Maple Basics

[elmcreekmaple]

I am new to this but I want to get it right - I have a lot of questions and would really appreciate any feedback or advice. I tend to ramble even while typing so I apologize beforehand:

Are there any good resources or seminars near NW Wisconsin?

Is the 'sugar sand' harmful?

What would cause one batch through a filter to be crystal clear but the next through the same filter cloud - even some sediment on the bottom of jars?

What are the pros & cons of the differing colors of syrup? what causes the difference?

I have many more questions but I will stop for now.

Thank, Aaron

[Jeff E]

Are there any good resources or seminars near NW Wisconsin?
Andersons Maple syrup will be having an open house, usually in May. That is always a great time for learning. Give them a call and see what they have going on. As always, this forum is very helpful.

Is the 'sugar sand' harmful? Just adds grit and and off flavor.

What would cause one batch through a filter to be crystal clear but the next through the same filter cloud - even some sediment on the bottom of jars?

Sounds like the filter has a leak, or some syrup went around the filter.
Is it an orlon filter?

What are the pros & cons of the differing colors of syrup? what causes the difference?
As the weather and season changes, the contents of the sap vary. Also, sap that has sat around gets bacteria growth and can darken the syrup and make the flavor less sweet.
If all items are clean and sap is fresh, your syrup should be of high quality, even if it is darker. At the end of the season, the sap will get 'buddy', and the syrup is very dark, not the best for table use. It can be used as 'commercial grade' for use in cooking, patching potholes and such:)

Keeping all items clean (wash buckets, tanks and hoses often) will really help with the syrup quality.

I have many more questions but I will stop for now.

[elmcreekmaple]

thanks Jeff -

it is a orlon filter but I ring it out when clean and someone told me that was bad. What is best & quick?

Ive seen terms float around such as 'arch' and 'firebox' - arent they one in the same?

Ive heard dark syrup has more health benefits - is that true?

[woodbit]

thanks for that information.. where would one find the orion filter you spoke of?

[elmcreekmaple]

Are there any good resources or seminars near NW Wisconsin?
Andersons Maple syrup will be having an open house, usually in May. That is always a great time for learning. Give them a call and see what they have going on. As always, this forum is very helpful.

Is the 'sugar sand' harmful? Just adds grit and and off flavor.

What would cause one batch through a filter to be crystal clear but the next through the same filter cloud - even some sediment on the bottom of jars?

Sounds like the filter has a leak, or some syrup went around the filter.
Is it an orlon filter?

What are the pros & cons of the differing colors of syrup? what causes the difference?
As the weather and season changes, the contents of the sap vary. Also, sap that has sat around gets bacteria growth and can darken the syrup and make the flavor less sweet.
If all items are clean and sap is fresh, your syrup should be of high quality, even if it is darker. At the end of the season, the sap will get 'buddy', and the syrup is very dark, not the best for table use. It can be used as 'commercial grade' for use in cooking, patching potholes and such:)

Keeping all items clean (wash buckets, tanks and hoses often) will really help with the syrup quality.

I have many more questions but I will stop for now.

We tap, store, and boil our sap out in the woods nowhere near running water or electricity - also no real road to our shack, we all get in by atv.

So my question is - Do you have any suggestions on the best way to keep everything clean? Bringing in water, heating on a stove and using for some things is OK, but we have a 275 gallon plastic storage container (used to hold teet dip) that would take an enormous amount of water to clean half way through the season. Should we lug it out everytime we come out just to clean it.

thanks, aaron

[Jeff E]

Woodbit, ORLON filters can be found at any maple dealer. Check out the web at Mapleguys, Bascom maple, Andersons. The make it in a sheet, 36"x36", or a bag. The bag has a seam, and can leak gunk there.

http://andersonsmaplesyrup.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=85

You are right ElmCreek, never ring out the orlon, it breaks down the fibers.
I would prefilter the syrup, then run it into the orlon. BE PATIENT! it is a slow process. You must have very hot syrup for it to filter through orlon. I would normally draw it off the evaporator directly into the prefilter/filter.

I cleaned mine in a sink, by flushing with lots of water. Go ahead and use again when it is still damp, it works better then.

If you dont have access to a lot of water, I would get a lot of filters. Or else dont filter in the woods. Draw it off and put into buckets you can seal up.
Take it home, reheat to 200+ deg and filter/bottle. This may be the best option.

For the tank, I would take 10 gallons of water. Use 4 gallons and scrub up the inside of the tank. No soaps, chemicals. Then rinse with the other 6. Call it good. If the tank looks clean and has no slime, you can probable go without washing it without to much problem. If you start to see spots, cloudy sap, scrub it out! End of the year do a good 20:1 water/bleach wash and rinse.

