Bird Poo!

[Sugar]

We gathered 90 gallons of sap and cooked it most of yesterday. We left it steaming overnight. This morning there were 3 bird feathers floating on top of the syrup and a small bit of bird poo in it. I was able to scoop it out easily. I didn't know if we continue finishing, at those high temps, if the syrup would be safe or we need to dump it all.

[johnallin]

We gathered 90 gallons of sap and cooked it most of yesterday. We left it steaming overnight. This morning there were 3 bird feathers floating on top of the syrup and a small bit of bird poo in it. I was able to scoop it out easily. I didn't know if we continue finishing, at those high temps, if the syrup would be safe or we need to dump it all.

Maybe it’ll taste like chicken

[ecolbeck]

Maybe it’ll taste like chicken

Super helpful

I’ll eat almost anything, so if it were me and if the syrup is only for personal use I would just scoop out the poop, reboil and filter.

[Pdiamond]

I agree, re-boil and filter. You'll kill anything bad in it by boiling and filter as normal.

[buckeye gold]

well I guess you could cook the sh!t out of it. If it's for personal use then it's your choice, but if for anyone other than you, dump it and learn to protect your pan. I think it would be safe, but I wouldn't let anyone else have it.

If your pan is still steaming you can suspend a cover a little above it to allow steam to leave. I cover mine after cooling every boil. I am assuming your outside, right ? I have left mine overnight if hot, but I am inside and shack is bird proof. If still steaming some, a block of 2x4 wood on side across each corner to hold my cover up. I have a piece of coated masonite for high moisture areas I lay on top of it. They sell some that meets USDA/FSIS requirements, but it is expensive. I have had mine for probably 5 years.

[johnallin]

Super helpful

I’ll eat almost anything, so if it were me and if the syrup is only for personal use I would just scoop out the poop, reboil and filter.

Super helpful? Apologies but I was being sarcastic...my fault for not being clear.
OP is making a food product, boil it all you want, but you're just increasing the ratio of bird sh#t to syrup.
Probably kill most of the germs, but it's still going to taste like chicken. <grin>

Covering your syrup either while storing or processing is basic Maple 101 stuff, for that very reason.

[Sugar]

We have the evaporator on a covered porch, but guess will have to rig something up to protect it. The first time I ever saw anyone tap maple trees, they were using open buckets and there was bird poo in some of those. It was a Mennonite farm and I am sure they just strained it, but I wanted to see if it was safe to do that. My syrup wasn't finished yet, so has a lot of boiling left.

[Sugar]

Thanks! How high above your pan is your cover? Would that be food safe, if the steam hits the masonite and drips back into syrup?

[buckeye gold]

When it is cool my cover goes right on the pan and pretty much seals it shut. I do my best to never cover a steaming pan. Again in a shack your pretty safe from most animals if you've sealed up openings. The masonite coating is safe as far as I know, it's advertised formaldhyde free and wash safe, thus meets USDA/FSIS requirements. Ideally a steam hood is best but a sheet of stainless steel would be next. You can get inexpensive SS for kitchen backsplashes that would work. Maybe you could rig a tent for cool down. It could be off the pan by a lot if it just protected from foreign matter from falling in. If a solid cover just slope it and condensation will run off. Your cover should be wider than the pan.

I am curious what others do that don't have steam hoods. This thread made me think about this more. Maybe I'll just pick up a piece of SS since my cover is getting some age.

[ecp]

Dump it out and start protecting the product. Lesson's learned the hard way are generally not soon forgotten.