Looking for way to store hydrometer between tests that is clumsiness proof

[HowardR]

All good suggestions. I've broken many, learned the hard way. We use a coffee thermos. Works pretty good

Thank you, 77 Maple, your idea of using a coffee thermos is brilliant! I have a stainless steel Coleman coffee thermos that I'm not using. It is 9" high with an opening diameter of 1.6 inches at the top and a diameter of 2.5 inches wide at the bottom. It would make a good stable place to put the hydrometer in between tests, and it would be easy to wash afterwards. Here's Amazon's picture of it:



The utensil drying rack that I ordered a few hours ago from Amazon is 3" wide in diameter and 5" high. I think that it would also work. It's wider, which could cause a problem, but it's also less high, so it could be easier to place the hydrometer in it without breaking. Also, with it hanging from the inside of a pot or sink, there's less chance of me knocking it over with the hydrometer inside. Here's Amazon's picture of it:

51P5mVyiFFL._AC_SX679_.jpg

[buckeye gold]

I have used the thermos method for years. I put hot sap in it and it keeps the hydrometer hot and clean. I will change it out at least a couple times a day.

[steve J]

That thermost idea shown above is brilliant! Love this mapletrader site,

[maple flats]

My hydrometer cup sets on a shelf year round, behind a counter. On top I have a soft PVC cap that came on some thing shipped to me in a 2" tube years ago, I just had to make a cut out for the handle, so the cap sets nicely on the hydrometer cup keeping anything from getting in.

[bill m]

This is what we have been using for about 35 years. Haven't broken more then 3 or 4 in all those years. 15831846642091863621508.jpg

[Trapper2]

I store my Cup and Hydrometer in a bucket of hot water next to the Arch.

[HowardR]

This is what we have been using for about 35 years. Haven't broken more then 3 or 4 in all those years. Attachment 21102

Bill M,

That's a great hydrometer holder! It certainly protects your hydrometers, and it makes it easy to take them out without breaking them. I'm starting to finish off a batch of syrup today, and here's my new hydrometer in its new utensil drying rack:

HydrometerInHolder.jpg

[HowardR]

The 304 Stainless Steel Utensil Drying Rack that I bought from Amazon is working. It protects my new hydrometer from the ways I broke my last two:

1. It is deep enough, but not too deep, so I don't have to hold the hydrometer from its top tip when placing it into its storage container. (I broke my first hydrometer when I dropped it into the hydrometer cup while holding it from its top tip.)

2. It keeps my hydrometer safe from breakage between batches. (I broke my second hydrometer when I put it on a plastic mat next to the hydrometer cup, and knocked the cup over onto it.)

The left side of the picture below shows it hanging in the finishing pot between tests, and the right side shows it hanging to dry from the edge of my stainless steel sink between batches:



Hydrometer2Positions.jpg