Defoamer

[3% Solution]

Did a search before I started this one.
Couldn't find anything.

What do you folks use for a defoamer?

I have been using the Atmos, which works great.
Just wondering if that is the same as a cooking oil from the kitchen.
You know something like Canola or Safflower Oil.

Thanks for the input.

Dave

[Homestead Maple]

I think Atmos is great.

[PerryW]

I use corn oil. I never knew what to tell my customers when they asked what was in that Atmos 500 stuff.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I used to use Veggie oil in a baby bottle but the nipples would get yucky so I went to the generic brand that Roth sells its white and works better with less residue.

[killingworthmaple]

I use the spray cooking oil from the kitchen, just the smallest stop does the job and it is a fine mist. It come in diferent types of oil just don't get the sented ones with garlic.

Nathan

[RileySugarbush]

I use the spray vegetable oil too. It works very well with the tiniest of sprays and is really convenient.

No one is complaining about the syrup, in fact we won the Minnesota Maple Syrup Producers award last year so I guess it's ok.

[maplwrks]

Ive used spray cooking oil, and it works OK--canola oil is best. I really prefer the kosher powder defoamer. I fill my defoamer cup in the flue pan and I'm good for 5 hours or more. For those of you that don't use a defoamer cup, they are a great way to get the job done and you won't need to worry about foam for a long time. Check them out in the Lapierre and D&G catalogs. The powdered defoamer also works great in a salt shaker--just a quick shake over your pans flattens the foam.

[farmall h]

I try not to use it as often as I have seen people use it. Some say the defoamer leaves a greasy residue in the syrup. I do use the Leader product but maybe once in a while...only if it is flopping out of the back pan. Never use it in the front pan....

[KenWP]

The Atmos from what I read on the label is basically stearate. Which is a big word for refinded beef fat. To be kosher you have to follow a lot of rules they say. Well only 450 of them. I used olive oil last year. Seemed like a couple of drops was all I ever needed. I started out with 30ml if it in a bottle and it is still more then half full. I wasn't going to buy the Atmos stuff as there is enough for 50 years there for me.

[Russell Lampron]

I am using the Atmos now but have used canola oil and butter in the past. My grandfather used to tie a piece of salt pork on a string and dangle it over the flue pan.

Do you have to use only canola oil if you are certified organic? I think I heard that somewhere.

[KenWP]

If you use certified organic oil then anykind would work. D&G sells organic safflower oil for the organic guys up here and lapirire or how ever you spell it sells the same brand.

[SilverLeaf]

Since it seems that the consensus is cooking oil (vegetable/corn/canola) works alright but requires more "applications" than the commercial defoamers, I'm just curious: for those of you on this thread that use cooking oil, how often do you find that you have to spray it on? Is it like once every 15 minutes or so? More? Less?

[PerryW]

I only use a couple drops of corn oil each time so when things are really cooking, I have to defoam every 15-20 minutes in the back pan.

Most of the time, the front pan doesn't need it, but when things are really hot if have no other choice than using defoamer (or opening the door, but I ain't doing that.)

My syrup pan in full boil:

http://vid6.photobucket.com/albums/y235/perryW/HPSyrupBoil2Small.flv

[3% Solution]

Hi all,
Thanks for your answers and input.
Just figured if I run out of the Atmos the others are alot less expensive and will do the same thing.
Thanks again.

Dave

[KenWP]

One problem with useing corn oil is many people have allergies to corn and corn products. We have found out some people were haveing trouble with booze made from corn even and many condiments using corn syrup.

[3% Solution]

KenWP,
I was thinking using the Canola Oil.
Is that still a problem?
With your thoughts in mind, maybe just stay with the Atmos.
Don't want to be the fault of someones illness!
Thanks.

Dave

[Haynes Forest Products]

Then use peanut oil:lol: Dang how did we ever make it in this world. NOT once did I ever see a kid turn blue or fall over when I was a kid because we ate PB+Js in the lunch room.

