Odd sugar odor?

[Ben King]

my first season and I have as much syrup as I really want so last night I reduced my latest batch of sap to sugar after which it acquired an... ODOR. I can’t hardly describe it, slightly toasted, slightly papery (?) but the sugar tastes fine. The sap and syrup didn’t have an off odor as I reduced it and even now the pot of syrup dregs smells fine. The sap was out during some warm temps and was a bit cloudy but nothing that I would have guessed should be concerning. Any thoughts or more info i could give to clarify what’s happening?

[Daveg]

We should handle/treat our sap the same we do milk: shelf life of 10 days if held at 35°F. Cloudy sap is an indication of bacterial growth and the boiling concentrates their activity. My guess is that if your sample was clear, you would not have had any off taste, though there are myriad other sources of "off" tastes, such as using reactive containers, containers that had contaminants, and environmental sources in the air, utensils, etc.........

[tbear]

To me, making sugar doesn't smell good. The odor, to me, is much different than the wonderful aroma off finishing off syrup. As long as the sugar tastes good I'd consider it (the odor) as par for the course. Ted

[Sugarmaker]

Make another batch of sugar from different syrup. See if you get the same results?
Regards,
Chris

[maplwrks]

As Tbear said--making sugar does not have the most pleasant odor. Much different than syrup! If you were ever around a facility that makes sugar, you might not want to eat it! You will have that "toasted" odor. If It tastes good, that is key!

[wnybassman]

I am glad I ran across this thread. I made sugar for the first time today and thought the smell was a little weird, but it seems to taste halfway decent. Sounds like this is fairly normal.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Maplewrks That is so true in Ft Morgan Colorado there is a sugar beet factory and 2 blocks down wind is a restaurant and last year on a trip back east my grand kids both hurled from the smell. I don't remember the sugar cane factory in Hawaii as being all that inviting either.