I'm with you Vandy. I expected to see it really start to drip hard today, but it didn't. I think the wind shut it down.
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I'm with you Vandy. I expected to see it really start to drip hard today, but it didn't. I think the wind shut it down.
Yes, very disappointing. Was +7 here and with low barometric pressure thought it would run great. Now calling for a high of only 2 here tomorrow so might be too cold. Sunday looks good but by end of the week forecast saying temps in teens and not freezing at night.....AHHHHH! Starting to wish I had left everything put away!
Same thing in Coldwater here. Just picked up 9 gallons. I was surprised with warm weather like this. However the snow was supporting me so I think the ground remained frozen and it may take till tomorrow to start running. Same here, I just got a 60 gallons storage tank hopping I was going to boil Saturday morning...Hummm..I will have to wait for Sunday. Good thing I took Monday off!
So I expanded late this year, put the majority of my new 120 taps in over the last 3 weeks. But I read a report that suggested that taps fall off (don't produce as much) after being open for 2 months...so, any of you considering re-drilling your taps?
Cheers,
Russ
Some running a bit this afternoon, I'm hoping it runs most of the night and we can boil for more than a few hours tomorrow.
2 words. frozen ground
Ok, I have not been doing this for many years, but a week and half ago I disconnected a tee on my mainline...and out spurts a ton of sap....but nothing at my storage tank...so I'm not sure frozen ground has come into play on my lot.
Its currently 39F, higher than it had been all day...high hopes for tomorrow.
Cheers,
Russ
Took a tub(200 gallons) of water and dumped into the pans today to give a quick boil before the sap gets going, no sap running, but went back down at 7:00 to drain the pans and the sap was trickling into the tank, might be hope for tomorrow with the vacuum yet!!!!!!!!!!
lolz, ok, must be a 6th generation thing, you fired enough to get 200 gallons of water to boil...just for fun? You're my new idol...;-]
there is little to no frost around here. A friend dug a pool the other day said there was none. Which really surprised me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy Brutkoski
It is hard to believe no frost with 2-3 feet of ice still on the lakes. I can almost see my driveway again though!
I thought yesterday would have been better also, was a wee bit disappointed when I went and checked everything around 5 pm, collected about 6 gallons and boiled it last night, ended up with just under a ltr of finished syrup,all my taps were dripping pretty good,hopefully they dripped all night.
Weatherman said it was suppose to go down to -4 last night....and it only went down +1. So things didn't freeze which does not bode well for today. Keeping fingers crossed it may have ran through the night as well.
I agree. Like I said I was shocked when he told me. He is in the construction business and said there is little to no frost anywhere around here. He figures because of heavy snow cover basically since first of December kept ground insulated. I would guess other areas with less snow cover would have more frost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yellzee
I have a question,I did a search for it and came up with lots of post's and replies,but it will take me years to go through them all and find what i am looking for lol.
Filtering has been a pain for me since starting this maple syrup hobby,have tried lots of different ways of filtering,coffee filters sometimes work for me,then the next batch I do it doesn't flow through them,but the batch before would run right through them and come out crystal clear,so I bought a Orlon filter cone to try out,last night was my first time using it,I put 3 pre-filters in the cone,when my syrup was done on the stove I wet the cone filter with super hot water and squeezed out the excess water,poured my boiling sap into the filter and it started to run through and eventually slowed to a drip,so I took out 1 pre-filter and let it drip some more and ended up over a few minutes removing the other 2 pre-filters and got all the syrup to eventually go through the cone filter. But it seems like there is allot of syrup still in the filter itself and I just didn't have it in me to run it under hot water to clean it right away, seems like a waste,I left it hanging over my syrup over night to see if it would slowly drip out so I am not wasting what is still in the filter fibers, so this morning I stuck the filter in a bag in the freezer till I could find an answer.
Am I doing something wrong ? After I filter it with the cone filter,do I just count my losses and rinse it? Do I maybe dip it in boiling sap to get the finished syrup out?
Any suggestions or help would be fantastic, I know this topic has been covered before and hopefully I don't anger anyone with my questions, I did do a search, but like I said, there is so many post's that come up it would take years to go through them all.
Hey Bruteman, you definitely lose a lot to the orlon. I used it all last year the same way as you, but though many would say not to, I would gently massage a bit of it out at the end, and never had any niter come through. I bottle in glass, so clarity is important and my syrup looks really clear. This year though, I'm thinking of using diaper flannel cut into squares that I can pin over a pot. The cones are a pain to filter small batches with for my setup, so maybe that would be easier. I have a friend doing it that way and gets very clear syrup. He'll start with about 5 layers and remove as they plug up.
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I also tried a filter, the big flannel kind, and it just sucks up the syrup!!! So I've abandoned that, Especially as I make teeny batches every drop counts. I've gone to using cut-up squares of white cotton (trying to remember where I got it from...a clean, new white T-shirt washed only in hot water with no detergent, or similar) and they work for me. See no reason why Kyle's diaper trick wouldn't work too :-)
You can also ask Karen, aka Run Forest Run! She's a dab hand at this kind of stuff, been making all kinds of preserves for a good long time, and winning at fairs and the like with them. She may have been the one who told me about the clean white cotton for filters.
