Thanks everyone for your hydrometer/hydrotherm suggestions. Maybe some day I’ll go the Murphy Cup route but not yet. I took my last batch too far it seems, and made some very thick ‘robust’ syrup. I usually take it off over and thin down to 67 brix as well, but somehow didn’t end up where I wanted to be. I might pick up a hydrometer and play around with it to see if it works any better than the hydrotherm for me.
2024 200 taps & a rebuilt arch and 2x8 raised flu evaporator
2020-23 85-167 taps shared with a neighbour
2019 41 taps on 3/16 line, 2x6 oil tank evaporator
2018 10 buckets, neighbour's homemade 2x3 arch
Well, it smelled a bit off while boiling.. but mostly had a woodsy smell like late season sap has.. but maybe because it was a small pot vs my full pan it didn't seem to be as bad as it was.Originally Posted by Galena
The smell, and notably the taste, were really gross once the batch cooled down to room temp.
Normally near end of the season, around week 4, I'm testing the collection barrel each day and emptying to my head tank in order to avoid contaminating a whole batch. I think I've been wise to do that in the past as I haven't had bad syrup since then (with the whole operation running I mean.). :-)
Last edited by paulslund; 04-12-2024 at 09:02 AM.
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2023 -30 trees -24 vacuum, 6 buckets. ~1,845 L sap; Syrup count: 49.25L
2022 -30 trees -24 vacuum, 6 buckets. ~1,530 L sap; Syrup count: 48.65L
2021 -29 trees -23 vacuum, 6 buckets. ~1240 L sap; 34.5L of syrup
2020 -30 trees 32 taps. ~900 L sap; 27.1L Syrup.
2019 -27 trees 31 taps. ~725 L sap; 22.2L Syrup.
2018 -19 Trees 20 taps. ~750 L sap; 18 L Syrup
2017 -4 trees 4 taps. ~60 L sap; 1.5 L Syrup
Woodsy....huh the couple times I boiled bad sap, it smelled like swamp water pretty much right away. Glad you were sensible enough to boil it separately from your other batches.
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
Does anyone know of stainless steel welder around Lanark (Balderson, Perth, Carleton Place ) area?
Mano-Steel , Frankville
Hi Robert, I think he's moved closer to Kingston. There was an ad on Kijiji last year for someone making syrup pans in Balderson but I never wrote down the contact info.
There's a young guy in Fallbrook that was at the summer tour last year that is doing SS laser cutting and welding. I'll have to find his contact info for you.
4,600 Taps on vacuum
9,400 gallons storage
3 tower CDL RO
3.5'x14' Lapierre Force 5
Twitter & Instagram: @ennismaple
www.ennismaple.com
That would be awesome, thank you. I did find out that Mano-Steel moved to Brockville but that's still an hour and a half away for me since I live closer to Lanark.
Caleb Bosman, 613-315-8202
4,600 Taps on vacuum
9,400 gallons storage
3 tower CDL RO
3.5'x14' Lapierre Force 5
Twitter & Instagram: @ennismaple
www.ennismaple.com
Thank you so much for the info.
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