[nymapleguy607]

I bought a bottle of atmos last year and it worked great I got the larger 8 oz bottle due to that was all they had and I think barely used an once of the stuff. I think I paid $10 for my bottle definitly well worth it.

[KenWP]

Never heard of anybody allergic to canola or olive. I eat peanut butter everyday for lunch and have since I was a kid. I am the pickest eater alive.

[3rdgen.maple]

NYmapleguy Im with you I think atmos is relatively cheap. Dealer told me to put it in the freezer in the off season and keep using it till it's gone.

[gator330]

Will it go bad if you don't freez it????

[3rdgen.maple]

Well Gator I was told no by the same dealer but he then said freeze it to be on the safe side. I ended up leaving a bottle in the sugarhouse a few years ago and used it the following year with no ill effects that I know but I freeze it now.

[Toblerone]

So is the Atmos defoamer made from animal or vegetable products? Does anyone know for sure? I'm sure I will be asked what is in it, possibly from vegetarians or vegans.

I did find this article (http://www.ivu.org/news/2-97/sugar.html) on line. It says:
One commercial defoamer (called Atmos 300K) is composed of monoglycerides and diglycerides. According to WITCO, the producer of this defoamer, these glycerides are derived from edible meat and/or vegetable sources. Another leading brand of defoamer, Reynolds Magic Syrup Defoamer, also contains acetylated monoglycerides as an ingredient

Maybe I should just switch back to the Canola oil even though it didn't work nearly as well.

[3% Solution]

Gator,
I had some go bad after a couple years, didn't freeze it.
The syrup had an off taste, I started using a new bottle and the taste went away.

Toblerone,
The description is the same one I found, so I guess it's up to you what to tell folks.
If I'm asked I'm just going to say it's saturated fats and let it go at that.
It's nothing (as you know) that's going to hurt anyone.

Dave

[KenWP]

Pretty good guess is they use animal fats from beouf so that it's kosher. The word Sterate is usually a good sign of that. Also it's cheaper to refine animal fats then vegetable fats and with this trans fats stuff going on that's what you end up with with refined vegetable fats most of the time.

[PerryW]

Can't see how cost is a real issue. I probably use 10 cents worth of corn oil per year and it works great. Why put animal fats in your product and tick off the Vegetarians and the Orthodox Jews?

[KenWP]

I like the olive oil. Certified organic and it takes like you said 10 cents worth for the whole season and once I learned to keep it warm drips easy. I figured I would need lots of it and found out different. I wouldn't use hog products or unrefined anything just because I don't like my personal beliefs trod on so I like to respect others.

[Squaredeal]

Ive used spray cooking oil, and it works OK--canola oil is best. I really prefer the kosher powder defoamer. I fill my defoamer cup in the flue pan and I'm good for 5 hours or more. For those of you that don't use a defoamer cup, they are a great way to get the job done and you won't need to worry about foam for a long time. Check them out in the Lapierre and D&G catalogs. The powdered defoamer also works great in a salt shaker--just a quick shake over your pans flattens the foam.

Mike, I have been using a cup for about three years in the first partition of the flue pan with great results. However, I still get foaming occasionally in the flue pan in the last partition where it goes into the float box. So, I am thinking about putting another cup there -which I guess would also help foaming in the front pans.

Where do you place your cup(s) and how far above the sap level do you set them?

[farmall h]

It is OK to have some foaming action. If it starts to crawl over into the front pan...sure better knock it down! But to over de-foam is not good.

[Squaredeal]

if it crawls through my hood into the front pan, I'm in big trouble.

[farmall h]

sqdeal, I am not familiar with the hoods. My smallbros. is "hoodless"

ps: heard today that your wind chill factor was around -35 below. It was ccccold.

[KenWP]

It;s cold here to.

[Squaredeal]

Yeah, it's pretty cold and feels like our house is about to blow over.