Cloudy sap and cleaning tanks

[VT_K9]

We have a power worx battery powered pressure washer. We have two collection/pump points in our woods. Each has a stainless tank. I will scrub the tank each time as the sap is being pumped. Then I used a 5 gallon bucket of hot water with te power worx sprayer to rinse and then srub and major areas I missed during the scrub during pumping. I also wash areas around the tank to help keep the area clean.

As far as color/cloudy/odor goes I pay attention to it. Should the sap be offensive then I will weigh the options (I haven't experienced this). We normally get to smelly sap/syrup during the boil. When it smells like dirty socks we finish the container we want to fill and call it a season. There are faint hints of the odor from the raw sap, but it is not bad until concentrated and boiled.

I don't want to sell bad syrup, but I know some people want the really dark and odorus syrup so I finish the one container then call it because it's likely not worth the fuel to contiune to boil.

Mike

[ennismaple]

Ennismaple, thanks for letting us know about the dewalt pressure washer. That's a great idea! It makes it easy to do remote cleaning without having to bring the gas powered pressure washer and a large water source. I can see this being very handy.

No problem. I cleaned all 3 electric releasers and one tank with it yesterday and it is handy. It doesn't generate a lot of pressure but is enough to get the equipment clean. The check valve that goes into the bucket wants to float so I added a couple of stainless washers and secured them in place with a zip tie to force it to sink in the bucket.

[Brian]

The dewalt pressure washer works good to rinse barrels too!

[ADK_XJ]

We have a power worx battery powered pressure washer. We have two collection/pump points in our woods. Each has a stainless tank. I will scrub the tank each time as the sap is being pumped. Then I used a 5 gallon bucket of hot water with te power worx sprayer to rinse and then srub and major areas I missed during the scrub during pumping. I also wash areas around the tank to help keep the area clean.

As far as color/cloudy/odor goes I pay attention to it. Should the sap be offensive then I will weigh the options (I haven't experienced this). We normally get to smelly sap/syrup during the boil. When it smells like dirty socks we finish the container we want to fill and call it a season. There are faint hints of the odor from the raw sap, but it is not bad until concentrated and boiled.

I don't want to sell bad syrup, but I know some people want the really dark and odorus syrup so I finish the one container then call it because it's likely not worth the fuel to contiune to boil.

Mike

To the "dirty sock" smell you reference, that's the point I hit this weekend...I tried to squeeze one last batch out of my head tank of concentrate, which was cloudy but smelled fine. UNTIL I finished it to density and then it smelled like I was boiling rats. Gross.

I dumped all the remaining concentrate and think I will make maple sugar with what I drew off for myself (I'm one of those who likes the really, really dark syrup because that's all we had when I was a kid in VT).

Re: Stainless, yeah, I only put in concentrate in stainless tanks for that reason but, for ease of use and transport, I use IBCs for collection and those are an absolute PITA to clean.

[ADK_XJ]

Ennismaple, thanks for letting us know about the dewalt pressure washer. That's a great idea! It makes it easy to do remote cleaning without having to bring the gas powered pressure washer and a large water source. I can see this being very handy.

Last season, I got their battery heat gun. It's not as powerful as my plug-in heat gun, but handier because it's battery powered.

I think I missed this post...I love Dewalt tools, I didn't realize they made a battery powered pressure washer. That would be a game changer for me.

[Ghs57]

Re: Stainless, yeah, I only put in concentrate in stainless tanks for that reason but, for ease of use and transport, I use IBCs for collection and those are an absolute PITA to clean.

I bought a 12 inch lid and ring for my IBC totes. I cut away the 6" opening and installed the 12" ring and lid. It makes cleaning so much easier. Some people just cut the tops off of them, but that would not work for my transport tank. The one you need to get depends on the tank you have. some can take the 12", but some can't. I had to buy a couple of different types since my tanks were manufactured by different companies, and the flat area around the top lid varies. You also need a good tank brush and handle so you can scrub the sides. I got a stiff Sparta kettle and tank brush for that. Both of these are on Amazon and other places if you do a search.

[SeanD]

To the "dirty sock" smell you reference, that's the point I hit this weekend...I tried to squeeze one last batch out of my head tank of concentrate, which was cloudy but smelled fine. UNTIL I finished it to density and then it smelled like I was boiling rats. Gross.

I dumped all the remaining concentrate and think I will make maple sugar with what I drew off for myself (I'm one of those who likes the really, really dark syrup because that's all we had when I was a kid in VT).

Re: Stainless, yeah, I only put in concentrate in stainless tanks for that reason but, for ease of use and transport, I use IBCs for collection and those are an absolute PITA to clean.

Me, too - though I only got down to Dark 44% with it. The flavor was unquestionably buddy - burned Tootsie Roll. It's too bad. The tanks got cleaned and the trees are still cranking out a good run. Oh, well - devil's share. I'd be interested in that buddy sap test kit when they work it out.