In the sugarhouse

Four calculators for the evaporator and the finishing pan.

Sap to syrup#

How much syrup a tank of sap will make. Type the gallons and the Brix.

It uses the Jones Rule of 86, revised for the density you finish at (the rule becomes 87 at 66.0 Brix and 88.1 at 66.9). Change the finish density under Settings on the Calculators page.

Hydrometer correction#

What your hydrometer should read at the temperature of your syrup. Type the syrup temperature and it gives the reading that means you are at your finish density.

A float reads low in hot syrup, about 0.05 Brix for every degree above 60 °F. The table is the manual's Table 8.2, the same one on the Leader and CDL prints. Below it, the same correction for a sap hydrometer, which is calibrated at 38 °F.

Thinning heavy syrup#

How much water, sap or concentrate brings heavy syrup down to the density you sell at. Type how much syrup you have, its Brix now, and the Brix of what you are adding.

Enter the syrup's true Brix: if you are reading it hot, correct the reading first. Add slowly and check again; creeping down is easy, boiling back up is not.

Draw-off temperature#

Today's draw-off temperature where you are standing. It moves with the weather, so check it each day you boil.

1. Tap Fetch from my location and the app reads your elevation from your device's location.
2. Tap Refresh the weather for today's barometric pressure.
3. Draw off at is 7.1 °F above whatever water is boiling at, which is what the old trick of boiling a pot and reading your thermometer measures.

Below the answer, Pressure trend shows the last 24 hours and the next 24, with the draw-off temperature on the same chart, so you can see whether it will rise or fall through your boil.

It takes about four hours behind a front to shift draw-off by 0.2 °F, so an hour-old reading is a good one.

FAQs