The “stuff” on the bottom of the jar is called “sugar sand”. It does not negatively effect the finished liquid gold but does look “questionable” to anyone who doesn’t know–so if you gift it to someone it is best to eliminate the sugar sand/sediment appearance. Sugar sand is created/formed at around 218-219 degrees–right at the end. Can’t get around it without filtering unless you do not cook it up to that temp–not finished.
Here are some “tricks” ( right or wrong) that we do in the finishing process.
1. It is best to use a hydrometer ( designed for maple syrup processing) to get the finished product right and consistently right. Although 219 degrees is the “correct” finished temp–it is not as accurate, on a consistent basis, as the hydrometer. Testing as you go with the hydrometer–maybe starting testing at around 217 degrees.
2. The best small operation filtering tool is the felt/wool filtering bag sold for this exact purpose. It is cone shaped and sold at all the maple syrup supply places. I suggest if you are ending up with over 15-20 gallons of finished liquid gold in each batch, you get a small filtering press–expensive but needed to do bigger volumes at one time with a lot less mess/work. The wool filtering bags work fine for finished batches of 3-5 gallons. They plug up and need cleaning after that amount goes through them. Having 2-3 of the bags makes the job easier though…
3. do not cook the sap down to the 219 ( or finished mark on the hydrometer) before filtering. Filter it at about 217 degrees ( at the 30 mark on the hydrometer) Take the 217 sap out of the cooker and put it in buckets ( white buckets work best–reason to follow). Let it sit/settle for 24 hrs. in a cold place. Clean out the cooker and then pour the unfinished stuff back in–watching closely to NOT pour the gunk/black sludge on the bottom of the bucket back in. ( easier to see the black gunk/sludge in a white bucket) The “settling” step makes filtering easier in the end.
4. bring it back to boiling/finished status and filter it through the bag or press. We add ONE beaten egg to every gallon ( example–5 gallons = 5 beaten eggs. Add beaten eggs after the stuff is boiling and the egg will float to the top and cook–absorbing lots of the microscopic stuff. Scoop out all the egg stuff you can before filtering) of boiling sap at this point and leave the egg in during the WHOLE time/final boil.
5. clean the cooker once more and add the finished filtered liquid gold back into it. Bring it back to about 200 degrees and bottle. DO NOT bring it back to a boil or you are over cooking and creating MORE sugar sand again. ( sugar sand is created at around the 218-219 degree level.
This is the process we have used for over 40 years to get nice clear/clean liquid gold. If I left you with questions/confused–call me at the number below.
… …rrr
… …rrr
