1st Time Tapper, some questions

[gaust024]

Yes, I noticed that it started to freeze up, so I took your advice and it went great. Boiled for about 6 hours on the turkey fryer, and now I'm doing the finish boil on the stove. It's been at 213 degrees for about 15 mins, and from what I've researched I should pull it off and be done boiling when it hits 219. Just wondering how long it will take because it doesn't seem that a lot of water is evaporating. Also, I've got the fan on so I'm not worried about the walls getting all sticky.

[Run Forest Run!]

How long it will take to finish on the stove depends on a lot of things, namely how close to syrup you were when you brought your 'nearup' inside. Be patient, and very observant. This is when a day's worth of work can boil up all over your stovetop.

Also, did you check your thermometer to see the exact temperature that water rapidly boils at your house today? It's not always 212*F. You need to be 7*F over that number.

[gaust024]

Everything went well, I was constantly checking the temp on the stove and pulled it off when it got a little over 219. However, I wasn't able to filter out some of the sediment... I tried quickly filtering it through a cheesecloth but it wouldn't seep through. I decided not to filter because it was a little difficult. I've canned and sealed the syrup in 12oz glass jars, but should I redo the filtering process? Is it necessary to bring everything back up to 219 and then try the filtering again? I'll upload a pic of the finished product so people can see the color and clarity. It sure does taste good, though!

[Run Forest Run!]

Since you are making small amounts, I'd suggest that you don't bother filtering and just pour your finished syrup into wide mouth mason jars. Let the niter settle and fall to the bottom of the jars. (This can take a few days or a few weeks) Once the top syrup is clear, decant that into jars for storage. To save yourself a lot of hassle in reheating, store the decanted syrup in the freezer and it will stay fresh indefinitely. (If you've made syrup of the proper density it won't freeze and will have the consistency of roofing tar.)

I bet your syrup tastes wonderful. Congratulations on your batch!

[JennyW]

I know everyone says the ice doesn't have much sugar. And, honestly, I don't have much experience. But the times I have tried to take out the ice and melt it, it seems just as sweet.

Also, you seem to think you'll pull the taps after just a few days. To each his own, but I wonder why you're planning to do that. The sap will keep flowing and just feed ants. You might as well collect it.

[TooManyIrons...]

Never trust a bulk-manufactured retail thermometer to be accurate, and truth be told it really doesn't matter anyway as long as it is fairly accurate when reading temperature increments. Here is what matters: The finish temperature of syrup is based on a certain number of degrees above the local boiling temperature of water (my target finish temp is 7 degrees above). I calibrate my thermometer every day I process by placing it in boiling water, reading the temperature, and adding the proper number of degrees to that number. Here the local boiling temperature of water, as indicated by my particular candy thermometer whether that thermometer is accurate or not, is usually either 207 or 208 degrees, variation I assume to be caused by change in atmospheric pressure. Now again, that temperature may not be technically accurate but I really don't care as long as the increments of the thermometer are fairly accurate. Based on that reading my target finish temperature using the same thermometer is usually around 214 to 215 degrees.

Finishing to 219 on an accurate thermometer likely means you are getting some really nice thick flavorful syrup at the expense of time, labor, fuel/electricity, and overall syrup yield. If you are over-finishing the syrup it also means you will probably end up with sugar crystalization in the jars during storage. Based on my experience crystallization in the jars is more of a bummer than it sounds.

I don't know that a person really needs a brix refractometer, but a syrup finish hydrometer and cup are rather handy especially for beginners. I use mine once a year, on the first batch, to verify that what I am doing and how I am figuring numbers is correct. Once my methods are verified I never use it again, I just finish to calibrated temp and verify by checking the sheeting on a spatula. Truth be told I regret buying the syrup finish hydrometer, my experience has overridden its value but initially it verified that what I was doing was in fact correct and gave me the confidence that I needed. As a beginner the main issue I had to resolve in my mind and perception was that real maple syrup when finished properly is still runny, not thick and gelatinous like the faux maple flavored HFCS garbage that is sold at the grocery store.

Filtering: The best/cheapest option small batch folks like us have is to decant the finished syrup for a couple days after finishing. I let my finished syrup sit in a covered stainless steel stockpot that is propped up at an angle for three days on the counter before reheating the syrup for the canning process. When canning/bottling I carefully pour off as much clear syrup as possible from the stock pot, the remaining syrup with the settled sediment I pour into a large canning jar with a cover and let the syrup in that jar re-settle for a week, then I pour off the remaining good syrup into my syrup bottle in the fridge for immediate use and dump the remaining small amount of syrup with all the sludge down the drain. I never wanted to waste syrup so I tried many times using different methods to try to filter out the remaining syrup out of that sludge but I found out it was just not worth the hassle and anyway there is much less syrup going to waste than a person might think.

In my opinion the wisest equipment investment you can make is acquiring the proper sediment filters that are specifically made for this hobby/business available at all the supply houses across the nation. I have been screwing around with cloth-type material filtration for five years doing it on the cheap and I am sick and tired of dealing with the hassles. I am done with it, this summer I am ordering the proper filters for next season. I urge you to save yourself some grief...

I wouldn't mess with what you got finished, be proud of your first ever batch of maple syrup that you made yourself, it is a big accomplishment! During the year when you need to go get another jar of syrup out of storage just handle it carefully so the settled sediment does not get agitated. When you open the jar pour off the good stuff into your syrup bottle and dump the sediment down the drain. I think you will find that the sediment looks thick but it actually consists of very fine, whispy particles (if it consists of larger particles then that tells you that you should be doing a better job of random filtering during the bulk boiling-off process). That whispy stuff is very difficult for any small batch hobbyist to get out, not a big deal to most of us folks as we have gotten used to it. Some folks I know just shake the sediment back into suspension in the syrup every time they use the syrup, not unlike how one shakes the ketchup or mustard bottle before use, the sediment doesn't bother them in the least. To each their own.

And by the way, welcome to this wonderful hobby, thanks for joining here and posting! Always fun to know what other people are doing and how they are doing it. Most of what I have learned about this hobby I have learned here on this website from all these nice, helpful people. Lots of good rainy day reading...