Category: 2020: Season 103 Page 4 of 6

R/O. Radio. Rain. Quite the melody of sounds today: the R/O pumps were whirring, the radio picking up static and the rain pelting the tin roof. It was cloudy all day with the temperature in the low 40s. Rain started at 2:30 PM.

Into the woods at 6:30 AM. R/O going by 7:30 PM and finished by 11:30 AM. Five batches in the milk can. The day.

Batch Time
1 8:50
2 10:50
3 12:15
4 2:00
5 3:15

Concentrate in tank
8.5” 12:00
6.5” 1:00
3.5” 2:15
1.5” 3:00

Planning to finish by 3:00 PM, but checked the syrup in the pan. Close enough to take off so it wouldn’t burn or crystallize overnight. All 670 gallons cooked now.

Rain this afternoon. Turning colder. Rain may turn to snow.

Back to the farmhouse by 3:30 PM.

Started snowing at 5:30 AM. By 10:00 AM we had 2”. As the day progressed the weather warmed causing much of the snow to melt. Stayed cloudy.

Into the woods at 6:30 AM to prep for cooking. Started the R/O by 7:30 AM. Could tell right away it wasn’t working. The permeate flow-rate was too high and the high pressure gauge wasn’t even reaching 200 PSI. No visible leaks. Tried flushing with water. Checked the permeate. It had sugar. That’s bad. Pulled out the membrane and found the problem: The U-cup O-ring on the bottom of the membrane did not come out with the membrane. And the cap that fits on the bottom of the membrane was punctured. We noticed the U-cup was loose when installing the membrane. Put on some food grade grease to seal it. That was a mistake. It should have been replaced. It didn’t seal the membrane in the vessel. The fluid flow likely caused the membrane to spin wearing out the cap.

Fortunately we purchased a new membrane before the season. Fetched it from the farmhouse to install. First we had to remove the vessel get the old U-cup out. Fortunately that went well. Never had it apart before. Then flushed about 200 gallons of water through the new membrane.

Started the R/O at 11:00 AM. Watched the sugar content, flow rate and pressure carefully. Soon the Brix started climbing. Went to 6° Brix. Pressure held about 350 PSI and the flow rate looked even better the with the old membrane.

Even with the late start at 11:00 AM we cooked through 325 gallons of the 670 gallons. Out goal was always to cook half today and the other half tomorrow. Just a later start. Instead of finishing at 1:30 PM we finished at 5:30 PM.

Back to the farmhouse at 5:45 PM.

670 gallons of sap. 2 Brix. Checked the woods at 12:30 PM. By 3:00 PM when we started collecting pails were fuller. Done collecting my 6:00 PM.

Overnight it was 35. Trees likely dripped all night. Sunny and 40 today. Tomorrow, cloudy with rain showers.

Plan to cook half tomorrow and half on Thursday.

Into the woods at 2:15 PM to light the burners on the finishing pan. Wanted to try another batch. The new, fresh filter aid (DE) arrived today. This DE is white. The other DE was pinkish. Mixed in 2/3 cup per gallon. From the get go it behaved differently. It did not clump. It sank into the syrup. Mixed easily. The next test was how it when through the pump. Perfect. One hand again for the complete batch. Next was how the syrup looked in the bottle: crystal clear for the complete batch. The theory is improper storage of the DE. It was stored in the farmhouse but in the original bag, not a sealed container. It may have absorbed moisture from the environment over the years. Maybe not enough to feel or see the difference but enough to foul the filter papers when used.

Two milk cans done. Two more remain. But we do have two empty and another with only one batch. We could handle about 1000 gallons of sap.

29 overnight. Cloudy and 35 today. But the ground was colder. Ice didn’t melt and ground stayed stiff. Trees had a positive 8 PSI but the trees didn’t drip much. Tomorrow is forecast as 40 and sunny. Hoping we can collect.

Back to the farmhouse by 5:30 PM.

Into the woods by Noon to get syrup heating on the finishing pan. We had four milk cans of syrup and needed to try to bottle. One milk can had finished syrup that we twice abandoned bottling because it wouldn’t go through the filter press or it was cloudy while bottling. That was can was our goal. Since it was already at proper density we had to blend in sap so we did not get over dense which causes crystallization in the bottles. Did not add filter aid either because the syrup already had filter aid mixed in.

Syrup was ready by 1:15 PM. Brought fresh filter papers from the farmhouse to eliminate the chance the papers in the woods had absorbed moisture from the steam generated during cooking. The papers were stored an unsealed plastic bag, not a sealed container. They could have absorbed moisture.

Filtered the entire batch using only one hand on the pump. That’s how it should go. The next test was getting through the bottling pan without turning cloudy. Monitored closely while filling and every bottle was clear. A big sigh of relief.

The variables were fresh filter papers and less filter aid. We’ll need to evaluate the amount of filter aid. The composition of syrup this season may just need less.

