aluminum sap tank

[davey]

Any thoughts on using an aluminum tank for sap hauling? I had some concerns of the sap picking up the aluminum flavor of the tank.

[red maples]

as long as your not using the tank for storage just collection and then empty asap into a holding tank. I don't think it would be a problem.

[Codeman]

Aluminum buckets are used with no problem

[Brad W Wi]

All my pails are aluminum. I see no problem as long as it doesn't set in it a long time.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I go to a restaurant supply and they have a wall of stock pots that range from 4 quarts up to 65 and there all Aluminum. I think they have been proven not to cause Alzhimer's as was the concern when they cooked in them.

[BryanEx]

Aluminum seems to be at it's worst when it's new. A good scrubbing will remove a black oxidization but as it ages and is used it becomes less of an issue. Most camping cookware is in fact aluminum pots and pans... not to mention beer cans. :D

[DrTimPerkins]

Most camping cookware is in fact aluminum pots and pans... not to mention beer cans. :D

Camping cookware is made of aluminum primarily to keep the weight down. Beer cans, like most beverage containers made from aluminum, have a food-grade lacquer coating on the inside, so the liquid doesn't contact the aluminum.

A good deal of aluminum cookware is anodized, an electrolytic process resulting in the formation of an aluminum-oxide surface coating. Unlike the case in most metals, the oxidized surface is actually harder and stronger than the base aluminum.

There are no conclusive studies linking aluminum ingestion from cookware to human health problems. Aluminum has been accepted by the FDA in cookware since the 1960s. While not officially banned (that I am aware of) in maple use, it is also not generally recommended for use in maple processing equipment (by the maple equipment manufacturers group that reviewed suitability of maple equipment materials back in the mid-90s). If the food in question is acidic, which can include maple sap and syrup, you may find higher levels of aluminum in the product if it is processed or stored in aluminum-containing materials.

[BryanEx]

There are no conclusive studies linking aluminum ingestion from cookware to human health problems. Aluminum has been accepted by the FDA in cookware since the 1960s. While not officially banned (that I am aware of) in maple use, it is also not generally recommended for use in maple processing equipment (by the maple equipment manufacturers group that reviewed suitability of maple equipment materials back in the mid-90s).
Interesting info Dr. Perkis but what about the huge amount of "turned" aluminum sap buckets used throughout the industry? From what I'm reading in your post it's not recommended but "we can't prove it". Please understand that I'm not trying to be argumentative, it's just that I use a large amount of aluminum and if I need to cut it out I wish it to be scientifically based.

[DrTimPerkins]

Interesting info Dr. Perkis but what about the huge amount of "turned" aluminum sap buckets used throughout the industry? From what I'm reading in your post it's not recommended but "we can't prove it". Please understand that I'm not trying to be argumentative, it's just that I use a large amount of aluminum and if I need to cut it out I wish it to be scientifically based.

Your question is not argumentative at all.

Like all the lead-soldered and galvanized equipment that are out there, aluminum was used in some maple equipment. Nobody is saying you can't use aluminum buckets at this point in time. In my opinion, that is fairly unlikely to happen in the forseeable future. It was the maple equipment manufacturers, with some input from researchers and regulators, who determined what materials were suitable for what purposes in maple equipment. In some cases there was not a lot of strong scientific justification, just more of a perception issue, and "the way the wind is blowing" type of information.

P.S. I don't think that aluminum buckets are "turned", which implies they are made on a lathe by cutting away material from the inside and outside. Far more likely they are molded from flat aluminum blanks in a hydraulic press.

[Z/MAN]

Aluminum seems to be at it's worst when it's new. A good scrubbing will remove a black oxidization but as it ages and is used it becomes less of an issue. Most camping cookware is in fact aluminum pots and pans... not to mention beer cans. :D

Was going to comment on the beer cans but Dr Tim beat me to it.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I think Bryanex was describing the prosess of spinning a disk of aluminum and swedging it to a mandrel. They do it alot on copper pots and brass Cymbals. If the buckets you have have look like a stack of disks or a slinky that is new you have turned buckets if smooth they are press formed.
I worked in a instrument repair company outside Chicago and that is how they fixed alot of the brass horn bells over a wood mold/mandrel

[DrTimPerkins]

If the buckets you have have look like a stack of disks or a slinky that is new you have turned buckets if smooth they are press formed.

Must be both processes are used, as I've seen both types (smooth and grooved) at one time or another.

[BryanEx]

It was the maple equipment manufacturers, with some input from researchers and regulators, who determined what materials were suitable for what purposes in maple equipment. In some cases there was not a lot of strong scientific justification, just more of a perception issue, and "the way the wind is blowing" type of information.
I find this really interesting. Surely at some point someone has done in depth studies on aluminum contact with food and/or beverage products and drawn a conclusion. My wife, who has a degree in psychology, tells me that Alzheimer's patients typically have higher levels of aluminum in their brain but it's never been determined if that's a cause or an affect. I think of my industry in high-rise construction and how widely accepted asbestos was for more than a generation and yet look at the results today when renovations are needed. I would hate for aluminum food products to follow a similar path and we, the end users, be none the wiser.

As far as my previous post goes I did not realize that beer cans were coated so that was a poor example and pretty well all sap buckets available locally have ridges or "rings" all the way down the inside. I didn't figure they were turned on a lathe from a solid block of aluminum but they've obviously been machined in some sort. I think Haynes Forest Products has likely hit closest to how they were actually made.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Remember the aluminum beer kegs? :)