Anyhoo good luck...and as I'm marooned for the weekend, may as well trudge around and check my trees...think there's maybe a litre out there...*sigh*
I used to be a chef and not 5 mins ago I cut up a brand new white chef jacket I had bought just before getting out of the cooking industry, goingto give that a try tonight after i finish boiling, I will try a few layers and remove them as needed.
Oh cool, another former foodie! Once upon a time, a million years ago, in a land far, far away, I had a gourmet mustard business, I could talk food all day. Still have the apron I wore at shows and promos. Wouldn't use it though. But yeah, no reason that a brand-new chef's jacket wouldn't work well, let me know and maybe I'll get to Ottawa and Chef's Paradise for some whites ;-0
mmmmmmmm , me loves mustard ;)
Hey you two on about cutting up tee shirts and chef's jackets, go to Fabric Land or any sewing center and you'll have lots of choose fabric to select from. I've done this for years as I make small batches less than ten liter's at a time. I always filter with a coarse mat'l out of my finishing pan at about 90% syrup into my stock pot, and then into the house on the stove boil to 100% syrup and filter through a cotton lining and then a cotton felt at one time.
Another bust today, after starting up the vacuum pump, releaser dumped maybe 4 or 5 times, then not worth running the pump anymore for the little spurts of sap that were coming in.
Same here. Turn on sap sucker this morning with hopes of at least a small run. Probably lucky to have gotten 10 gallons of 120 taps. Very disappointing....yet again! Here's hoping tomorrow.....
Al
Don't waste the syrup in your filter. Toss the filter in your sap pan and pour your fresh sap over it to rinse out as much of the syrup as possible. "Recycling" at its best.
Always leave at least one of the pre filters in the Orlon filter. They will trap most of the nitre. Lift the inner most one out with the nitre trapped in it allowing any remaining syrup to pour into the next. If you use an Orlon without a pre filter it will plug fast and when you rinse it into your next batch you are also adding the nitre back.
Nothing here either, getting worried this may really be a zero syrup season
As far as filtering...Bruteman, you seem too obsessed. It took 1.5 hours to filter the 1/2 litre I got 2 weeks ago with a coffee filter...the syrup is fine...and its time I don't have to do anything with, so who cares how long it takes? If you're doing small batches, put them into the filters before you go to bed and check them when you wake up...?? Do you realize how fine the stuff is you're trying to get out? The most common way of filtering for eons has been to not filter, and let it settle, then pour off all but the cloudy stuff...worked fine for me last year with my 10 taps.
As for sap today, I have been getting at least 1 gallon/hour outta 130 taps. Not nearly where I want to be, but best day so far this year.
Cheers,
Russ
If I may speak up....if Al has had formal training as a chef then yep, I can understand the obsession with getting it all just right. I've started up and run a food business of my own, and helped start up a fine dining restaurant. Several years later I worked in the kitchen of a fine dining restaurant, and at that level you HAVE to be a stickler for the small details, I saw it all up close at this restaurant, which has had the same chef for 15 years now.
Soo, imho, if Al does seem to be obsessing a little bit much, it's probably his chef background kicking in. Just sayin.
To get back on the topic of sugaring...got all of just over 1 l today, 3/4 of it from #7, the only red I am tapping this year; all the others are sugars. It also seems to LIKE northeast winds. Strange but true. *cue Twilight Zone theme*
I certainly wouldn't suggest a Chef could obsess too much about cooking anything...but sap isn't just something you cook, the trees, environment, and climate all have a lot to say...obsessing about what those elements are doing, aren't something a cook can control. No offense.
Cheers,
Russ
If asked to come up with an adjective that describes sugarers, obsessive would be right at the top. You're in good company Al. :lol: Another mystery of the universe . . . why does perfection always seem to be one filter away. ;)
Filtering is one of those things I do not like to rush either. I take my sap down to near syrup at the bush. By the time I get it home it has cooled off so I filter it with some 75 cent cone filters I got from TSC. This gets ride of the bulky sediment. Then I take it down the rest of the way. When I do my final filter, I pour into a (clean new cotton) pillow case and let it hang from the rafters for the day or over night. Just an old trick my mother taught me.
Now to add to this conversation. My folks are telling me, that during the finishing they use to add an egg or milk to the syrup. But the good kind, they use to take the milk right from the bulk tank. This use to make the syrup very clear. There is something about adding eggs or milk to the syrup that makes me hesitant. Unless of course the eggs are cooked with French toast and the milk is in a glass on the side. Am I being a little to cautious and should go forth with the old methods.
I have a friend who uses eggs to clarify. He takes a small container of egg whites and dumps it in to his finished syrup when it's still boiling. It goes into clumps and all the dirt and crap stick to the egg. He then skims it all off and filters the syrup. It works well but I find it changes the flavour of the syrup. Definatly not something I would do but lots of the old timers used this method.
