Off flavor from too much contact with niter?
I'm wondering if too much contact with niter can produce a permanent off flavor in the finished syrup?
For most of the season, after I filter a batch I take the felt filter and put it into the next batch of sap I'm boiling off to get all the sugar out of it. Then I rinse it and dry it in preparation for the next batch I need to filter.
However, after the last batch of the season, I can't do that, so I just soak it in water to get as much out as I can, cook down the results, and save that in the fridge for personal consumption. Of course it has a lot of niter in it, but I just let that slowly settle out in the fridge, and use the syrup off the top.
However I've noticed that there seems to be a slight bitter aftertaste. Is this is due to boiling it with so much niter in it? If so I guess I might need to try to do something else with it - maybe see if it's better as sugar? Or hopefully this is just due to the fact that it has only settled for a day or so, and there is still some niter floating in the syrup. Even so, I'm concerned that if it sits in the fridge all year long, with half the jar being niter, that taste will get into the syrup if it's not already in it.
Does anyone know if this is a reasonable concern, or do I just need to wait long enough for all the niter to settle down, and then the flavor will go away?
GO
2016: Homemade arch from old wood stove; 2 steam tray pans; 6 taps; 1.1 gal
2017: Same setup. 15 taps; 4.5 gal
2018: Same setup. Limited time. 12 taps and short season; 2.2 gal
2019: Very limited time. 7 taps and a short season; 1.8 gals
2020: New Mason 2x3 XL halfway through season; 9 taps 2 gals
2021: Same 2x3, 18 taps, 4.5 gals
2022: 23 taps, 5.9 gals
2023: 23 taps. Added AUF, 13.2 gals
2024: 17 taps
All on buckets