thinning syrup

[drake1271]

I am not new to this but when I draw off (3-4 gallons at a time) it seem to go from right on to heavy before i know it is it ok to balance the bucket out with more that is not quite there yet?

[Russell Lampron]

Yes it is ok to do it that way but you lose the gradient in your evaporator when you do it. It will just take a little longer to get it back to making syrup again. I thin mine in my canner with hot water. That way I don't have to refilter it. I don't have a filter press yet.

[drake1271]

so in theory i would make more syrup if i did it your way?or no? one more question i thought syrup was 100% am i wrong?must be. how can you add water? does it have water content at 219? thanks for the reply josh

[danno]

Do you have a spigot on your flue pan. Thin it with sap from there.

[drake1271]

yes i do. must take alot less to thin it.

[ackerman75]

drake,
Pure maple syrup is about 66% sugar and 34% water, so yes you can thin it with water if you cook it to far. Add very little water at a time and keep checking it, it won't take much.

[drake1271]

wow, what was i thinking tanks for the info. so the question is would i make more syrup if i didn't thin it with almost syrup? or am i just thinking to hard and getting myself confused?

[3rdgen.maple]

Russell was saying you will lose gradient and it will take longer to make syrup in your pan for the next drawoff. You will not make more syrup it will take longer to make syrup if you thin it at the drawoff that is why he thins it with water.

[ennismaple]

wow, what was i thinking tanks for the info. so the question is would i make more syrup if i didn't thin it with almost syrup? or am i just thinking to hard and getting myself confused?

Depending on how far you took it past 66.5 you can get a little extra syrup when you thin. There's a calculation in the new Maple Syrup Producer's Manual to determine how to thin or thicken syrup with either water or other syrup.

[PerryW]

There is a formula for adding water to correct syrup density.


Add 3/5 of an Ounce of water (per gallon) for each tenth of a point (Baume) that your syrup is high.

FOR EXAMPLE:

If you have a 5 gallon batch (HOT TEST) that reads 32.6 Baume (instead of 32.0) you are:

6 TENTHS Too Thick

3/5 X 6 x 5 = 18 OZ

I.e. add 18 ounces of water to correct the density.

[danno]

There is a formula for adding water to correct syrup density.


Add 3/5 of an Ounce of water (per gallon) for each tenth of a point (Baume) that your syrup is high.

FOR EXAMPLE:

If you have a 5 gallon batch (HOT TEST) that reads 32.6 Baume (instead of 32.0) you are:

6 TENTHS Too Thick

3/5 X 6 x 5 = 18 OZ

I.e. add 18 ounces of water to correct the density.


Or - just stick your hydrometer in the 5 gallon batch and mix in sap or water till you get back to syrup.

[powerdub]

I don't think we are talking tap water here either. We always use the sap that is coming into the front pan from the back but you will alright to use the the back pan or raw sap as well. I just feel funny using water, even run off from the preheater. Just my opinion.

[PerryW]

Actually I only use the formula when repackaging syrup from drums and into consumer sizes (in the off-season).

During a take-off, I always try to balance the amount of too-heavy syrup with additional too-light syrup. I would never add water.

for recanning: I reheat syrup in batches of 5 to 10 gallons at a time.

While in the process of reheating, I measure the temp & density, and use the formula to know exactly how much water to add.

Of course, at that time of year, there is no sap available, so I use tap water.

[maple flats]

In previous years I thinned off the evaporator which worked but my belief is that off the evaporator tends not to filter as well so I will be trying distilled water to see if I like that better.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am not the expert, but I would never thin with raw sap. I think you are sitting yourself up for problems for long term storage as the sap isn't boiled anywhere like the rest of the batch and hasn't went thru the chemical change. I would use well boiled sap off the front pan of the evaporator or distilled water from the hood.

Personally, I run hot distilled water thru the filter press after each canning and flush the syrup out and catch everything which completely drains the press of any water content and use this thinned down syrup to thin the next batch and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.