slimy syrup

[Edwalzak]

On my fifth batch of the season I boiled down about 80 percent of the way there. Ran out of time and brought it into finish later. Put half inthe cold cellar and half in the basement. Today (tive days later) I started boiling the stuff in the cold cellar, looked okay, then added the basement stuff and it fell out in a slimy lump, like jellyfish. Is that mold and did I just ruin my last batch?? Should I dump this down the drain or can I boil this problem away?

First year, fourteen taps, eight litres produced and four gallons of slime.

[Brent]

You'll find many references to "ropy" sap and syrup on the forum. We had it hit our sugar shack in the '10 and '11 seasons. We did not get it this year.
There is a bacteria or microbe that causes it and I believe it runs out of control in warm environments. Boiling sap to syrup in an infected evaporator will not cure it.
From what we were able to learn, the only solution is to dump the ropy stuff and any sap in your system and clean it all out with fresh water. I think we triggered it by
leaving the heat on in the sugar shack to prevent freezing the RO membranes. I am particularly suspicious of the overhead feed tank which was in the warmest part of the sugar shack, up in the rafters. Everything downsteam from there seemed to be coated with it. It was a huge loss because everything that was contaminated was alredy concentrated. I figured it cost us about $ 2500 last year and a bit less than that the previous year. This year we kept the sugar shack much colder, making a mini RO room with styrofoam board and leaving everything open at night to chill it down as fast as possible. Half way through the season we added a UV treatment system
to try to kill of as much of the microbes and bacteria as possible. I can't tell you what did it but this year we didn't have the problem.

I'd love to learn more specifics about how it starts. I feel for you. I don't think you've got any choice but dump it. And I see you're just west of us so there's no recovery this year. Bummer.

[Edwalzak]

Thanks, i have been reading andsuspected. Luckily it's only about a litre of syrup, but when I only, ade a little it's disappointing.

Is it edible if i kept boiling?

[Brent]

I have never read anything that indicates it's unsafe, but that may only mean I haven't found it yet.
We tried boiling to higher temps that syrup, then diluting it, but we still got ropy syrup.
I have no advice to give you about safety or palatability. It sure is obnoxious, and I tasted it but would not eat it.

[hambone]

We had ropy syrup one year from taking sap from a friend at the end of the season. We were suspicious of it, it was cloudy and we thought it had sat around a while too long. We boiled it and we were amazed at what we got, that ropy stuff is really weird stuff. I think we need to market it somehow, it is stringy and slimy and so weird acting.

[katmike]

Had the exact same thing happen to me. Left a bucket in the garage that was about 80% done. The temps got too warm and I didn't realize it was ruining the stuff until I brought in to finish. I poured it through a strainer and it came out in globs and wouldn't go though the strainer, so I knew then I had a problem. Went ahead and tried to boil it anyway but just ended up burning on the bottom, so I just pitched the whole batch.

[mtnmeadowmplfarm]

We have had a real problem with ropey syrup this year as well. I have never made it before but this heat spoiled sap before we could process it. Made 500 gal of ropey syrup on sunday before we draned and cleaned everything. Gonna give it another shot tuesday after the freeze.

[IowaSap]

I had this happen at the end of a season also. Couldn't figure what to do with it so threw the batch out. The funny thing was the dog came over and tried to drink it out of the buckets, and it just kept sliding of her tongue back into the bucket! I got a kick out watching her and she just finally gave up. I figured it was a good thing I got rid of it if the dog couldn't even eat it!!!

[markcasper]

Made 500 gal of ropey syrup on sunday before we draned and cleaned everything..

Will the packers even want it? Nobody in Wis. has ever wanted to see that stuff.

[Like Minded Farmer]

We've been lucky so far not to have this problem, but I did see a wholesaler buying this stuff. As the staff was emptying several 5 gallon jugs of this into their bulk tank along with other good looking medium, we couldn't believe they didn't seem to care. It looked like a rubber band coming out of the jug and they actually had to shake the jugs to get the pour started. At the end of one jug a 3 foot long string rebounded back up into the jug, so the man shook some more untill he got it all out. I'm sure they didn't get paid much, but it did sell none the less.