Looking for way to store hydrometer between tests that is clumsiness proof

I just broke my second maple syrup hydrometer (the one that I use to test if the almost-syrup that I'm heating has become syrup):

1. In the cup? I used to place it in the test cup between tests, but I shattered the first one by dropping it, instead of gently placing it, into the test cup when there wasn't any liquid in the cup.
2. On a plastic mat? Then I started placing both the hydrometer and the test cup next to each other on a ribbed plastic mat, but I shattered the second one when I jarred the mat, and the test cup fell over on the hydrometer.

Now I'm looking for a third way to store the hydrometer between tests. Have any of you worked one out that is clumsiness proof?

I've kept hydrometers in a couple of different places:

1. In the test cup in syrup handing on the side of the evaporator pan to keep it hot and protected. To use, I take out the hydrometer and hold it in one hand while I fill the cup a few times with hot syrup with the other. This gets everything nice and hot, after which I put the hydrometer carefully into the syrup to test.

2. In a bucket of hot water. This keeps it protected, clean and hot until I need it. You should dry it off with a paper towel before putting it into the syrup though.

When not being used, they are cleaned, dried, and stored in the plastic container or box they came in.

I keep mine in a small plastic bucket of hot water, rinse it off immediately after using and set in water

I keep the one I'm using in my hydrometer cup, lowered gently in after cleaning it in a stream of hot permeate. I have 3 or 4 spares just in case.

I just bought something from Amazon that might work:

I'll either hang it on the inside of the pot that I'm testing or the inside edge of my sink.

We have two cups hanging on the evaporator. One has water in it with the hydrometer. The other is empty and ready to be filled with syrup for testing.

I leave my cup full of syrup with it in. Lift out with one hand, dump and refill with the other. Back into the cup it goes.


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I hang my cup in the float box and gently set my hydrometer into it. When I'm ready to do a test I hold the hydrometer in the hand that I'm holding the cup in and work the draw off with the other. Being gentle is what it's all about. I gently lower the hydrometer into the test syrup so that the hydrometer doesn't bang off of the bottom of the cup and then open or close the draw off as needed. If the hydrometer is stuck to the test cup I fill it with hot syrup to free it up.

All good suggestions. I've broken many, learned the hard way. We use a coffee thermos. Works pretty good

I'm going to be installing a holder on the wall next to the evaporator. A simple piece of 1" pvc pipe with a end cap glued on one end and clamped to the wall. I will stick a piece of foam in the bottom to protect from a drop. I'm going to make several more to hang on the inside of the cupboard door of the cabinet the are kept in in between uses. I went through several last year :(

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Originally Posted by 77maple

All good suggestions. I've broken many, learned the hard way. We use a coffee thermos. Works pretty good

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Thank you, 77 Maple, your idea of using a coffee thermos is brilliant! I have a stainless steel Coleman coffee thermos that I'm not using. It is 9" high with an opening diameter of 1.6 inches at the top and a diameter of 2.5 inches wide at the bottom. It would make a good stable place to put the hydrometer in between tests, and it would be easy to wash afterwards. Here's Amazon's picture of it:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...webp_QL65_.jpg

The utensil drying rack that I ordered a few hours ago from Amazon is 3" wide in diameter and 5" high. I think that it would also work. It's wider, which could cause a problem, but it's also less high, so it could be easier to place the hydrometer in it without breaking. Also, with it hanging from the inside of a pot or sink, there's less chance of me knocking it over with the hydrometer inside. Here's Amazon's picture of it:

Attachment 21081

I have used the thermos method for years. I put hot sap in it and it keeps the hydrometer hot and clean. I will change it out at least a couple times a day.

That thermost idea shown above is brilliant! Love this mapletrader site,

My hydrometer cup sets on a shelf year round, behind a counter. On top I have a soft PVC cap that came on some thing shipped to me in a 2" tube years ago, I just had to make a cut out for the handle, so the cap sets nicely on the hydrometer cup keeping anything from getting in.

This is what we have been using for about 35 years. Haven't broken more then 3 or 4 in all those years. Attachment 21102

I store my Cup and Hydrometer in a bucket of hot water next to the Arch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bill m

This is what we have been using for about 35 years. Haven't broken more then 3 or 4 in all those years. Attachment 21102

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Bill M,

That's a great hydrometer holder! It certainly protects your hydrometers, and it makes it easy to take them out without breaking them. I'm starting to finish off a batch of syrup today, and here's my new hydrometer in its new utensil drying rack:

Attachment 21117

The 304 Stainless Steel Utensil Drying Rack that I bought from Amazon is working. It protects my new hydrometer from the ways I broke my last two:

1. It is deep enough, but not too deep, so I don't have to hold the hydrometer from its top tip when placing it into its storage container. (I broke my first hydrometer when I dropped it into the hydrometer cup while holding it from its top tip.)

2. It keeps my hydrometer safe from breakage between batches. (I broke my second hydrometer when I put it on a plastic mat next to the hydrometer cup, and knocked the cup over onto it.)

The left side of the picture below shows it hanging in the finishing pot between tests, and the right side shows it hanging to dry from the edge of my stainless steel sink between batches:

http://mapletrader.com/community/att...chmentid=21148

Attachment 21148