We made Grade A Golden syrup again this season. 2023 was the first season we made Grade A Golden. It’s exciting to make this quality of syrup. There should be two more milk cans of Grade A Golden. The early season sap it always the best, but it still takes quick processing and careful monitoring while cooking to achieve this.
The new equipment we mentioned a few days ago it a new bottler with a water jacket. A 12 gallon tank for syrup is surrounded by a larger tank. The space between is filled with water. An electric heating element warms the water. The warm water then heats the syrup in the smaller tank through conduction.
We had to figure out how to use it and integrate into our workflow. We filled the water tank with too much water. We used 10 gallons. 1.) It took too long to heat: two hours. 2.) We added hot syrup when we turned on the heater because we thought the 3000 Watt heater would quickly heat the water. It didn’t. The cold water cooled the syrup so we waited for the water and syrup to warm. 3.) When the water did heat, it expanded and boiled over. The tank has a clear tube to view the water level. Water erupted from the tube. The lesson is use less water and heat the water before adding syrup. There isn’t any direct heat on the pan to burn it. The heating element only needs to be covered with water.
The water jacket holds the syrup at a consistent temperature. No more micro-adjustments on the propane burners trying to regulate the heat. Another clear tube shows the syrup level in the tank allowing us to better manage how many more bottles we need. Finally, there is a thermometer that shows the syrup temperature. We’ll learn more adjustments to better utilize the new bottler as we gain experience with it.
Low 40s overnight with some rain. The day started foggy, but cleared to partly cloudy by afternoon. Warm and windy. High 50s. Tonight’s forecast is high 20s to low 30s. Next week forecast’s look more favorable.
Into the woods by 8:00 AM. Bottled 22 quarts and 8 pints. Back to the farmhouse by 2:30 PM.