Thin and light color(Karo)

[Maple Syrup Rookies 2014]

We taped a couple maples in our front yard. Cooked sap with turkey fryer. We cannot get it thick or dark. We have tried 3 batches. We have cooked so long that the sugar is settling out but still not thick. After we got cooked down we brougth inot house to finish. using a thermometer.
I believe it is getting late but we are having a late spring here in eastern Indiana. I tried some a friend made Wednesday. His had a good color, not bitter and his trees had a few buds opening. I cannot see buds on my trees.
I have about 2 gallon of sap in fridge. I would like to figure out before next year.
Can anybody give me some ideas?

[happy thoughts]

What you're calling sugar settling out is probably not sugar but sugar sand, mineral salts that form as the sap is concentrated. Color is dependent on a few things but some saps, especially early sap tends to make lighter colored syrup and later sap darker as the season ends. Old sap also tends to make darker syrup. Thickness is dependent on sugar concentration (density) but also on temperature. Hot syrup is thinner than cool syrup. Going by temp alone you can't be sure of density. You can look for sheeting off a spoon if you want to get close.

[Heather_Marie]

Well with boiling, you have to be really careful of the temperature that you bring it to, and hold it at. They say 219, but honestly, that never worked for me. I had to get it up to about 223 before it got nice and thick. But if you're planning on doing it in the coming years, I would invest in both a sap and syrup hydrometer. It's a good investment and it will help you a lot in the long run. Check this site out, prices are reasonable, and quality is great! Ever batch this year has been great.

http://www.mapleguys.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCH

[Maple Syrup Rookies 2014]

I understand about sugar sand. When we bring into house finish we strain with coffee filters. It also seems to taste just a little off. My sap is clear as water. My sap also tastes ok.

[Ittiz]

You sure it has sugar in it? Some times the trees may not make much if any sugar. If I were you I'd just keep going till it thickened up.

[Maple Syrup Rookies 2014]

It gets sticky and has some maple taste.
Could it be too late? Even though tree is not budding.

[happy thoughts]

I understand about sugar sand. When we bring into house finish we strain with coffee filters. It also seems to taste just a little off. My sap is clear as water. My sap also tastes ok.

Then what do you mean by "cooking so long the sugar is settling out"? I still think you're seeing niter not sugar. Sugars don't usually precipitate out unless the syrup is very dense, And every time you bring the sap/syrup to around 200*F or higher more sand will form even if the sap/syrup has been filtered.

That said, coffee filters do not make good syrup filters though they may work if the sap is not too cooked down. If you don't have syrup filters you can just let gravity do the work. Finish the syrup and let the sand settle out in a jar kept in the fridge. In a few days you can pour off the clear portion, bring that to bottling temps (185-190*F) and fill your bottles or jars and seal. You can then dilute the cloudy portion with some fresh sap and see if that filters with the coffee filter. Use that for your next boil.

And that said, lttiz may be on the mark as well. Many people on the forum are complaining about low sugar content this year. Any idea what your ratio of sap to the quantity of thin syrup you got? Some were reporting ratios as high as 70:1.

As for buddy syrup, we learned from Dr Tim in another post here that early metabolic syrup is also possible and can give an off flavor as well. I'm not sure what causes it early in the season, just that it's a possibility. Maybe that's what you've got, too.

[Swagner]

Maple Rookie :
Exactly how much sap did you have when you started your boil down. And if you had to guess how much do you think that you have now that your saying it is thin and colorless. It takes any where from 40 - 70 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. And as many have stated on other posts that the real flavor doesn't actually occur until you have reached the almost finished syrup stage. Hope this helps.