Yes I am obsessed with filtering or any cooking for that matter, if it is not 100% perfect then it is not acceptable to me,and yes it does come from being a chef, having spent 20 plus years in the industry makes you that way I do believe. I fully understand niter and what I am dealing with.I know there is allot of variables involved with the maple syrup process,and I can't change them,but I can work with what I have and find a solution to a problem I may be having,it may take days or even years,but with idea's and suggestions from others I will put them all together in a way that works for me.I have tried the coffee filter process of letting it sit over night on the counter only to wake up and find it all still sitting in the coffee filter with very little in the container,then my next batch I do the exact same thing and it will run through in a decent time and come out nice and clear.
On another note... I collected around 6 gallons yesterday and boiled it down, used some of my chef jacket I spoke about in a previous post, only used 1 square to see how it worked out... worked out perfectly, sap went through it at a good rate at first then slowly went to a drip as it cooled,I left it over night with a spoon in the dripping syrup to create a pressure point for it to drip and when I got up it was all in the pot.Transferred it to a mason jar and it is crystal clear.
Not to happy to wake up and see snow this morning,had high hopes this weekend was going to be a good weekend,not so much.Hopefully the sun comes out today and it warms up :)
Thanks for all the tips and advice on filtering, appreciate all the comments and I will get it figured out.
PS Eddy... I didnt waste the sap in my Orlon bag, when i brought my sap to my house to boil, I dipped the bag in the boiling sap to get the syrup out.I couldnt waste it,and just wash it down the drain, again it comes from being in the cooking industry, food cost's are a huge thing in the food industry and if I can find a way to not waste something and cut cost's I will lol
Hehe, I can fully relate to your chef thinking Al! After all, if the boiling and filtering is all we have control of in this somewhat crazy hobby, well then it's no wonder us foodies want it just perfect and no less! I see the same level of obsession with photographers, and especially the PhotoChop crew...anyone interested can check out www.worth1000.com for examples of mindblowing examples.
FWIW I find the coffee filters can be frustrating too. What I do is make a stack of coffee filters clothespegged to canning funnels. I take one filter/funnel, put it in a jar and pour through the syrup. As the nitre starts to build and clog, I lift the first filter and stick a fresh one underneath. Then I set the first filter atop the fresh one, and use a sharp paring knife to slice open the bottom. With luck the nitre stays stuck to the bottom and sides of the first one and the good stuff goes down into the fresh one. Then I remove the old one, unpeg and replace the filter so it's to go again. And I usually squeeze out the bottom of the used filter to taste the sap.
For the finishing run, though, I do use the plain white cotton squares, and they work a charm. One seems to be fine. And I was tickled pink to find my filters from last year stashed in a baggie in the filter, still all damp from last year's work, so will add them to the sap to leach out the numminess still trapped there.
re the egg whites/milk way of clarifying...my mentors use milk for the clarifying. I've also heard of butter and in older times, pork fat used in the same way. Personally I don't want to add anything to clarify, so generally I just filter it til it's clear.
In terms of production, haven't checked my trees yet today. Not expecting much but #7 was patiently dripping away on all 3 spiles last night, there may be some there.
It's interesting that egg whites was brought up. I was talking with my father in-law who was a chef that tought at the culinary institute out east. He asked me if anyone used egg shells to clarify syrup and remove impurities. Then the shell is easily filtered out. May be worth a try. Ive seen it used in camp coffee to remove impurities. I keep chickens and save shells to feed back to them so maybe I'll toss some in the next batch to see if they absorb some niter.
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Just back from the forest and the sap is running really good right now,hope to collect it mid afternoon and start the boiling process.
Al, *sniff*, I can see drips going into my buckets. *wipes a tear*. Is Christmas finally here?
So glad someone's getting something! Nothing here but heavy wet snow!!!
Kyle, the eggshell idea sounds brilliant, and I have also heard of using it for camp coffee. Should work, maybe just rinse out shells really well first so no albumen sticking? Would certainly mean basically no risk of taste contamination.
Dug out my syrup-sodden filters from last year, from the depths of the freezer...and guess what...they aren't frozen solid at all! Very pliable in fact. So waiting for a big ol sap run of a few gallons so I can chuck em in.
Meanwhile my first near-batch of syrup (just a little over 3 g reduced to about 3/4 l) is its usual pale gold colour, which is standard for my trees. Also has that same light marshmallow/vanilla taste to it, almost flowery. Strange but there ya have it.
+1.. Drip Drip Drip !Quote:
Originally Posted by BrutemanAl
For my filter last time, I boiled a bit of water and passed it through/soaked it in. Wife used that water as stock for a maple potato leak soup:) Yummy!
LOL , no christmas , but for some of us the sap fairy's have done their job today :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Run Forest Run!
Just went and collected sap, 27.7 ltrs from 10 buckets,and 2 water cooler bottle's ,it is just boiling now and there is still more that I didnt bring back, i will go collect it after dinner.
Just got back from the bush, sap is trickling in the tanks, nothing special but a little bit could add up. Walked the mainline and found another major split leaking sap. Guess someone is trying to tell me to change all the mainlines for new that have yet to be changed over the last few years