 5 gal mark. I came up with 5.8 or 5.9 gal by weighing the full jug and subtracting the empty jug weight and deviding by 11. When you buy these they do not specify the capacity but I suspect they intend 5 gal with some air space above. I did not want the air space so I filled it to the top of the neck and capped them. When filling them hot as is required the sides bulge some which I'm sure adds a fair amount extra, but after cooling they do stack, which they are made to do but I have not tried stacking them more than 2 high, not sure how stable nor how much weight they would take.

[Dennis H.]

Where is the best place to find used soda kegs. I had to do a google just to find out what a soda keg was.:rolleyes:
I read about the food grade buckets and white plastic jugs, are they re-useable? I would like to get something that I can use over each year.

[super sappy]

Dennis H -I sent you a pm. -ss

[220 maple]

Dennis H

Several years ago there was a ad that ran every month in the Northeast Farming magazine for 5 gallon soda kegs. They came from California my father purchased 4. They are one of the best things that I have ever used to store syrup in. I don't get that magazine anymore but I suspect there are people on this message board that does. Maybe they are still available from that supplier???

Mark 220 Maple

[maplehound]

The only place that I have seen them lately is on E-bay. But they want alot for them. I too would like to find some more at a reasonable price.

[tuckermtn]

PM Homestead maple- he used to have quite a few...but he might be sold out...

[Dennis H.]

Super Sappy just got time to read the pm that you sent me.

[sapman]

Those of you using the soda kegs, do you use them for short-term syrup storage, or can you get them to seal somehow? I bought one, but the seal is on the inside, so you can't hold a vacuum. Were you able to retrofit it to seal properly?

Thanks,
Tim

[tuckermtn]

I have yet to do it, but you can get a small nitrogen bottle and quick connector to pressurize the keg...this will make the seal hold...

search back archives for some posts from homestead...he seems to be the guru

lots of homebrewers use these kegs and nitro or CO2 to pressurize their batches...my neighbor has a set up and I plan hopefully borrow his set up...

-tuckermtn

[maple flats]

I pressureize them with food grade nitrogen. The set up to do it ran just north of $200 and the nitrogen ran about $20.00. The nitrogen is labeled as good for 4 years and I will need to pressurize a whole lot of soda kegs to use that amount in 4 years. After that I would refill the nitrogen with fresh. If you fill the keg to the top and pressurize after it cools it takes very little nitrogen. I pressurize to 35 PSI.

[sapman]

Sounds good. Thanks guys! That makes sense, pressurizing with an inert gas. Friends who have a winery showed me how they blow out wine bottles (with nitrogen or CO 2) prior to filling to make them inert.

Tim

[maple flats]

I chose nitrogen because I read that the big bulk wholesallers who use huge SS tanks to store the syrup top them off with nitrogen. To me this meant that it would not affect the syrup in any way or they would not use it.

[brookledge]

Is ther any way to remove the quick connects and cap them so that they do not need to be presureized with nitrogen? I never used soda kegs since they are small so I've never studied them.
Keith

[Haynes Forest Products]

They use a stright thread on them so a regular pipe thread wont work. I went to Pepsi bottling in Green Bay and they wouldnt sell me anything that would convert thair tanks for any other use but dispensing Pepsi. I went to a good welding supply that does alot of gas equipment. They have alot of differant stright thread caps and connectors most of them brass. Look for a Parker hydrolic store go on line and they do alot those fittings.

[maple flats]

Even if you removed the quick disconnect fitting you still need to pressurize because the main lid is only a good seal with pressure on it. The lid goes inside and then a large o ring seals as the lid is clamped upward. This type of seal will not hold a vacumn. To avoid this you could weld a fitting onto the top of each with a bung and plug or cap to seal but why. THe lid comes off and gives you rather good access to get the tank clean before filling with syrup. Many ways to over ride this feature would likely leave a hard to clean tank for the future.

[jrthe3]

i have never tryed the soda kegs but i store my syrup in empty 1/2 beer kegs it is more fun to call a few friends over and empty a fresh keg of beer