Quote Originally Posted by Swingpure View Post
Thanks for the good wishes and advice.

I am very excited for the season to really start, excited for the first boil, first finish and the first bottle of grade A syrup. I do have a little ominous feeling of too much sap all at once, but I do have storage for 350 gallons.

There are still the unanswered questions of how much concentrate my RO will produce an hour and how many gallons an hour my evaporator will actually boil, but I will adjust my plan for whatever they are. And there is the little thing about the art of finishing the sap into syrup.

I do plan on enjoying the journey, I had a giant smile on my face when the first drops of sap flowed down the lines.

I have prepared myself the best I could, now experience and failure and success will help me learn more.

My big improvement for next year will be a modest, but functional, permanent sugar shack. We will see if I desire a bigger pan. I think there are some advantages to the steam pans, but that will be a lesson I learn.
7F above the boiling point of water is a pretty good rule. Boil a pot of water each day and adjust your target, as it will change with atmospheric pressure changes.

Better is a float cup and hydrometer. Put it in slow so you don’t drop it. Keep it clean between tests - I keep a Thermos full of hot clean water to store it in, keeps it clean, hot and safe from breakage.