Its all about trial and error right? First "Syrup"

[Loun]

I havent gotten a ton out of my trees yet but last night all the buckets froze over, so I tossed the ice, decided to boil down the concentrate on the stove and see what I would come up with as a first go round. I boiled it down and figured id "eyeball" it since it wasnt enough to even put in my hydrometer cup.

It was sheeting so I decided to cook it a little bit more to try to maybe get darker syrup (im still very new lol) so I filtered it and it seemed like a lot was crystalizing so I added some water brought it back up to a boil and then bottled it. It actually looked good, it was very light though. Similar to VT fancy in the grade kit.

I put the bottle in the fridge to cool down, and when I just checked on it, it is the consistency of honey :)

Did I just boil it down too much so that its in between sugar and syrup but not either?

[red maples]

I thought the same as you last year ...cook it longer make darker syrup. Part of it is what the trees give you. remember that you are on the stove so the syrup will be lighter. and the small batch will be lighter as well. but when you boil it out in a batch in evaporator and your cooking it all day it will develope more color. and it sounds like you just cooked it too long and still needs more water to get it back honey is too thick. but exciting isn't it!!!!

[BarrelBoiler]

sounds a little thick but cold out of the frige it would be. its probably ok use it up while your waiting for more
i just tried to pour some of mine from 2years ago and if i just "drizzled" it i could get it to do the foldy thing honey does

[KenWP]

Sounds perfect for first syrup. Make some pancakes and eat. You now know what to do next time. If a frenchman from Quebec can make sryup anybody can. 3rgen you listening.

[Loun]

thanks guys, I might warm it up and add a little bit of water and see how it looks. Its not a ton of syrup but its my first go at it. im hoping I get some minor problems worked out and then get some more sap flowing soon :) right now the trees are being a little bit stubborn

[3rdgen.maple]

Sounds perfect for first syrup. Make some pancakes and eat. You now know what to do next time. If a frenchman from Quebec can make sryup anybody can. 3rgen you listening.

Im listening Ken but Im not quite sure why lol. And yes if a frenchman who is trying to learn french from Quebec can make syrup anybody can, but I am not sure if I will be the first one to taste it.:D Loun just wake up in the morning and dump that syrup on a big ole plate of flapjacks and call it good.

[Mac_Muz]

Maybe a candy thermometer could help, and if not a spoon can.

When the high temp of a stove begins to create a froth that looks like it will over the flow the pan if you don't panic, and get the heat down fast, it is time for the spoon test, and to watch that candy thermometer if you are willing to buy one.

I tend to leave the sap at a low simmer here and see it reach 219 degrees. I am less than 900 feet above sea level. I stay at 219, untill the thermometer creeps closer to 220 degrees, because this is for me and I sell none.

With a spoon I dip syrup and dump that back in the finish pot, and holding the spoon in light watch to see how the drip forms.

When the from of the drip spreads across the spoon and sort of hangs off the edge I think I have fair syrup.

Color comes as the season forges on, so you indeed do have Fancy now, next time it might be Grade A, then B depending on how much and how long you season produces.

I learned here candy is made best from fancy and grade A, but I prefer grade b on pancakes.

I got my 35 taps out yesterday, and now I am wating for some sap.... Some trees are running while others are holding back.

No matter as I have the pan to clean, some more wood to go get, and I can wait for Mother Nature now.

on edit:

The danger in over cooking and still bottling is that given time in storage white rock candy will form in the bottle. It is pure white rock candy with no hint of maple flavor so far as i can tell.

That was a common error I used to make before I got a thermometer. Since then I was given a fancy thermometer used in the chiller indusry or the vacuum oven industry and that is extremely accurate to parts of a degree, digital read out and everything.

[PerryW]

We always used a candy thermometer before we got a hydrometer.

Just immerse your thermometer in boiling water and check the reading. Add 7 degrees and that where syrup comes off for your given barometric pressure.

[Loun]

I have all the tools just didnt really have much sap so didnt use them. The candy thermometer was at 212 for a while and then the sap got too thin in the pan to really use it. It was maybe .5 of an inch in the pan (on the stove) when I was done. I have a hydrometer as well but again I doubt that was enough to even do anything in the hydrometer cup. Although I have to admit I dont know enough about how the hydrometer works yet. I will read up on that.

My girlfriends parents are down here this weekend so I will likely collect the sap tomorrow and try to boil it down with them again for fun. Since none of this is for sale it will be fun just to do it and share the experience.

:) Thank you everyone for the advice, I now know some more of what to watch for.

