Should I boil the frozen ice in my buckets or discard it as just water?
Is the ice in my buckets woth boiling?
Should I boil the frozen ice in my buckets or discard it as just water?
I melted and measured some last year with a sap hydrometer and if I recall correctly it was 1-1.5%. My unfrozen sap was 2.5-3%. I will be using mine as long as I can get it broke up enough to fit in my holding tanks, otherwise, I'll just munch on it while collecting sap.
2010: 3 taps and a Coleman stove
2011: 30 taps, knock on wood! Home built fuel oil tank arch, lotsa buckets, 2 55 gallon drum storage tanks.
2012: ??
No dogs or chickens, but plenty of stray cats, an opossum or two, a couple groundhogs and a hawk.
http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m...view=slideshow
http://www.youtube.com/user/MiWilderness
dump the ice! sugar melts first, so you sap will have a higher percentage of sugar, creating less of a boil time. I know you feel like you are waisting some, but the majority of the sugar has already left the ice.
years ago I saw some melted sap ice tested and it was close to zero percent. The sap sure does taste a lot sweeter that the bucket is half ice!
2012: Probably 750 gravity taps and 50 buckets.
600 gal stainless milk tank.
2 - 100 gallon stock tanks
one 30 gal barrel
50 buckets
3' x 10' Waterloo Raised Flue wood fired evaporator w/ open pans.
12" x 20" Filter Canner
Sawmill next to sugarhouse solves my sugarwood problem
Gather with GMC 3500 2wd Pickup w/ 425 gallon Plastic Tank.
Been tapping here in Lyman NH since 1989 but I've been sugaring since 8 years old in 1968.
Chuck it!!! Think of it as a poor man's ro!
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2012 D&G 3x14 Thunderbolt
2017 DG Prestige 3000gph x 2 (14 posts)
2017 DG 15” Press w/SS Air pump
9500 on high vac for 2020
when buckets freeze ice throw their Ice out lol
Much better to toss it. If you want more sap drill another tap, and let mother nature concentrate it some for you.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
Just checked 15 gallons that was all ice and allowed to melt from yesterday and both tests showed 0.5%_1.0% at 38.4 degrees F. Dump it.
[QUOTE=Redmaple;177502]Should I boil the frozen ice in my buckets or discard it as just water?
Redmaple - All the advice You have received is very good. However - It may be less then 1% sugar and be Natures RO.... But - I'm a contrary old fart - and until I'm sure Mother Nature is gonna give me lots of her sugar rich maple sap - I save the ice. During lean times - I let it melt and make and rescue all the maple syrup I can. During shining times I pitch it like everyone else. I just ain't in a hurry to pitch all my maple ice....LOL.....Mike
LOL ausable I must be a contrary old fart, too
That said, last year someone posted a nice scientific study on this forum about how sugar freezes out of solution. As I remember, the science behind tossing thinner ice looked pretty solid. The first ice that forms is mostly water. But as ice continues to form, more sugar freezes with it. So the question then becomes how thin is thin ice and how thick does it have to get before your gain is no longer worth it.
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