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Thread: Frozen Sap Buckets

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Candia NH
    Posts
    89

    Post Frozen Sap Buckets

    Hi,

    I need some help dealing with frozen sap buckets. They are all pretty much frozen solid near the top with minimal liquid in them but the liquid is now starting to over flow out the buckets. I don't have storage large enough to empty 100 3 gallon bucket sized ice blocks into a container and thaw it out. Suggestions on dealing with this ? I would love another one of those 70 degree days right about now !
    2018 - ?? 2x5 lapierre raised flue evaporator

    2017 - 150 taps mixed 2.5 x 4 evaporator

    2016 - 230 taps taps mixed 2.5 x 4 evaporator

    2015 - 115 taps mixed buckets, bags and, water jugs. 2.5 x 4 evaporator.

    2014 - 55 taps mixed buckets, bags and, drop lines. 4 steam trays and a block arch. 3 gallons made tapped prematurely (lesson learned)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Harvard, MA
    Posts
    240

    Default

    I think many of us have this issue at the moment. I was just reading in another forum more on the guidance to toss the ice because the sugar in it is under 1%, while the remaining liquid is well above 3 even 4%. Some call it the poor mans RO.
    2022 is season 7
    2016: 20 taps on buckets, 4 gallons on a borrowed 2x3.
    2017: 32 taps on buckets, 8 gallons of syrup, on a "loaner" Lapierre 19x48.
    2018: 80 taps. First time tubing. New 10x12 sugar shack, Lapierre 2x5. Made 17 gallons
    2019: 100 taps. 22 gallons. Added a small RO 50 gph.
    2020: 145 taps, 30 gallons, sold half. Murphy cup is a great addition.
    2021: tapped Feb 23, 150 taps, 35 gallons.
    2022: 200 taps. I lost 50, added 100. Having fun but short season?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Candia NH
    Posts
    89

    Default

    I can debunk that myth, I drained my pans before this freeze up into seperate containers, the sweet pan bucket froze about 4 inches on top and so has the back pan content. I'm not having a great season so I'm not about to throw out well over 100 gallins of frozen sap. I guess I'll keep collecting the liquid and leave the ice to thaw itself out.
    2018 - ?? 2x5 lapierre raised flue evaporator

    2017 - 150 taps mixed 2.5 x 4 evaporator

    2016 - 230 taps taps mixed 2.5 x 4 evaporator

    2015 - 115 taps mixed buckets, bags and, water jugs. 2.5 x 4 evaporator.

    2014 - 55 taps mixed buckets, bags and, drop lines. 4 steam trays and a block arch. 3 gallons made tapped prematurely (lesson learned)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Potsdam in far northern New York
    Posts
    775

    Default

    I must have been really cold. My sugarhouse has been cold for four days and this morning it was 20 degrees in there. Nothing was frozen.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    West Sumner, ME
    Posts
    250

    Default

    We had 100 over flowing 2.5 gallon sap tins all frozen solid last weekend. Happens at least once a season for us. Its a pain for sure.
    West Sumner Sugar House
    West Sumner, ME
    500 +/- Taps - 2 x 8 CDL Venturi - 3 Shurflo Solar Systems - MES Dolly 300
    https://www.facebook.com/WestSumnerSugarHouse

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Lowell, Maine
    Posts
    56

    Default

    I had 60 frozen buckets. They were full—solid blocks of ice with small amounts of liquid at the bottom of the buckets. I collected the liquid in one container and brought the blocks of ice inside, placing them in big plastic garbage cans (new Rubbermaid ones on sale at the local hardware store).

    I measured the sugar content using my hydrometer. The initial bucket I had set aside, containing the unfrozen sap straight off the trees, was off the scale measuring 10++. The color was a light amber. I originally thought I was going to have to toss it because of the slight discoloration, but it turns out (as I read here on this forum) it was actually nature’s RO at work giving me a super high sugar content!

    As the blocks of sap slowly melt, I have been pouring off the liquid and measuring sugar content. The first day was 6 Brix, the second day 3.5 (which is my typical level as I have roadside sugar maples), and the third day it was down to just under 1. I am now tossing out the ice chunks! No use wasting wood on what is left, especially with a week of perfect sap conditions ahead!
    Last edited by Page Meadow Maple; 03-24-2018 at 06:28 AM.
    Page Meadow Maple
    Lowell, Maine
    Leader Half Pint evaporator
    80 taps: 53 buckets, 27 drop lines

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