-Lou

[Mac_Muz]

I have all the tools just didnt really have much sap so didnt use them. The candy thermometer was at 212 for a while and then the sap got too thin in the pan to really use it. It was maybe .5 of an inch in the pan (on the stove) when I was done. I have a hydrometer as well but again I doubt that was enough to even do anything in the hydrometer cup. Although I have to admit I dont know enough about how the hydrometer works yet. I will read up on that.

My girlfriends parents are down here this weekend so I will likely collect the sap tomorrow and try to boil it down with them again for fun. Since none of this is for sale it will be fun just to do it and share the experience.

:) Thank you everyone for the advice, I now know some more of what to watch for.

-Lou

I see the problem now.... The level was too small for the ball of the thermometer to be submerged. In that case you have 2 choices.

One is the spoon testing, which for some reason everyone around seems to need to test personally :D, where
each individual dip the spoon in the batch, dumps what will fall out back in the pan, and watches the 'apron' form on the spoon, while the spoon cools to tongue temp.

OR use a smaller gravy pan which the syrup lever would be deeper, so the thermometer bulb is submerged.

Once you hit say 215' never turn your back to the pan, unless a wicked mess is no problem, or you enjoy watching ants! :D

[Loun]

I will have to give that a try when im done boiling on the fryer for now. Just a quick update... im still boiling lol

[Loun]

I made 2 small bottles of syrup last night. The first was a little bit thin then the second ended up being 59 brix at 214 -215 degrees so I was happy with how that one turned out. I had some syrup left after filling the only mason jar and syrup bottle I had so I boiled it down to 242 and made my first candy :) Now I just need some candy molds, syrup bottles, and more sap!

Thanks everyone for the help, so far I call it a success!

-Lou

[Haynes Forest Products]

The first success is you are having fun. Now all splaining has to be done how do you do it. how much sugar do you add. are you going to sell it or give it away:mad:

Now here is what you say when someone askes if they can HAVE some. Ask them when they are going on vacation if they will bring you a nice polo shirt from the best golf club they go to FREE:lol:

[Turtlecreek]

I made candy once...sameway you almost did on the stove and boiled waaaaaaaaaaaay to long. ever since that mess i have never tried to make it, nor have I made it by mistake either, thank god!

[Loun]

I had about 4.5 gallons of sap so didnt have enough for the evap. boiled it down to maybe 1.5 gallons of concentrate in a turkey fryer. Took that 1.5 gallons in the house. (my gfs parents and little sister had to leave fairly early and they really wanted to see the final product) so I boiled down .5 gallons in a smaller sauce pan with a candy thermometer in it. kept ladling more concentrate in as the temp was creeping up and the level in the pan was diminishing. finally got that sap up to 220, did a spoon test and decided it seemed close enough since they had to go. bottled it up in a mason jar and away they went. It seemed a little bit light but I wanted to avoid over boiling and making a mess and it tasted fine :)

I decided since everything was already "dirty" that id boil down the other gallon or so that I had left. Again I boiled down til temp was 220 and bottled in an 8 oz bottle. Again I thought it looked thin but had some more to boil anyhow so decided I wanted to make candy next. so I let it boil and decided the other syrup looked thin and since it was my own I didnt care if I messed it up so I dumped that 8oz back in, brought the whole lot back up to 220 and tossed it in my hydrometer cup (I never had enough syrup to put it in before) and it barely floated the hydrometer at about 215 degrees, 35-40 brix I think it was it came out to. So I put it back in boiled to 222 and did it again. Again at 215 degrees or so it was 55-60 Brix so I bottled 8 oz of that as syrup. Looked in the manual and saw that candy was 236-240 I think it was so I boiled the rest to 242 let it cool to 165 and put it in the bottom of tuperware to cool since I didnt have a mold.

So I ended up with 1 mason jar of thin stuff, maybe 35-40 brix. 1 8oz of 60brix, and an inch deep candy on the bottom of a glad tuperware container.

I dont plan on selling any of it actually. Most will be used for family and friends as well as gifts. Im doing it right now as a hobby and for fun.

[BarrelBoiler]

sounds like you need to check where your thermometer says water boils
the cards inside can slip
i always check to see where water boils just before i start to finish off - it can change with the weather, elevation, and if the dog walks by:D
at my place im fifty feet above sea level
most years my thermometer reads 210* for water so i'm looking for 217-219 for syrup but i've shut off the heat at 215 or gone to 220 for syrup by the way it acts in the pot
never had a hydometer, now i have 2 found them while moving mom so next time i have to replenish the syrup shelf i'll try one
good luck