Store syrup until finishing?

[frostbite]

Newbie question here - can I boil off a few batches of sap over a few days, saving/storing what I end up with and then combine all the lots into one for finishing? If so, any tips on storing it?

[Amber Gold]

I'd store it for a few days and bottle up a bunch at once...not sure if I'd go much longer. You could hot pack it in 5-gal jugs and bottle it whenever.

[MapleME]

ive done that before, especially on slow weeks. Your almost finished syrup (aka "sweet") will be fine, just keep it out of the sun.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Frost bite you say boiled sap. OK im with you so far. NOW are you boiling it until you have syrup??? Or are you boiling the sap and then letting it sit. I store syrup in the evap room for days at the up and down temps of the day until I either bottle , bulk pack or spill it on the floor it will be ok. Have you ever read the instructions on a bottle of syrup that says if its moldy just reheat and serve:)

[frostbite]

Thanks guys - sorry I wasn't too clear. This is only my second year, and it's just a hobby. I'll be happy with 2-4 gallons for us to use over the year. My time constraints and limited taps don't always allow me to completely finish a batch, so I'd like to leave it as "sweet" (thanks for the term MapleME) syrup and then combine those 2-4 batches to finish at the end of say a week.

HFE - no, I've never read that, but I'd imagine boiling it would eliminate the bad stuff?

Thanks again guys. Sugaring is really interesting to me. My father has a 10-acre maple stand that I'd really like to turn into an operation some day, but with a your family and me not actually living at the property, it's just not feasible right now. For kicks, if somebody could post up conservative numbers on what I cold expect for production out of 10 acres, I'd be interested.

[BryanEx]

THIS THREAD (http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=7917) has a ton of figures from different sized operations. You could likely figure out from there just how big you'd need to be for your specific goals.

[PerryW]

It is better to store partially boiled sap than raw sap. Once you bring raw sap to a boil, you kill any bacteria in it, slowing down potential spoilage.

[frostbite]

I've already read that entire thread, and unless I missed something, nowhere did it tie together taps per acre of maple stand.

[gator330]

I've seen a few threads and the average I think is about 70 taps per acre on a well managed maple bush. Some say up to 85. Search "average taps per acre" . You'll come up with something. The best thing to do is walk the woods count the trees one or two tap mark them so you don't count it again. Then you'll know what you have. Post your average.