Showing 301 – 310 of all 693 resources in the database
As part of the Food Safety on the Farm series, a collection that reviews the generally recognized principles of GAPs as they relate to produce, primarily at the farm level and with particular focus on fresh Florida crops and practices, this publication provides an overview of GAPs.
To ensure safe food and adequate sanitation programs, the equipment used for processing and handling food products must be designed, fabricated, constructed, and installed according to sound sanitary design principles. This ensures the equipment can be adequately cleaned and sanitized, and that surfaces are resistant to daily exposure to corrosive food products and cleaning/sanitizing chemicals. Equipment that does not meet basic sanitary design principles, or is installed or used improperly cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized.
The sugar maple borer, Glycobius speciosus (Say), a long-horned wood boring beetle, is a common pest of sugar maple (the only known host) throughout the range of the tree. Although borer-caused mortality is rare, infestations lead to value loss through lumber defect caused by larval galleries, discoloration, decay, and twisted grain.
In recent years isopropyl alcohol (IPA) sanitation was proposed after the sugar season to significantly reduce the microbial load and start the next sugar season with a sanitized system. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential leaching of chemical compounds found in plastic polymers used in maple sap collection system tubing.
Many producers use a filter press, which uses a pressure pump to push the syrup through a series of metal plates and frames, separated by single-use pieces of filter paper which capture the particles and result in crystal-clear syrup. For smaller producers, however, using paper and cloth filters and letting gravity pull the syrup through is an acceptable and far less expensive option.
To ensure that your maple syrup is the best it can be, filtering out contaminants before packing is critical. Using paper and cloth filters to do so is an acceptable and inexpensive option.
Should I use 3/16″ or 5/16″ tubing? One of the first questions maple producers face when deciding to tube (or retube) a sugarbush is whether to use 3/16″ or 5/16″ tubing. This article explains some of the general rules that can be helpful in narrowing down the pros and cons of each approach.
Sugar maple, an abundant and highly valued tree species in eastern North America, has experienced decline from soil calcium (Ca) depletion by acidic deposition, while beech, which often coexists with sugar maple, has been afflicted with beech bark disease (BBD) over the same period. To investigate how variations in soil base saturation combine with effects of BBD in influencing stand composition and structure, measurements of soils, canopy, subcanopy, and seedlings were taken in 21 watersheds in the Adirondack region of NY (USA), where sugar maple and beech were the predominant canopy species and base saturation of the upper B horizon ranged from 4.4 to 67%.
A basic guide to tapping trees, collecting sap, and boiling.
One of the most important skills for sugarmakers to master is knowing when what’s boiling in the evaporator has become syrup. This guide to mesuring density explains the tools and techniques for accurate measurement.