The forecast for tomorrow, 7/19/2020 is 97F, way too hot for me. Next week looks better, low to mid 80’s. I’m waiting for a day in the 60’s to low 70’s so I can pack more dark syrup. I haven’t run out yet, but I’m getting real low, both for online sales and at my local retail outlet. Cool weather, come on!
I used to pack syrup in temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s but that has proven to just be too hot because when I pack syrup I need to heat the batch to about 190-195 to filter it again (it was heated to 205-210F when it was originally pumped into the stainless steel barrel). Then it gets pumped into the bottler which is held at 185-187F during the bottling process. Setting in front of that for the 3-4 hrs it takes to fill all of the bottles and jugs that it requires to pack a full barrel of syrup just catches up with me before I get finished. My grandson used to help, but Uncle Sam has his full attention in the US Navy for about 4 more years. I likely should get an AC to cool the sugarhouse but I’m fighting it. I would need at least a 24,000BTU to cool it, maybe even bigger. Most years the longest I need to wait has been 7-10 days, this year we have been over 80 for more than 30 days in a row, and over 12 of those days have been 90 or higher. A day or two in the 60’s would please me right now, I actually have to pack a barrel of dark, a bourbon barrel of aged syrup and I’m getting low on Amber too.