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Thread: Snotty syrup

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Elsie mi
    Posts
    127

    Default Snotty syrup

    Last year I had a batch of syrup that was by taste and looks just fine. But when you poured it it was snotty. The syrup would leave streamers like hot mozzarella.
    It looked fine going through the filter but the next day was different.
    What happened to it. was the sap bad.
    I made some into sugar and it was tough to do but the sugar is just fine. The rest went to a friend for sugar in his mash and that tasted just fine.
    25 years sugaring
    2018 191taps. Made 80 gallons
    Two taps to a 5 gallon bucket roadside trees.
    A retired dad to hump buckets and do most of the boiling the great wife that let's me spend lots of time and money.
    New Smokey lake 2×6 raised flue SSR on my own version of the silverplate arch.
    2019 new hood and new preheater concept that worked great.
    306 taps roadside trees

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Eden Prairie, MN
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    1,636

    Default

    Search for ropey syrup here and you will learn all about it. When i have had that problem, it was after a few warm days where I didn't get any sap and the pans sat too long without firing them up to sterilize or draining and refrigerating the sweet.
    John
    2x8 Smokylake drop flue with AOF/ AUF
    180 taps on sacks
    75 on 3/16 tubing with shurflo
    Eden Prairie, Minnesota

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Middlesex, Vermont
    Posts
    320

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    I was at a friends sugar house last week checking out their operation. I was there before kindling was in the rig. As we were taking some ice off of the sweet in the flue pan, I noticed a bit of a "stringy" type occurrence happening but chocked it up to the ciders we were having.
    We started boiling and all of a sudden the flue pan started to foam up like a cotton candy machine! We had to open the doors and poor cold sap in the pan to get it to calm. Went through this phenomenon twice until finally it cooked off and new sap started coming in the sap pan. I was baffled and being my first real year in this had absolutely no answers to offer. We were able to get this all figured out after reading a bunch on the forum. Definitely gets you worried about who came and sabotoged your arch! Especially when you don't know what it actually is haha!
    Mead Maple "It's for the kids..."
    Paul Cerminara
    2019 - First season ever
    -Goal: 3 gallons
    -Season Total: 7.5 gallons - pulled taps after running out of firewood and time
    2020
    Built 2'x8' Oil Fired with Thor drop flue pans
    -Goal: 20 gallons
    -Season Total: 55 gallons

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Albion PA
    Posts
    5,099

    Default

    Yep, ropey syrup. Not fun.
    Regards,
    Chris
    Casbohm Maple and Honey
    625 roadside taps + Neighbors bring some sap too!
    3x10 King, WRU, AOF and AUF
    12" SIRO Filter Press.
    2015 Ford F250 PSD sap hauler
    One Golden named Maggie, Norwegian Forest Cat named Lucy
    Too many Cub Cadets
    Ford Jubilee and several Allis WD's, and IH tractors
    1932 Ford AAB ton and a half, dump truck

    www.mapleandhoney.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Elsie mi
    Posts
    127

    Default

    Well for the future is it spoiled or is it ok to use still. I made sugar from it. I wouldn't think you could do anything else but dump it.
    25 years sugaring
    2018 191taps. Made 80 gallons
    Two taps to a 5 gallon bucket roadside trees.
    A retired dad to hump buckets and do most of the boiling the great wife that let's me spend lots of time and money.
    New Smokey lake 2×6 raised flue SSR on my own version of the silverplate arch.
    2019 new hood and new preheater concept that worked great.
    306 taps roadside trees

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
    Posts
    6,391

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Woody77 View Post
    I wouldn't think you could do anything else but dump it.
    You have answered your own question.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Albion PA
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    5,099

    Default

    Thinking about this, I believe I have had different levels of this problem in its best form with some long strands/ strings off a spoon, to being a big nasty glob. I believe the stringy version, if it has good flavor may be able to be used for some value added product. If you can boil it and it doesn't go to foaming marshmallow, then you might save it. Just my 2 cents.

    So I might coin a new phrase for this as "stringy" syrup.

    I would assume this is a less sever stage of somewhat spoiled sap or a blend of good and spoiled sap, leading up to "ropey" stage.

    In my case I was able to boil stringy syrup, but it was much thicker and had ropey indications when stirred, (brought to 240 F.) Once ingredients were added to make value added products the thickness of the syrup was reduced/ diluted (not noticeable) and the finished product appeared as normal and had good flavor. Maybe I was just lucky?
    I have had the other extreme where half of the front pan of the evaporator went to marshmallow as the fire came up and that ropey syrup batch had to be dumped.
    Regards,
    Chris
    Casbohm Maple and Honey
    625 roadside taps + Neighbors bring some sap too!
    3x10 King, WRU, AOF and AUF
    12" SIRO Filter Press.
    2015 Ford F250 PSD sap hauler
    One Golden named Maggie, Norwegian Forest Cat named Lucy
    Too many Cub Cadets
    Ford Jubilee and several Allis WD's, and IH tractors
    1932 Ford AAB ton and a half, dump truck

    www.mapleandhoney.com

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Temperance Mi
    Posts
    411

    Default

    I had a problem with ropey sweet in my evaporator after my first boil in late February. We had 2 weeks of very cold after the first run. I left the evaporator level high so I could put a little fire under it, which I did 2 times but not a third because the level was getting low. I put a 100 watt light bulb under it to keep it from freezing hard. When I went to boil again in March I noticed the ropey sweet ( from the week plus of the light). I decided to go ahead and boil it and went ahead and saved the first 1.5 gallons off the 2x6 to use for value added products. I just opened the .5 gallon and there is nothing wrong with the syrup, right consistency, flavor, not too dark but I'm still making maple mustard and bbq sauce with it. Even though its a pain to drain the 2x6 I'm not going to put a light under the evaporator again.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
    Posts
    6,391

    Default

    If it is not real bad, you may be able to salvage some of it. One of the big problems with doing that is that you are likely to have a very difficult time getting a good density reading on ropey syrup, so you're never really sure whether it is too thin, too thick, or good.

    The other problem trying to continue boiling this stuff is that it is really easy to burn your pans....it's like boiling jello...not really liquid.
    Last edited by DrTimPerkins; 04-17-2019 at 02:24 PM.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Temperance Mi
    Posts
    411

    Default

    I was really worried about getting it to filter. No problems, it filtered fine. The sweet I boiled down was not really sweet. The jellyness of it went away the closer it got to syrup. It didn't foam up bad either, but you could tell it was not first of the year syrup. It tastes great though, I was really expecting it to have some off flavor.

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