Storing in an IBC

[Fountian]

Guys, I'm a small rookie, but was hoping to have around 200 gallons of sap to run after about three days of collecting. I am storing in a 275 gallon IBC. How long will my sap be good if I keep it in the shade at these temps? First collection today.
Sun 42 degrees/cloudy low 27,
Monday 39/cloudy low 30,
Tuesday 54/cloudy low 40,
Wed 57/cloudy low 16
Thurs 24 low 10
Would like to run on Thursday, but wasn't sure if Tues/Wed gonna be too hot and if Thursday would be too cold.

Thanks!
Rob

[Sugarmaker]

Gather and boils it as quickly as possible. That's the best way. If you cant do that then yes keeping the sap cool is the next best. You just don't want it to freeze in your tank or lines if your going to boil soon.
Welcome and good luck with your season. How many taps do you have.
Regards,
Chris

[Fountian]

I ended up running about 25 gallons of sap and just finished. I'm wore out but can't stop starring at the 3 quarts of syrup sitting on the table. Quite a bit of sugar sand though. I filtered it out of the pan and filtered when bottling. I am satisfied and even more hooked now. My son can't wait for pancakes in the morning. Thanks for the info.
Rob

[fisheatingbagel]

Hi Rob,
Where in Kentucky are you located? I'm in the Louisville area. I also use an IBC to store sap during the week, and boil later in the week and on weekends. If you keep the IBC in a fairly shaded area, you should be fine keeping it for a week especially if you already have some sap in there that is frozen. I'm looking forward to some thawing Tuesday and Wednesday. I made a few gallons in early February before the big freeze but everything has been frozen solid for 2 weeks! I'm afraid we're going to have a big warmup and that will end the season for us.

Good luck!

[treeguy]

I have a IBC I use on a stand in mostly shade but if the sap gets above 40 it's degrading so I never let it sit longer then I have two. Last year I put frozen water bottles in it to help cool it..by tomorrow night it's going to start freezing on us again.. I collected 400 gallons since Sunday.. I hope to be done cooking tomorrow but Its been slow. I think we have one more run this weekend here in KY

[treeguy]

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[treeguy]

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IBC I have on stand I want to rig going in to the shack with a copper tube wrapping the pipe and a valve to speed up the boil.

[tessiersfarm]

My experience is that those tanks are like mini greenhouses, even if its real cold, just a little sun cooks them. I almost never leave sap in them for more than a day or so, I have a stainless tank that's much better for keeping cold and a galv. tank for backup. I would put those on the truck but open tops lose too much sap. I try to park my truck in my equipment shed if the poly tanks got anything in it (unheated, complete shade). Every time I empty it I rinse it well and leave both drain valve and top cover loose so air can get in and dry it. I learned the hard way not to leave the holes wide open, $150 mouse hotel in a matter of days, I did cut it open and it made 2 of the nicest sleds I ever had.