Central Ontario Tapping

[Run Forest Run!]

No sap today, so I'm decanting my first two batches and bottling them properly for long term storage. Long term storage. hahaha Who am I kidding?

[Galena]

Attaboy Al, get em hooked early...;-) He looks so happy, glad things are going well!

Still zilch-o at this end. Some frozen sap in the pails but leaving them there til this stoopid weather lets off. Thumb twiddling during sugaring season is awfully boring and frustrating.

And sadly I think my hydrometer is busted - I was trying to scrape off what looked like a slight line of residue at the bottom where the dye/mercury/ballbearings etc are...and though I don't see anything leaking out, things look all kinda muddied together, so I'm afraid it's a hairline crack. Doubtless caused from all the torpedoing it did last year. So think I will take that as a hint and just chuck it out, don't plan to replace it :-/

[BrutemanAl]

So my first batch I boiled Friday night is starting to turn to sugar, took it a little to far in the boiling process, can I add it to the sap I collected yesterday so it mixes with that and doesn't all go to sugar? Not that I dont mind maple sugar, but I was hoping to give the finished stuff to the boys so they can give it to their foster family. Or the sap I am boiling right now I can always just give that to them and just let the syrup sugar do its thing and use it in my coffee

[Galena]

So my first batch I boiled Friday night is starting to turn to sugar, took it a little to far in the boiling process, can I add it to the sap I collected yesterday so it mixes with that and doesn't all go to sugar? Not that I dont mind maple sugar, but I was hoping to give the finished stuff to the boys so they can give it to their foster family. Or the sap I am boiling right now I can always just give that to them and just let the syrup sugar do its thing and use it in my coffee

Al, go right ahead and decant that sugary syrup into some fresh sap and reboil! Adding fresh sap to fix an overcooked batch is perfectly normal, just like adding more water to a pan that's starting to boil dry when you're braising beef.

And when there's no sap left and you have crystallizing syrup, you can use distilled water instead, with a clear conscience ;-) Bahahahaahaaaa....*sorry still on first coffee of the day*

Actually Karen made a good point in another thread on sugar and syrup: ...If your syrup filtered nicely and is clear, don't reboil the syrup with sap or you'll create new niter and have to refilter. If you use distilled water to thin down your heavy syrup and heat everything up slowly to 190F (without having your syrup boil) then you can rebottle into clean jars.

Have fun with the munchkins!

ETA: Sorry if you've already posted the info about them, but how old are they? Are they brothers?

[Run Forest Run!]

So the sun is shining, but we are -3. The forecast is calling for a high of 4. Sounds promising for later in the day, but that's when the gusting wind is supposed to start. Wonderful.

. . . So. . . I've hauled all of my frozen sap storage containers into the house in hopes of thawing them out. Maybe I can boil them down to 'nearup' while the sun attempts to brighten the frigid landscape.

[Galena]

LOL and like always, Karen, we're at opposite ends of the spectrum...I've collected nothing for the last two days, even though it was +4 and sunny, cause the 20km N wind killed any chance of a flow. But starting later today we're getting SW winds, and they're meant to be going all night and we finally have a half-decent forecast for the next week. About freakin time!!!

[BrutemanAl]

SNOW

[NTBugtraq]

The other thing I'm struggling with is figuring out when to finish. Use my hydrotherm or my thermometer? I was boiling to 219/220 but my hydrotherm would say it's not quite ready. But I'm getting the sheeting and my finished product looks really thick going by my hydrotherm.

MSM, maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anyone suggest that perhaps your target number for the thermo hasn't been calculated properly. Every day you need to check the boiling point of water as near to where you are using the thermo as possible (e.g. beside where you're boiling the sap). Atmospheric pressure, caused by weather conditions, can change that normally 212F number into 210F or 214F. So find out today's number (I boil my thermo in a kettle, with fresh water every day), and then add 7.2F to it to get to minimum maple syrup brix point.

Also, there temperature corrections that should be done with Hydrotherms if your syrup is not boiling when measured. Fill your hydrotherm cup with boiling syrup, wait a few seconds for the cup to warm, then dump and take fresh syrup...then measure.

As Karen says, if it looks good, its probably good, but if you're thinking of selling any, you really should resolve the two measurements to your satisfaction so you know what you've ended up with.

[Big_Eddy]

Actually with a hydrotherm there are no adjustments needed for temperature. The Hydrotherm includes a thermometer and is "temperature compensating" while syrup is hot but not boiling (i.e 50-100C).

A hydrometer reading needs to be adjusted for temperature.

The March 20th ONMapleSyrup report has a good writeup on the subject. https://onmaplesyrup.wordpress.com/2...2015/#more-427

[MustardSeedMum]

MSM, maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anyone suggest that perhaps your target number for the thermo hasn't been calculated properly. Every day you need to check the boiling point of water as near to where you are using the thermo as possible (e.g. beside where you're boiling the sap). Atmospheric pressure, caused by weather conditions, can change that normally 212F number into 210F or 214F. So find out today's number (I boil my thermo in a kettle, with fresh water every day), and then add 7.2F to it to get to minimum maple syrup brix point.

Also, there temperature corrections that should be done with Hydrotherms if your syrup is not boiling when measured. Fill your hydrotherm cup with boiling syrup, wait a few seconds for the cup to warm, then dump and take fresh syrup...then measure.

As Karen says, if it looks good, its probably good, but if you're thinking of selling any, you really should resolve the two measurements to your satisfaction so you know what you've ended up with.

Thanks NT. Yes, I know the water bp can change day to day. So I do take that into account. And yes, as BigEddy says, I've got the hydrotherm which adjusts for temperature. I'm so glad for it. 1 less thing to worry about at finishing. It is always a chaotic event in my kitchen - finishing syrup.