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Thread: Bottling syrup in glass containers

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
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    Default Bottling syrup in glass containers

    Hi Folks,
    First time using glass containers, do you wash them before filling them?
    Thanks for your help.
    Mike Hughson
    Hobby setup first 4 years
    2016 85 taps new 2 X 6 drop flue evaporator
    2017 18 X 24 timberframe sugar shack.

  2. #2
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    Rock Creek, NC
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    If they are new containers you don't need to wash them first.
    Russ

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
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  3. #3
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    Feb 2012
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    New Ipswich New Hampshire
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    Thanks Russell that’s what I thought.
    Mike Hughson
    Hobby setup first 4 years
    2016 85 taps new 2 X 6 drop flue evaporator
    2017 18 X 24 timberframe sugar shack.

  4. #4
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    Jan 2006
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    Oneida NY
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    The new bottles should be stored upside down until used to keep dust etc from getting into the bottle. When you bottle, be sure the syrup is well filtered and over 180F but not over 190F. As soon as you fill the bottle, cap it tight and lay it on it's side to get the hot syrup to kill any mold spores that might be on the inner cap. 30 seconds is enough, but 30 minutes will be OK too. If you are filling small bottles that have a lot of mass in relation to the amount of syrup, it can help if you warm the bottles first so the glass does not lower the syrup temp too soon. That can be done in full sun for a few minutes or even in a warm oven, just so the glass feels warm to the touch rather than cool or cold.
    Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
    Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
    Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
    After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.

  5. #5
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    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
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  6. #6
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    Hopkinton, MA
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    I tried preheating glass when I first got started. I tried both a water bath and an oven. From time to time I would get a niter haze in the bottles. It took me a little while to figure out where the problem was, but eventually I concluded it was not my heating of the syrup, but the preheating of the glass.

    So, I stopped preheating. I bring them up to room temp if they are cold or I'll put the boxes on the radiator to take the chill off, but that's it. For the heck of it, I dropped a temp probe into one of my glass bottles just before capping. I don't remember what it was, but I remember concluding that it wasn't necessary to preheat the glass. I haven't had any issues with mold (or niter) in any containers using the strategies Flats shared. I try to keep the syrup above 185, though.

    That said, I just started bottling maple leaf nips. The article got me thinking about the thickness of those bottles compared to the 1.7 ounces of syrup in them. I bet there is more glass than syrup for those bottles and maybe I should drop a probe in one of those next time. The first batch I did was a month ago and so far so good. It will be a while before I have to bottle those again, though.

    I also started hot packing bulk containers. I was amazed how quickly the temp dropped in those and I'm using the blue plastic containers. The first time I did it, it was down to 178 or so when it was about half full when the probe could reach the liquid. I switched to a larger spigot on the bottler to fill the containers faster. It's harder to control the foam from splashing, but the temp is higher. Maybe I'll put the container in a 200F oven, too. I can't imagine the plastic holds its temp, but I couldn't have imagined 5 gallons of syrup dropping below 180 either.
    Woodville Maples
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    Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
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  7. #7
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    Feb 2011
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    Manchester Maine
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    Just be carful if you are using mason jars we preheat ours in the oven at 200% and let them cool down for awhile and take it from experience hot syrup going into a mason jar that is not warm may give you a quart of syrup all over your kitchen floor and that will not impress your wife! The bottom cracked and I tried lifting it over to the sink and that was the end!
    Backyard sapper

    Mason 2X4 XL with blower
    12x24 post and beam shack
    30 taps on 5-Gallon buckets
    134 taps on tubing into the shack
    15-30 gallons a year for family and friends

  8. #8
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    Feb 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lukie View Post
    Just be carful if you are using mason jars we preheat ours in the oven at 200% and let them cool down for awhile and take it from experience hot syrup going into a mason jar that is not warm may give you a quart of syrup all over your kitchen floor and that will not impress your wife! The bottom cracked and I tried lifting it over to the sink and that was the end!
    The trick to filling mason jars is to put about 3/4 inch of hot syrup in and allow the jar to adjust for about a minute, then fill the rest of the way.

  9. #9
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    Mar 2012
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    I preheat the oven to 190 and put the glass jars in for 10 min at the very least. While they sterilize, I slowly bring the syrup up to 185 and pull it off the instant it reaches that. Even so the temp of syrup will still go up 2-3 degrees.

    When I fill the glass jars or bottles they are always standing in something like a saucepan - so if an accident does occur, it's contained. The only time I have ever had glass crack on me when filling was because the jar already had a tiny nick or crack in it that wasn't readily visible. If I am filling jugs, which must be laid on their side, I use tall foil roasting pans from the dollar store.
    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

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