Eastern Ontario 2020

[paulslund]

Well.. it's official. I'm a sugarer.

They say you're not a sugarer until you burn a batch. For me, that was about 1/2 hour ago. Collected the buckets this morning with the kids and measured the batch at 190L. Figured that's about a 10 hour boil. Fired up at 1:15ish.. Was really focused on boiling as fast as I could as I had hash marks on the head tank, so wanted to determine peak evaporation rate. Because of that I wasn't as diligent in adding defoamer to the pans.. Right when I was checking the head tank my daughter said how sweet it smelled.. that should have been the sign I picked up on .. Then luckily I was right beside the evaporator when I hear her ask "is something burning?".

That's when I noticed the front pan was starting to look like sponge toffee! Grabbed my "oh ****" bucket of sap and poured it in, then continued to add more sap to cool it off as it still boiled really hard after that... The siphon must have gotten air locked, but it looked like the level was okay because of the foam.. I was just about to reset the siphon out of "peach of mind" as I normally do.. I got too cocky I guess..

Luckily it seems to taste fine, so just letting the fire die down so it can evap some more ( too much in the pan right now for me to remove).. Going to take it off and keep as a separate batch.. very dark now, but no burnt taste to it! But I think I can detect some burned sugar on the bottom of the pan with the spatula so didn't want to continue boiling until I check that out...

So what I thought would be a relatively late evening finish, might turn out to be a early Sunday morning finish.. depending on how bad the pan is.. Still have about 120-130 L to go..

Ugh!

[Coatesy]

Sorry to hear that Paul. I do the same, get busy doing other things when we should be monitoring the boil.
Hopefully the pan is okay. If you can empty it, I find boiling hot vinegar water and steel wool are the best way to scrub er clean.

[Galena]

Yeah, that's a big owch, Paul. That's the problem with boiling, it's too easy to get complacent and turn your back a moment too long and things go haywire.But just like they say 7 falls make a horseman, well hey at least now you've proved yourself a sugarmaker! And yes Coatesy's solution of hot vinegar water and steel wool are great. So long as it's just plain steel wool and not SOS pads!!! Just remember to rinse a lot with hot clean water and then even wipe out with paper towel to ensure all clean when done.

Just got back in from wiping down the pail lids, both sides, with Lysol wipes. I noticed some white mold blooms both inside and out, and though not over concerned about one or two little spots, some lids were really bad. So being careful not just cause of the pandemic but also as this is a primary food source we're dealing with. I'm giving away sap at 45l a time so have to make sure the sap is as clean as possible!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Get a piece of 3/4” or 1” copper pipe and flatten one end with a hammer to make scraper. Copper won’t scratch the stainless like steel wool can.

[Galena]

That sounds like a good idea....I've heard that the steel wool can gouge areas where nitre can collect and form. Personally I use a green scrubbie.

[paulslund]

Well so far boiling vinegar and my nylon scrub brush are getting most of it off.. just have to keep at it. I was avoiding steel wool but I like the copper pipe idea.. I do have 1/2 inch pipe I could smash down. I also heard a brash brush for a drill will work (which I also have) but am going to use that as a last resort. There are a few stubborn spots

It turned out that my pan wasn't level..the front area was about 1/2 inch shallower than the back (where the siphon is). Siphon must have gotten an air lock and I didn't notice because of the foaming.. will make sure to level the pan when I fire up again..

I've never noticed mold in my buckets.. but my buckets are white.. now you've got me concerned..

Although isn't boiling mold how you make penicillin? Does our syrup have natural anti-biotic properties? I'm just kidding..I have no idea how to make penicillin.. :-)

[Galena]

Hehe I think you need moldy bread to make penicillin :-)

BTW I don't have the white mold in my buckets - which are aluminum - but inside the lids I could see some, just on a few pails. I also wiped down the tops of the lids too.

My buckets are aluminum. Sometimes I get that pinkish-orangey mold starting to show in the bottom or any area where there are dents, but I see that kind of mold literally everywhere in my area, so not too concerned. Very benign so far as I know and easy to get rid of. It's any kind of mold that 'blooms' that concerns me.

[paulslund]

Okay.. I've salvaged the pan!

Boiling vinegar got 99.9% off.. some of those little spots that remained I scrapped off with my thumbnail! :-) Just some slight discoloration so one more scrub and hopefully get the fire going by 10! Hopefully in bed by 3! :-)

Thanks for everyone's advice!

[Galena]

Yay Paul, glad you were able to save the pan :-)

I was a teeny bit off as to how much syrup my friend made from 45l sap I gave her. I didn't realize the jars she uses are those weird, tall, wide-mouthed Mason jars that are in fact only 750ml and not 1l. So she actually made closer to 1.5ls. Still, at least now she knows how to do it and has made a second batch, and I unloaded another 45l or so last night on someone else. So glad to have the load lightened somewhat. And my trees still rock :-)

[Big_Eddy]

Dont use plain steel wool, but a stainless scrubbing pad is fine. Plain steel wool can leave small amounts of iron behind that will rust later. The copper scraper is my go to. Thanks to Ennismaple for that one.


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