Cloudy sap, dump it or boil it for maple syrup?

If your maple sap is cloudy and/or yellow, should you boil it down to maple syrup or dump it? It's a hotly debated question among maple syrup makers. In this video I compare the cloudiness and yellowness of varying degrees and explain my methodology behind whether to dump it or keep it. I'm still fairly new to maple syrup making so I'd like to hear your own thoughts on boiling cloudy or yellow sap. Do you dump it or boil it?

[@BlessedBaubles]

THANK YOU for more videos about maple syrup making. There's just not enough at all. Especially about the issues such as "cloudy sap"! I have gallons of cloudy sap and hate to throw it away! It's my first year, we got started late as it is, so we only made one small batch! After another cold snap the sap is flowing again, as I predicted. But not sure what to do about the cloudy stuff. I have read, over & over again that the real issue is whether the sap is bad or not and if it's bad we would know it right away. It would smell and taste bad. So for me, I'm going to boil and pray for more syrup. I am trying to filter the cloudy sap but much to my shock, it's NOT going through the filters! And what does go through still looks cloudy. What's left in the filter though is slimey feeling ?! If I could understand what's behind this, I'd feel much better. The chemistry of why. Does slimey sap just mean it's from hormones from the starting of buds? PLEASE make another vid! :)

[@BlessedBaubles]

I have a 5 gallon bottle of cloudy sap that I haven't got to do it's been sitting for a few days outside above 40'. It's slimy like you speak of. What happened with your's? Did it come out ok? I'd hate to boil for hours just to hate the outcome. Also, I didn't get to buy prefilters this year and my syrup is so sandy!! Hate that!! Any suggestions? I need some good filtering that doesn't rob half my syrup by being stuck in my big cone wool filter! I'm a small homemade syrup maker. No big business here. Thank you!! Thank you!!

[@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid]

Interesting. Thanks 👍

[@timothylongmore7325]

Mine gets cloudy... if I'm lucky. I try to focus on the starting to middle of the run. I remove the ice that forms and concentates the sugar. This doesn't happen every year but this year 2023 it did. If it's yellow , got storm water , or weather turned warm , chuck it. If you're going big time then , welcome to farming , cause some years stuff just don't work out. 2022 I didn't bother and I'm glad cause it was a shit year where I live. We ran out of syrup so my wife melted down the maple sugar we put up as needed.

[@sierrastevens505]

I agree thanks for the video

[@Theggman83]

Yellow sap is starting to ferment... Go figure, if sap is left to warm or out to long it will change color to yellow as the sugar ferments. Cloudy sap can still be used but probably only for grade B cooking syrup.

[@chrismenaul2771]

I always dump yellow or cloudy sap. Just would hate to ruin a quality batch.

[@sadlert]

Yellow sap is usually rain water stained by the bark of the tree. If you test it you will find it has a very low sugar content, in my case yellow sap usually has less than 0.5% sugar - I dump it.

[@lukeqstafford]

sadlert get outta here really? I've never heard of the rain-stain theory! Makes sense though. How do you test your sap for sugar content? I am going to pay attention to rainfall before yellow sap next time.

[@scottviers3794]

luke stafford You use a hydrometer. one for sap and one for finished syrup.

[@Theggman83]

@@lukeqstafford it's not rain water. That's ridiculous. 😂

[@eranorion]

Boil a small test batch of what you think is disposable. THEN you'll know for sure. It has to bee pretty cloudy AND taste/smell bad for me to dump. If its cloudy AND thick, dump it.

[@BlessedBaubles]

Sounds like nobody knows. Darn. Too bad there are no Andrea to the person who has slimy sap because that's what I've got. 5 gallon bottle I didn't get to boil as quickly as I wanted to. Should I boil or not? Can someone please answer if you really know? Maybe I'll ask the person with the slimy sap what happened. Ya. Sounds good.

[@bobswanberg2076]

Taste is the answer to your question. If it does not taste sour or bad as compared to the clear boil it

[@lukeqstafford]

Easy enough. Thanks for the insight, Bob. I like your style.

[@1oldteck]

I agree completely with Bob.

[@VintageVideos2009]

I feel tasting the sap is a more accurate way to determine if it's still good to boil or not. I don't normally get yellow sap however, unless it is rainwater or snow melt from the trees. If the sap is cloudy, and if the weather is warmer, like in the 50s during the day, tasting would indicate if it has gone bad or not. Here's a video I put together on the subject. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJu8imV3hKt8jpo

[@hondaxl250k0]

Yellow is more sap.. your throwing away your yeald.

[@1oldteck]

hondaxl250k0 I have never heard of that before. . It's the tree turning to full growth season. .. pardon me for not knowing the name of that and drying it brain fart, a lot of people call it fighting that the sap actually starts to taste like a bud a flowering taste, and at that point it's a decision if you want to keep it or not because of the taste I think it's still taste alright but at that point I'm really getting to the point where I don't want to keep pulling away from the blooming tree that needs its nectar of life

[@hondaxl250k0]

i tap January 30. and run till trees stop.. use it all. triple filter. people cant get enough.. then again its not hard to beat the taste of maple flavored corn syrup. happy tapping !!

[@PaulyV56]

higher sugar content

[@Theggman83]

No, yellow sap is bad. It's aged and starting to ferment.... Cloudy sap can still be used but it's probably gonna be grade B syrup and not very good.... And this is why I don't buy syrup from just anyone.

[@hondaxl250k0]

@@Theggman83 my friend. I’ve never heard one bad thing about my maple syrup. Your opinion

[@billschilling2877]

Dude the yellow sap is coming from a tree that has a higher sugar content. All you have to do is taste it

[@Theggman83]

That's ridiculous. Yellow sap is bad. Sugar water ferments.... That's what's happening. That's why it changes color.