Bulk

[mapleman3]

Here's a question for all of you. if you store in bulk lets say 15gal kegs, but you onlymake lets say half that in a good day, how can I fill that keg up so it will keep for a good long time... say months? can I fill half one day and top off the next boiling day??? will the second filling be enough heat to sterilize?? or do you just worry about that when you bottle later?????????? <<<<<<confused

[Brian]

Jim, Glenn Goodrich sometimes tops off a drum the next day and said they do fine. I wait until the next day and reheat the syrup and bottle it into 15 gal drum.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

I store my in 5 gallon buckets and I top them off. Finished or nearly finished syrup will keep for a long time as long as it is kept cool. :D

Just fill 'em as you make it. If the density is ok it will last just fine. When you re-heat to package it, any problems will take care of themselves anyway.

[wdchuck]

Whoops that last one was me- **** computer! I'll get this thing figured out. Hellooooo! Is this thing working!???

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

Send it down to WVMAPLER and he'll taste test it and then batch it up with his syrup if thats ok?...Get a bigger canner(15Gal.+) so you can hold the small batch and then add the next days syrup to it and then do up the drum right when you have 15Gals.

[mapleman3]

my canner holds 12 gals so I could save it in it then draw off hot and add to the fresh drawn off syrup from the evap I guess. in another year or so I will buy a bigger canner.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

I have one of the 2 burner 60,000 btu high output stoves on legs. I am getting a 13.5 x 32" pan made for it that is 12 to 16 inches deep. Don't know how much it would hold, but with it and the 15 gallons my canner holds, I should be able to readily heat and can 30 gallons.

The guy that is making my hoods is also making the pan and will probably only charge 30 to 40 bucks for it if you are interested in something like that in the future. :D

[brookledge]

Jim,
I only use kegs for drum storage now and I only hot pack the whole keg at one time. During the season if the grade changes I may hold a partial keg until I make that grade again and then re-heat. I have heard horror stories about large containers formenting or spoiling when they were thought to have been hot packed. And for me a keg of fancy just isn't worth having go bad.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

One thing you could do is find a chest or upright deep freezer for sale or free for hauling. Down here you can find them in the Trader all the time for free or next to nothing that might not look real pretty, but work great. You could probably store a fair amount in the freezer and you wouldn't never have to worry about any type of spoilage.