cloudy batch again.

[etourtel]

My wife and I are just weekend sugarbushes. We learned a lot from last year to this year. With that said we stop our finishing by temp alone. This has been a crap shoot at best. Most of the time we end up with good syrup consistency but sometimes it is cloudy and sometimes is is perfectly clear. We do the same routine on each batch so I am a little stumped. The only thing I can think of is the cloudy batches we are actually finishing a little to long. Any suggestions?

[C.Wilcox]

Have you let the cloudy batches settle? The cloudiness you see could be the result of nitre in the syrup that just needs the chance to settle out.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have never boiled sap down to syrup and had it clear. Just because its clear in the pot doesnt mean that all the small sedament wont show up when its cooked down. Im amazed how the syrup looks coming out of the evap and into the finisher like waterd down carmel then one trip thru the press and Im a god:lol:

[etourtel]

So when we take it off the stove after finishing we should let it sit and cool for a while then filter it one last time and then hot pack into our bottles?

[RileySugarbush]

If you reheat syrup very much it will often generate more niter, sometimes so fine it takes days to settle and will even then look like a cloud near the bottom of a bottle. Years ago I looked at some under a microscope thinking it was some horrible fungus. It was tiny crystals.

I suggest you filter right after you finish the boiling, holding the temp below boiling but not below 185°F, then bottle straight from there without raising the temp again.

[wnybassman]

Yeah, you want to take it to finished syrup then filter it as hot as possible. I pour mine right into the filter while it is still boiling. Once through the filter take it back to about 185 or 190 and bottle it up.

[etourtel]

Ok that is what I am doing now. some batches are clear and some are cloudy. I have been trying to pay close attention to every little detail trying to figure out what I am doing different between the cloudy and clear batches. I know it still taste the same either way but we really enjoy getting those few bottles of perfect syrup.

[whalems]

3 or 4 prefilters all stacked together and slightly damp, w/ syrup right off the fire will give you clear syrup. The inside filter will collect most of the nitre and plug up sometimes. I just dump the syrup left in the pluged filter into the next filter in the stack. Leaving most of the nitre still stuck in the filter. and repeat untill it all goes thru. and bottle right away before temp drops below 185. this method seems to work for me. Good luck!

[JohnsSugarShack]

etourtel, been having the same problem this year. Started sugarin in "97" and allways had clear syrup. But this year I've been filtering the same way as in the past and it's coming up a little cloudy. Bottled it anyways and after setting it has cleared up some. Just one of those years can't explain it.

[Mike Gerend]

With the warm weather, we had buckets hanging and collected after a series of warm days. Some of the buckets had sap that was starting to cloud in the warm weather. How do you judge whether it is too cloudy or spoiled and when it is still good to cook?

[JohnsSugarShack]

I've always judged it by smell, if it has a sour smell I dump it. I've had sap that was cloudy and it still makes good syrup.:)

[maple flats]

That depends on what you are willing to make. Even stringy and sour smelling sap makes good syrup, sometimes grade B and sometimes C. With the prices for commercial I wouldn't dump any unless you are too small to make the min required for a commercial sale which seems to be 5 gal syrup. Buyers will not buy in less than gal containers I believe.
Even with that you could still make syrup suitable to use as a meat glaze or other cooking uses for your own use.

[KenWP]

I took poor syrup and made wine with it. She who must be obeyed likes it so thats all that is important. I can just look at it and say if it smells okay and the color is right. I am eating a gallon of buddy syrup right now that actually improved with age.

[JohnsSugarShack]

That depends on what you are willing to make. Even stringy and sour smelling sap makes good syrup, sometimes grade B and sometimes C. With the prices for commercial I wouldn't dump any unless you are too small to make the min required for a commercial sale which seems to be 5 gal syrup.
I agree with you on that but this year I just don't have the sap that I've had in the past, so my focus this year is to make the best syrup I can and enjoy it.