For a small home producer with no intention to sell, sheeting works well enough. I've been using it for the last 10 years and have never had a bottle spoil or crystallize. One reason I don't buy a...
Type: Posts; User: happy thoughts
For a small home producer with no intention to sell, sheeting works well enough. I've been using it for the last 10 years and have never had a bottle spoil or crystallize. One reason I don't buy a...
If that tree turns out not to be a soft maple another maple you should consider it might be is black maple which also grows in your area. Blacks are hard maples like sugars and some think they're a...
Even if temp is accurate at predicting density, +7 F isn't going to get you quite to syrup. 66 brix is theoretically reached at +7.1 degrees F and 66.9 brix, the VT standard, at +7.5 F above water's...
Going by temp alone can be a crapshoot. Not all thermometers are accurate and some types are more accurate than others. You need to be careful about touching the sides or bottom of the pan when...
It's the one with the lifting bark in your first pic that camphamp and I were talking about. Is that one growing in or near water, too?
I use gallon glass jars I get from a local sandwich shop or sometimes smaller 2 gallon icing buckets I get from a bakery. I always refrigerate them. I would not let them sit anywhere warm where mold...
I think autumn blaze is a specific cultivar of a freemans. Reds and silvers can hybridize in the wild but there are also cultivated varieties. You can see a few of the cultivars here:
...
No, it was the way the bark is lifting that made me think it might be a sugar. Look at the bark pic here:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/kids/tree_sug.htm
as for freeman's, some of the info I...
My first thought on the first pic was sugar maple but I could be wrong, too. Not sure about the second. Buds, leaves, and samara will give you a positive id of all of them and will be much easier...
To be labeled and sold as organic, syrup needs to meet the requirements of the certifying organization. Requirements may vary by the organization in your region. Most cover the use of pesticides and...
Not likely to be a sapsucker if you saw new damage this winter. Binghamton isn't in their winter range. I'm a little south of you across the PA border. They usually don't show up here for at least...
How do you compensate for shrinkage on cooling? Or are you selling by weight and not volume?
@ dave. I have to wonder if those aren't liter jugs with a little extra room left for shrinkage on...
The thermaQ is a thermacouple type thermometer (like the thermapen). Thermacouples read the fastest and are considered the most accurate. The chefalarm is a thermasistor, not quite as fast or as...
That's the temp it will reach if brought to boiling. Water boils at 212F and won't go higher. As the sugar concentration increases, so does the boiling point. The 7+ degrees is equal to the boiling...
If it froze solid it's probably under density. Maple syrup at density doesn't freeze solid
Ah, forget about it saphound. We tried. Whether it was niter or sugar I'm sure refiltering helped though maybe not so much through a dry filter, lol. We'll never know and personally I don't care to...
If I remember correctly the jones rule can only be used for sap out of the tree. It's a weight/volume thing where the weight of sugar in low concentration sap is equal to it's volume or near enough....
64 brix at 87F is under dense. I’m glad you added that because your original post confuses me. Why are you measuring brix of 210* syrup if your refractometer range only goes to 175*F?
You're going...
Those are good questions that Dr Tim might be able to answer. The article was written by one of his colleagues who I believe is now retired. FWIW I'd *****-ume :) that if you tap into the heartwood...
I still think this is sugar sand because you should not see crystals at those high temps..
Let's get the density issue straight first.
Since you're using a refractometer, don't let what was said...
I don't know that taking a year off will make much difference. I'm sure Dr Tim will chime in if he sees this. If you're worried I'd be sure to follow the latest tapping guidelines for depth and...
Just for spits and giggles why don't you run the pans with equal levels of water, fire it up and see which pan boils first? If it's your front pan then you're good to go using the small back pan for...
It sounds like you're using a refractometer??? If you're using a hydrometer then you are likely over density. Either way, you shouldn't see any crystals at all while boiling. Crystals don't usually...
Nice post! :) You'll have the whole neighborhood "on line" before too long! :)
I thought you might be interested in this UVM article I came across the other day about tapping red maples. Your...
Probably if it's been kept at that temp for more than a little while. You should treat sap like milk and expect it to spoil faster hanging out on the counter instead of kept cold in the fridge.
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