Lots of Sap today!!! Just finishing up a batch right now. Should get us about 2 gallons once it's done.
What does everyone finish at? I've been finishing at 228 degrees F. The last couple of years we were finishing at 226 degrees F. Curious to know why? Any ideas?
Location: Christian Island, ON- Located on beautiful Georgian Bay
Property: 50 acre old farm property with a mix of hardwood and softwood
Equipment:
2'x4' Stainless Steel Evaporator pan with a sap preheater
oil tank converted into a firebox
Large aluminum pot on a welded firebox with open fire
22 ton Champion Log Splitter
Total Number of Taps:100 and adding more each year.
Total number of years sapping: going on 4 years strong
Wow...that seems high. Your thermometer sounds like it might be off. I finish between 218-220. I have an auto draw off and adjust temp each day with a hydrometer. The temp will fluctuate a couple of degrees but never that high. Have you tried boiling water to see what it boils at?
Maple Rock Farm
www.Maplerockfarm.ca
400 taps on Vacuum
18”x60” Lapierre propane evaporator with Smokey Lake auto draw off
Homemade 3 post RO with MES membranes
Ford TS110 tractor sap hauler
Yeah that's what I was thinking. How much does a hydrometer cost?Originally Posted by Clinkis
Location: Christian Island, ON- Located on beautiful Georgian Bay
Property: 50 acre old farm property with a mix of hardwood and softwood
Equipment:
2'x4' Stainless Steel Evaporator pan with a sap preheater
oil tank converted into a firebox
Large aluminum pot on a welded firebox with open fire
22 ton Champion Log Splitter
Total Number of Taps:100 and adding more each year.
Total number of years sapping: going on 4 years strong
I paid C$34+tax for mine just last week. You'll need a tall cup that can take > boiling water, I paid C$35+tax for that. Oh, mine was not a hydrometer, it was a hydrotherm, self compensating for different temps.
Cheers,
Russ
2017: added shut-off valves at several points on the main line, 66L made, 13L sold
2016: Added Wesfab 7" Filter Press with hand pump, 96L sold
2015: now 216 taps, added low vac (24" hg) to new Sugar Shack (24' x 16') w/400gal storage, 143.15L sold
2014: now 150 taps, added 2 sump pumps to 12'x12' sugar shack w/100gal storage to CDL 18"x5', 2 chamber drop flue, 40L sold
2013: 10 5/16 taps gravity to hose, boiled on BBQ
Owemon,
So you should calibrate your thermometer every day. If you don't have boiling pure water handy, then calibrate it with the sap as soon as it starts to boil. Whatever number that says, add 7F-7.5F. +7.1F is 66 brix, +7.5F is 67 brix. So, if your thermometer says boiling is 220F, then 227.5 is 67 brix. IOWs, even if your thermo is horribly wrong, it can still work fine.
Cheers,
Russ
2017: added shut-off valves at several points on the main line, 66L made, 13L sold
2016: Added Wesfab 7" Filter Press with hand pump, 96L sold
2015: now 216 taps, added low vac (24" hg) to new Sugar Shack (24' x 16') w/400gal storage, 143.15L sold
2014: now 150 taps, added 2 sump pumps to 12'x12' sugar shack w/100gal storage to CDL 18"x5', 2 chamber drop flue, 40L sold
2013: 10 5/16 taps gravity to hose, boiled on BBQ
well I pulled my taps yesterday with only 35 gallons of sap for the year which is about half of normal I boiled it yesterday and will finish it up today I hope the sugar content is high I usually am around 5%.
All I can say is the syrup was really dirty coming off the pan.
Jerome
I also found it was very dirty, the last week has been brutal for me and filtering, the last batch of sap I boiled Thursday night, it was extremely dark and after getting it all filtered and doing a taste test, it was very very sweet,it was almost like liquid brown sugar.
2018 28 tree's, 32 taps... 1206 L collected, 19.6 L Finished
2017 14 trees, 16 taps... for now465.5 L collected, 10.5 L Finished
2016 26 trees, 38 taps... for now
2015 7 Trees, 7 Buckets
2014 13 Trees,9 Buckets,5 Water Cooler Bottles,1 Turkey Fryer,ended up with 12 L syrup,light to very dark color
2013 9 Trees ,13 taps and buckets,1 Turkey Deep Fryer,Close to 15 L of syrup , light to dark color
Just finished up cleaning the bottleing operation ended up with 3 gallons of amber. according to my calculations the sap must have been 7%, I was 7.6 over the boiling point of water.
Jerome
7% seems a little high (although not impossible). Usually anything over 4% is considered amazing. Between 3% and 4% is a great average for sugar maples. Thermometers are a good guideline but unfortunately they can vary drastically from day to day and some days I need to go 10-12 degrees above boiling point of water to hit syrup. You may want to consider a hydrometer or a refractomete as this is the only way to confirm density. You will know once syrup cools it will be very runny. That said, maybe you have some exceptional trees!
Maple Rock Farm
www.Maplerockfarm.ca
400 taps on Vacuum
18”x60” Lapierre propane evaporator with Smokey Lake auto draw off
Homemade 3 post RO with MES membranes
Ford TS110 tractor sap hauler
I did check my density's with a hydrotherm so I know they are good, but thanks for your concern.
Jerome
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