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Thread: Sap a little cloudy... boil?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    Warren, MA
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    Default Sap a little cloudy... boil?

    My sap is slightly cloudy but doesn’t smell and still tastes good. Should I boil it?Sap on one side and water on the other. 626F2A14-0E46-4DFC-9CEA-879730644CB6.jpg

  2. #2
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    Dec 2015
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    That sap looks like it will make some good dark syrup to me. Boil it, but do it ASAP. Do not let it sit in tomorrow temps and definitely not Wednesdays.

  3. #3
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    Mar 2015
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    Peoria, IL
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    If it passes the smell and taste test, should be good. Always best to boil sap as soon as possible, especially in late season.
    Camp Wokanda
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    2023 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, sap storage shack w/ 1100 gallon tank - 123 gallons
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  4. #4
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    Just put a little in a pot on the stove and try it. Dark syrup is still better than none and most of our customers prefer dark.

  5. #5
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    Boil it and if your house suddenly smells like dead frogs, chuck it. If it smells good keep it.
    Been tapping since 2008.
    2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
    2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
    2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
    2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
    2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
    2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup

  6. #6
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    Mar 2019
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    Lanark Ontario
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    When in doubt taste it. You won't get sick from drinking sweetwater straight from the tree.

    Bugs in the sap are another matter!

  7. #7
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    Feb 2017
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    Upper Valley, NH
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    Isn't that the truth! Once you do this a bunch, you can instantly tell from the steam of a small test boil whether or not your sap is bad. I saved a bit once and let a couple of people smell and taste it...their reactions where priceless.
    2023: Award Winning Maple Syrup and Honey!
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
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    Mantorville, MN
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    I am so happy to see this thread as I have a problem with my syrup and I wonder if it is related to cloudy sap.
    I finished collecting and cooking about 1.5 weeks ago. My last collection I collected about 300+ gallons and had some cloudy, not bad smelling, tasted fine sap. I talked to an experienced syrup friend he said cook it. I did. As I have been bottling this last batch I am having a problem with some particulate matter floating in my bottles and it eventually settles to the bottom. This syrup has been filtered off the evaporator through paper and orlon, filtered again through paper and orlon and cooking little closer to finished. Then, filtered through paper after reaching proper brix. I think some may think it is over-filtered. I have even dumped reheated and filtered a 4th time, but I still have the same problem. I thought it was sugar but I have added sap and re-cooked to have the same problem. When bottling at first it seems clear but as the syrup cools the particulate forms and is suspended in the syrup.
    Is this sugar?
    Is this bacteria?
    If none of the above, what the heck do you think it is?
    The syrup has a nice maple flavor. My unrefined taste does not detect any off flavor. And for as much as I have taste tested I'm still feeling good(physically) (emotionally my syrup has me down but that's another story).
    Thanks for your help,
    Tom

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
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    Oakville, ON
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    Quote Originally Posted by tpathoulas View Post
    I am so happy to see this thread as I have a problem with my syrup and I wonder if it is related to cloudy sap.
    I finished collecting and cooking about 1.5 weeks ago. My last collection I collected about 300+ gallons and had some cloudy, not bad smelling, tasted fine sap. I talked to an experienced syrup friend he said cook it. I did. As I have been bottling this last batch I am having a problem with some particulate matter floating in my bottles and it eventually settles to the bottom. This syrup has been filtered off the evaporator through paper and orlon, filtered again through paper and orlon and cooking little closer to finished. Then, filtered through paper after reaching proper brix. I think some may think it is over-filtered. I have even dumped reheated and filtered a 4th time, but I still have the same problem. I thought it was sugar but I have added sap and re-cooked to have the same problem. When bottling at first it seems clear but as the syrup cools the particulate forms and is suspended in the syrup.
    Is this sugar?
    Is this bacteria?
    If none of the above, what the heck do you think it is?
    The syrup has a nice maple flavor. My unrefined taste does not detect any off flavor. And for as much as I have taste tested I'm still feeling good(physically) (emotionally my syrup has me down but that's another story).
    Thanks for your help,
    Tom
    What is the brix level? From your description it may be too high and you have sugar crystallizing out of solution as it cools. Not likely to be bacteria if it's happening in short time frame, bacteria just dont grow that fast!
    2023 - 130 taps, 90L from 4,000L as of mid March
    2021 - 84 taps, 50L from 2100L
    2020 - 100 taps on buckets, 21L syrup from 2700L so far (FEB 26-Mar 13) and then the pandemic hit! End of our season!
    2019 - 62 taps on buckets, 95L syrop from 3215L sap
    2018 - 62 taps, collecting by hand, 90L syrop from 3200L sap
    2017 - Lapierre Waterloo Small mini pro with 40 taps
    2014 - 2016 40 taps making one or two batches on a 2x6 flat pan over an open arch as it would have been done in 1900

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
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    Mantorville, MN
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    Thanks for the reply. I was worried about that and added unfinished syrup to some the cloudy stuff and still had the particulates floating. 67.2 is highest brix I've found. I know this is higher than expected but is it high enough to cause this?

    Thanks

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