Very Dark Syrup

[Flatlander]

Hey all. Hope everyone is doing well. I just finished out 10 gallons of syrup. It is very dark. Not sure whats going on. I have always had problems making lighter syrup with this rig, my old flat pan always made golden syrup. Anyone else notice their syrup is dark or is it just me!

[Russell Lampron]

It could be the piggy back. Some evaporator sizes with piggy backs and steam aways are difficult to make lighter syrup with. Some of the producers in my area are making dark syrup this season too and it could just be the sap this season. I built an air injector for evaporator and all of my syrup has been medium so far. An air injector could help in your situation if it is the piggy back.

[heus]

I usually make light or medium but this year all 160+ gallons have been dark amber.

[KevinS]

Mine has been coming off much lighter than I prefer. I know the lightest is the "best" but not to my taste, I prefer it a little darker

[Flatlander]

Russell

Have often wondered what 30 gals of preheated sap might do as opposed to some of the preheaters that use pipe to preheat and maybe hold a couple of gallons. At the end of a session, I drain that pan all the down at the end of the night. I would assume the steam still "burns" the pan a little bit. Its the only way I have ever used the pan. I do have an air injection system for this but I have never set it up. If I ever get a full time sugar house, I might consider it. Do you drain your piggy back out with each boil session? Whats your boil rate with your rig?

We also burnt the front pan several years ago. Cleaned out pretty but warped badly. Thought this warpage might hold the sugar longer than it should in the depressions of the pan.

Talked with a friend up near Sheboygan the other day. I bigger producer up there was complaining of dark syrup as well.

Kevin, want to trade dark for light?

[Russell Lampron]

Russell

Have often wondered what 30 gals of preheated sap might do as opposed to some of the preheaters that use pipe to preheat and maybe hold a couple of gallons. At the end of a session, I drain that pan all the down at the end of the night. I would assume the steam still "burns" the pan a little bit. Its the only way I have ever used the pan. I do have an air injection system for this but I have never set it up. If I ever get a full time sugar house, I might consider it. Do you drain your piggy back out with each boil session? Whats your boil rate with your rig?

We also burnt the front pan several years ago. Cleaned out pretty but warped badly. Thought this warpage might hold the sugar longer than it should in the depressions of the pan.

Talked with a friend up near Sheboygan the other day. I bigger producer up there was complaining of dark syrup as well.

Kevin, want to trade dark for light?

I don't have a piggy back just a steam hood with pre heater on my flue pan. I was having a problem with dark syrup because of how high I concentrate with my RO. The sap in my flue pan was already syrup colored when it entered the front pan. I built the air injector last season and it made an immediate difference. I boiled 4 times this season and the sap in my flue pan is still clear.

My evaporator does about 40 gallons per hour. My front pans are warped as well, I have 2 front pans and they both got burned bad on the same side. When you are boiling everything keeps flowing but I'm not sure about the sugar staying in the wells. I'm thinking that the warpage will create hot spots that can burn again.

[Flatlander]

Russell

Sorry, I thought you meant you were using a piggy back as well. My injection system is set up for the piggy back. Why does the air injection system keep your sap clear? It s been a long time since I read up on using these.

[Russell Lampron]

Russell

Sorry, I thought you meant you were using a piggy back as well. My injection system is set up for the piggy back. Why does the air injection system keep your sap clear? It s been a long time since I read up on using these.

With concentrated sap from an RO or piggy back more nitre is released from the sap in the flue pan than when boiling raw sap. When you boil raw sap it is typically at 8% when it goes into the front pan. When it is concentrated with an RO it can be in the lower 20's going into the flue pan and much higher going into the front pan. I'm not sure what the percentage is coming out of a Steamaway or piggy back but it is high enough to create more nitre in the flue pan which makes the sap in the flue pan darker. What an air injector does is blow air directly down to the bottom of the flues to keep the nitre from settling and burning which keeps the sap from changing color. I also run the air injector in my front pan and have noticed that my front pan is staying cleaner too. My filter press clogs up a little quicker but the lighter syrup is a good trade off.

[MapleMounder]

Flat,

I just finished off and bottled our first 6 gallons for the season. The syrup is darker than normal for this early in the season. The sugar sand seemed to be abnormally abundant too, like twice what we would normally have. It was also dark not the normal almost "silicia sand" color. Don't know what that means. We filtered through 6 prefilters and a final and it came our nice and clear.

MapleMounder

[WI Sugarpop]

We've boiled twice now and both were very light. We're right at the beginning of the season and only collected about 10% of our expected sap so far.