You are correct, the term arch is simply a term to describe the fire box of a maple evaporator. A true arch would be specifically designed for maple evaporator pans, where a fire box is a general term used to describe, well, a box for fire!

An arch normally would have a firebox in the front area, a tapered section,
and an area for a back pan to capture the heat from the cumbustion in the firebox.

I don't know about the health benefits of dark vs light, though there are some diets and fasts that require the use of dark syrup. Interesting question.

I want to go back and state again that filtering later is a good solution. This will also allow the gunk to settle out so you dont have to filter out so much.
that is how I did my syrup the first year I made it. No filter. I simple let it sit in the fridge for a few days and the gunk settled to the bottom. I poured off the good stuff and tossed the sludge. Work good for our own syrup, though I would not want to sell it that way.

[Clan Delaney]

Ive seen terms float around such as 'arch' and 'firebox' - arent they one in the same?


You know, I wondered that exact same thing when I joined. There may be a more technical answer, but I've come to think of it like this: The arch is the entire apparatus that sits below your pans (or everything your pans sit on). The firebox is at the front of your arch, the larger area where the wood burns or the oil burner flame is blown. Toward the back of the arch, especially on longer ones, is the flue space. It's shallower than the firebox. This is where the flames created in the firebox race under your pans (usually the back pan in a 2-pan setup) on their way to the stack (or chimney. But don't say chimney, say stack. All the real maplers say stack. I've never heard anyone here say chimney and I think you're not supposed to. And dangit now I've gone and said it three times. There goes my street cred. :lol: )

[KenWP]

I used the orlon bag for the first time today. I got most of the syrup thru it and then the last cup or so just hung up. I have it sitting over a pot on the wood stove right now keeping warm and hopefully by tomorrow it runs through. If not I will have to figure out what else to do since I have no more sap and it could be next year before it runs again. Still have 3 more batch of syrup to run through the thing. At one day a batch could take till a while.

[Jerome]

But don't say chimney, say stack. All the real maplers say stack. I've never heard anyone here say chimney and I think you're not supposed to. And dangit now I've gone and said it three times. There goes my street cred. :lol: )

To be technical the stack is the pipe that would go from the wood burning appliance to the chimney (dam now you got me saying it) which caries the flue gasses through the structure in an insulated raceway. As most do not use a brick, block or other insulated raceway it is proper to say stack I do use a insulated stainless c word so I could call it that but I won't as you don't know might be reading this.

[KenWP]

Stove pipe also works.

[PerryW]

We tap, store, and boil our sap out in the woods nowhere near running water or electricity - also no real road to our shack, we all get in by atv.

So my question is - Do you have any suggestions on the best way to keep everything clean?

I have no running water in my sugarhouse either. I carry about 6-8 gallons of water down to the sugarhouse for each boil. I fill a sap bucket with fresh water and wedge it in back of my evaporator so it leans on the stack. It gets nice and hot in about an hour. I can keep my filters & prefilters washed by dippering water out of the hot sap bucket and replacing it with cold water so the sap bucket stays full of hot water.

I can wash my 600 gallon sap tank with about 10 gallons of (cold) water. I use about 3 gallons with a splash of unscented Chlorox and wash with a foam mop. Then rinse twice with the rest of the water.

[3rdgen.maple]

Chimney, Sorry had to do it clan.

[Clan Delaney]

Chimney, Sorry had to do it clan.

Revolution!!!!

[gator330]

If you guys keep saying chimney, I'm going to start "COOKING" sap!!! It takes a STACK to BOIL!!! Clan, no street cred, your out of the gang!!!

[elmcreekmaple]

Is Galvanized Stove pipe bad to use for the "stack"

[gator330]

It will work just fine, just remember it gets HOT!!! Keep it way away from any thing that will burn!!! Use insilated pipe if going through the roof or a wall. And even if inspection isn't required of an evaporator were you are. I think it a good idea to still go by code. As much as a pain as code is there is in many cases a good reason for it.

[PerryW]

My evaporator came with 20 feet of galvanized steel chimney (sorry, couldn't resist). After a few years, it got real rusty and rust kept falling in my back pan. I replaced it with a 15" x 20 ft stainless stack and it works great.

If you are planning on sugaring for the long haul, get a stainless steel stack.

One more thing: If you don't have running water, a hood is a good idea so you can use the condensate for your cleanup water.

[KenWP]

Well my evaporator has a pipeau de poele and I faire bouillier my sap. Could not resist it.

[RileySugarbush]

The zinc is gone off galvanized pipe stack pip the first time you fire. Black stack pipe is marginally better because it is typically a heavier gauge, and a lot cheaper than stainless, but it will only last a few years. That's what I have now, but I can foresee getting stainless in the future.