Jugs Fill Levels

[Amber Gold]

I was bottling some syrup in the house last night and decide to take my measuring cup to determine the actual fill level of the jugs I was filling...last night was pints and quarts. Much to my surprise, the actual fill level for a pint and quart is well below the neck of the jug. I put more water in to see how much more was needed to get to my fill level (1/2" from the top) and the pints took another 1oz. and the quarts another 2 oz., that's another 1/16 of product that the customer is getting for free. If I was to fill to actual fill levels the customer would think he's getting screwed. Has anybody noticed this before and what are they doing? I'm using NHMPA jugs.

I checked 1 quart Mason jars and if you fill right to the top it's 1 quart so if you leave a little head space the customer is getting a little less than a quart.

Thanks

[DS Maple]

I haven't ever tested that, but I guess I'm not too surprised. Now it would be interesting to see if there is a difference between Bacon and Sugar Hill jugs. (the association jugs are Bacon, right?)

[3rdgen.maple]

Amber I have played around with that myself. What to do is a little delima for me that I am on the fence with. I don't remember the exact scale measurements of the top of my head but my dad always filled the jugs right to the top and I always questioned it. The NY requirements says you do not need to fill the jugs to the top, just to the neck. I used a scale one year filled a jug with exacally a quart of syrup and used a precision scale and quit filling when it got to the right weight. Response from a couple customers was stuff like my jugs were always filled to the top now they are not. So I fill to the top and just chalk it up to bonus syrup for the customer. I don't even want to imagine how many free quarts of syrup I have given away over the years. So what do we do, lose customers or keep it the way it is? I think the answer is a pretty easy one. Maybe throw an extra 50 cents on the price this year and call it good.

[rob1640]

The jugs are sized for hot packing, when the syrup cools it should equal the jug size.

[3rdgen.maple]

The jugs are sized for hot packing, when the syrup cools it should equal the jug size.

What? I have always hotpacked my jugs to the top and when you open them months later the syrup only drops less than a 1/2 inch. The neck on these jugs are alot longer than that and If you measure out a quart and fill the jug it is at the very bottom of the neck. I am willing to bet you that If I measured a jug I filled last year it still will have alot more than a true quart in it.

[Amber Gold]

I agree w/ 3rdgen. If anything when you hot packed shouldn't it get bigger as the plastic expands. I know if I'm holding a jug in the air, especially a big one, and I fill it to close to the top and then set it down, it will overflow becuase the jug had stretched out from no support in the bottom. Say they expand when hot, even when resting on a shelf, if you filled them to a 1/2" of the top, when the container shrunk wouldn't it blow the top off or something?

I'm going to check tonight with boiling water and see if the results are any different.

[dschultz]

Amber Gold
When the syrup is cooling in the jug it's creating a vacum to seal not pressure so the top's not going to blow off

[KenWP]

I learnt the hard way not to fill gallon jugs and 1/2 gallon jugs to the top when holding them under the spout. Couldn't figure out why they poured out when I set them down.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

NYState Ag and Markets says that a container shall be filled 90% or better...

[Amber Gold]

I checked tonight w/ hot water...probably 200F. The quarts fit 36 oz and the pints 18 oz, so the additional liquid into the container above the stated size doubles when the liquid is hot. Unbelievable.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Its all about presentation fill em up they look better.

[Jim Schumacher]

Has anyone done similar tests on glass? Obviously they don't stretch, just wondering if a 12 oz bottle is 12 ounces. A quart size bottle sure looks a lot bigger then a mason jar.

[maple flats]

I never checked, but I think they only look full if you put in as much as will fit when hot. I don't worry about them getting an OZ or 2 extra. If you are worried about that just raise the price accordingly. Just charge a fair price for the seller AND the consumer.

[sapman]

I usually get my 12oz. bottles pretty close to the top, leaving a little bubble when I tip them over. I think legally, I could probably fill to less than halfway up the neck, though, because comparing to other, large packer syrups, I may give a 1/2oz. more.

Tim

[brookledge]

Don't forget when the syrup is heated it expands. When I fill glass leafs you can see the difference in the level after it cools.
Also when I hot pack a keg(15.5gal) I fill it right to the top and when I open it the level is down quite a bit to the point where you think it wasn't filled full to begin with
Keith

[KenWP]

Also the jug or keg will give a bit when hot and contract when cold.

[mountainvan]

a little push up from the bottom of the jug can compensate for the "extra space " in hot packing larger plastic bottles. Not so much on pints or smaller.

[3% Solution]

Hey guys,

I have been trying to come up with an answer to the problem of giving a few extra Oz. of syrup to the customer and I have come to this conclusion;

It is better to have a happy customer than it is to have an another nickel in your pocket.

This is kinda like a bakers dozen, thirteen!

Don't worry about the small stuff, make a good product and have happy customers!!!

Hey that's why your sold out .......... happy customers!!!

Dave

[nymapleguy607]

I had a similar conversation a couple of weeks ago with my dealer
He told me some of the larger producers are using scales when they fill jugs.He told me a gallon of finished syrup 66.5 brix should weight 11 lbs I think
That number maybe wrong. anyway if you were to fill say a quart like you normally would then weight it, you would see how much you are actually giving away. This might not matter in small batches but when you bottle say five gallons it can make quite a difference. He told me you can take some producers jugs and hear the syrup sloosh back and forth.
But I guess it really comes down to what will your market support.

[Amber Gold]

I agree and will continue to fill to the top to keep the customers happy...don't want them to think they're getting screwed. I just don't know why the jug manufacturers can't make a quart size jug a quart, not a quart plus 4 oz...that's all.

[KenWP]

Just think 4 ozs extra every jug. The over abundance of syrup just disappeared. I myselff will continue to fill them up only becasue I hate half full containers myself and I live by the rule that it has to be good enough for me in order to sell it to somebody else. That a jugs are expensive so filling them saves a couple of jugs.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Remember when you got a soda in a cup and it had a line on the cup that stated that it was a full serving to this line. The sign said a 16 oz cup but the cup held 20 oz because of the filling prosess made foam. Now they dont say that because we fill our own cups. I say fill them up and be happy. When I fill small glass for display I want them full as possible.

[Sweber]

In the past when I fill plastic jugs near the top(say quarts) with a bit of foam in the neck, when it cools down it makes an "indent" in the side. Doesn't look good on the shelf. Fill 'em up! Just remember No one, I repeat, No One likes to feel they are getting short changed.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I stand corrected, but I think a US gallon of syrup weighs 11.3 lbs.

[3rdgen.maple]

I had a similar conversation a couple of weeks ago with my dealer
He told me some of the larger producers are using scales when they fill jugs.He told me a gallon of finished syrup 66.5 brix should weight 11 lbs I think
That number maybe wrong. anyway if you were to fill say a quart like you normally would then weight it, you would see how much you are actually giving away. This might not matter in small batches but when you bottle say five gallons it can make quite a difference. He told me you can take some producers jugs and hear the syrup sloosh back and forth.
But I guess it really comes down to what will your market support.

Same thing I did last year for the first few batches I put in plastic and I was amazed at how not full they were. It looked not right and I filled the rest up. And people noticed the ones with the correct amount in them versus the ones overfilled. I guess I gotta suck it up and take their money anyways.