Cold overnight 25. Sunny and 36, but didn’t start melting until after Noon again. While the air temperature was 36, the ground temperature was colder. Tree pressure did reach 15 PSI so sap is moving in the trees.

Back to the farmhouse by 4:00 PM.

Into the woods by 6:30 AM. Goal was to cook through the sap we collected yesterday. Washed pans and the concentrate tank. Tried to get the R/O going by 7:30 AM, but had to repair hose running to the water holding tank. It developed a crimp just above the fitting on the valve panel.

R/O ran from 7:45 AM to 1:50 PM. That left 9 1/2” of concentrate to cook out. Seven batches into the milk can.

While cooking looked at the filter press. Filled the finishing pan with R/O water and lit a burner to heat it. Then pumped hot water through press. Cycled through several times to get a good amount of hot water through it. Pumped normally. When we finished the filter papers were clean. No sugar build up. This verified the mechanical part of the press is working fine.

29 overnight. Cloudy and cold all day. Air temperature may have reached 34, but the ground stayed frozen. Tonight’s forecast is 21.

Back to the farmhouse by 5:45 PM.

We seldom mention current events here, but this is COVID-19 virus, also know as cornavirus, is sweeping around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it pandemic. It has symptoms similar to the flu but can be 10x more deadly. Started in China. Iran and Italy were hit hard. There are several thousand cases in the US now. Many schools, sporting events or any large gathering are being canceled to help stop the spread. We feel safer here at the farmhouse. We are not immune but this its more isolated so less change to spread.

Collected 500 gallons tonight. Checked the woods at 12:45 PM and were surprised to find full pails. The past days were cloudy and rainy but there was 7-10 PSI on the pressure gauge so sap was moving.

The stainless steel milk can arrived It actually arrived Monday but was dropped at a door we don’t frequently use. The order status said it was delivered Monday which promoted use to check that door.

28 overnight. Sunny and windy with high of 40. But the wind kept it from melting under after Noon.

Started collecting at 2:45 PM. Back to the farmhouse by 5:30 PM.

Problems again bottling today. Monitored temperatures closely. Started the hand pump for filtering as soon as the filter aid was mixed in to minimize temperature drop off. The hand pump again got very difficult to use halfway through the batch. Abandoned filtering with 2 gallons remaining.

Bottling started okay. Watched temperate carefully to hold between 195° and 200°. The first 6 or 8 bottles were clear but then started getting a little cloudy. After filling 12 bottles it was too cloudy and we abandoned bottling again.

Called our equipment dealer to discuss. They are sending a different type of filter aid (diatomaceous earth.) Apparently different brands are made slightly differently with respect to particle size etc. It causes a different chemical reaction with the syrup.

We are also tying a hot wash of the waffle plates from the filter press. There are small holes in the plates. Its possible sugar built up in the holes and blocks some of the syrup. We’ve had the filter press for 19 years. It seems sugar build up would have impacted it years ago. We have to find a solution. This is frustrating.

35 overnight. Cloudy with drizzle and 40 during the day.

Problems bottling again. The filter press did not push through all the syrup from the milk can. Its a hand pump so it takes physical effort to work the lever. It got hard to pump and we had to give up with about 2+ gallons in the finishing pan. The theory is the syrup got too cool in between mixing in the filter aid and pumping through the filter press.

We had about 5 gallons through the press and into the bottling pan. The first 11 quarts we crystal clear, then abruptly turned cloudy. The temperature was 200°. The theory is this was too hot for too long in the bottling pan. We have to strive for 190° and stay under 200°. We’ll try again tomorrow.

Nothing has been easy this season.

2” of snow overnight. 33 for the temperature overnight. Cloudy and 40 today. Tomorrow’s forecast is rain again.

Into the woods at 2:15 PM to get the finish pan going. Back to the farmhouse by 5:30 PM.

Froze hard overnight. Temperature was about 28 but with the wind it was colder. After yesterday’s rain the freeze created a coating of ice on everything. Ladder to tanks, tank covers, valves, collecting tank cover, flaps for steam on the coopla: all iced up. A hammer tap broke most of the ice, but we had to be careful on the ladder. Didn’t start to melt until after Noon. Trees tried to drip, but not much happening.

Because of the ice it took longer to get the R/O going. We hoped for a short day, but that didn’t work out. It was 9:00 AM before the R/O was going. Finished at 11:30 AM. Four batches into the milk can. Done cooking by 2:30 PM.

We planned to bottle again. But another valve problem. This time with the propane tank. The regulator (a type of valve) failed. Tried lighting the burners to wash out the syrup pan. Got a small fireball because the regulator was releasing too much propane. That regulator was about 45 years old so it served us well. But when things fail as we try to use them, it sets our work back. Got a new regulator this afternoon, but too late for bottling. Try tomorrow.

Snow forecast for tonight: 1”-2”.

Into the woods by 7:15 AM. Back to the farmhouse by 4:45 PM.