40to1
05-16-2010, 10:35 PM
Here's a strange question (but a bit of pertinent background, first):
As I boiled down sap (23 taps) this season, I would pour off the near-syrup in Tupperware, etc. and freeze it. It's an unorthodox system, but it works... At the end of the season I would finish it on the stove, filter it, and bottle it. The first batch went fine.
The second batch? Well, I've been swamped with work, so I just got to it last Friday.
The sap-cubes were fine, and I bottled about 3.5 gallons. But what was strange is that in some of the containers, the sap had separated. The maple sugar was on the bottom (amber colored and mushy icey), and the stuff on top was like suet. Off-white and kind of greasy, but solid. Some containers just had a bit, others had big layers, about a 1/4 of the volume. I put the sap it in the pot and the "suet" in the sink. I was going to take a photo, but when I got back to it, it had melted away down the drain.
Any ideas what it could have been?
As I boiled down sap (23 taps) this season, I would pour off the near-syrup in Tupperware, etc. and freeze it. It's an unorthodox system, but it works... At the end of the season I would finish it on the stove, filter it, and bottle it. The first batch went fine.
The second batch? Well, I've been swamped with work, so I just got to it last Friday.
The sap-cubes were fine, and I bottled about 3.5 gallons. But what was strange is that in some of the containers, the sap had separated. The maple sugar was on the bottom (amber colored and mushy icey), and the stuff on top was like suet. Off-white and kind of greasy, but solid. Some containers just had a bit, others had big layers, about a 1/4 of the volume. I put the sap it in the pot and the "suet" in the sink. I was going to take a photo, but when I got back to it, it had melted away down the drain.
Any ideas what it could have been?