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The reason to sterilize in addition to cleaning is preventing mold which increases clean/prep time the following season. Without sterilizing I’ve found most buckets acquire serious mold that takes more than a simple rinse at the start of a new season.Quote:
Originally Posted by berkshires
I have never had mold in my buckets in the 20 years I've been doing this? I clean them...I let them dry in the sun...and I put them away for the season. I don't even clean them when I start the next year. Never had a problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by tgormley358
Would you ever clean your buckets mid season? I read a couple posts on another thread, where in one case they compared sap to milk, where it spoils after 7 days and in another case in the larger collection barrels, they talked about pumping out all of the sap in the barrel, so that new sap is not intermixed with old sap going bad and filled with bacteria.
Does the sap residue on the sides of the bucket go bad, or just the fact they are kept cold in the snowbank and are constantly refilled is good enough, so that you do not have to clean them mid season?
I never had to clean mine until the end of the season.
If you collect and boil daily it won't be a problem unless there is a prolonged warm spell (fairly high temps for more than a day). However, gathering tanks/barrels will develop some slime in them over the course of the season and should be cleaned out (even of its with water and brushed a bit) every so often. These obviously get worse with warm spells too. Sap is like milk and if not kept cold it will spoil.