0-80% Brix Meter Refractometer for Measuring Sugar Content in Fruit, Honey, Maple Syrup and Other Sugary Drink, with Automatic Temperature Compensation Function

I now have three of these: a 0-30, which I use to judge when to move concentrating maple sap to the finisher, a 55-95, which I use to roughly judge near-finished syrup and also honey, and now a 0-80, just because. The first two are easier to read due to the narrower range (bigger numbers on the recticle), but the 0-80 is quite usable in bright light (all three have an adjustable focus on the eyepiece for vision correction). I have a big 7” calibratable Leader Evaporator maple syrup thermometer that is highly accurate for syrup sugar concentration (219 degrees F = 67.5% sugar +/-0.25% once calibrated to adjust for barometric pressure) and I find both the 55-95 and the 0-80 to be pretty accurate (+/-1-2%?). Not quite enough for production, but great to figure out when I need to pay attention. They are robust little buggers though I’ve never dropped one. I’m sure the $250+ models are much more accurate. But for my uses and at this price point, these are great. I just wish they weren’t made in China!

This is soooo much easier for the small batch maple syrup producer! All you need is a few drops to check your sugar concentration from sap to syrup. Way easier, less expensive, and studier than a hydrometer and test cup! After checking, just the lens, dry with a soft cloth, and you are good to go. Love this!

Very precise and necessary bar tool. I like to control the brix of my cocktail syrups.

This product does a good job at getting close to your desired reading level. I use refractometers for making maple syrup. For my use I need a device for checking the sugar levels (brix) in the sap from the tree. This requires a device that reads between 0 and 10. With a 0-80 range it is hard to tell with any precision what the reading is at the bottom of the scale. As I boil the sap it will eventually cook down to syrup. The desired reading to know, for sure, that the sap has 'officially' become maple syrup is 68. Again, the 0-80 scale does not afford the precision I need. My recommendation would be to purchase 2 refractometers from this line. They make a 0-32 scale and a 58-90 scale. Both are much more precise than the 0-80 unit. Each of these is around $20.00.

Simple to operate, great value for the price

Very easy method for gauging when maple syrup is concentrated enough. It only requires a few drops of sap or partially boiled sap to get an accurate reading. Will read as low as 0% Brix which is distilled water. Maple syrup is ready at about 60 to 65% Brix. The sap before any boiling down measured about 1.5% Brix. Since you get the full range you can check at any stage to see how much more boiling away is needed. For example, if it reads 30% Brix you need to boil until it is twice as concentrated and half the volume. When taking samples of hot boiling sap with the eye dropper you do have to wait about a minute for it to cool down before measuring, but it did not seem to affect the reading accuracy much if the liquid wasn't exactly at room temperature. To avoid getting air bubbles in the thin area between the glass plates it seemed to be helpful to lay the top plate down slowly and to apply the right amount of liquid. If air bubbles do get in, it seemed easiest to just start over by wiping clean and applying new drops of liquid. It is easy to clean between readings. I wiped surfaces with a damp tissue followed by a dry tissue to dry. Highly recommended for small-scale maple syrup making.

works great i tried maple syrup this is required and very well priced

I use this for maple syrup making. I bought this one to replace another that I had misplaced. This one has a longer scale so even my sap (at 1-3) shows on the scale. Reading it might be a little clearer than my last one but sometimes it takes a couple tries to get a good reading. Personally, I use a plastic chopstick to bring the liquid to the glass plate then let it cook a couple seconds b4 flipping the cover. It definitely takes a while to learn how to read it but it’s better than spending several hundred on one of the digital ones. The outside of the case is rather cheap but the inside is very protective and cozy. The pipette that comes with it is cheap (you can get 100 for a couple bucks) and don’t use it for hot liquids! Ok, I should have known better. Just remember to calibrate it with DISTILLED water and a second calibration with olive oil is a good idea. Just an aesthetics thing but I love the blue colour for the eyepiece.

Very handy and easy to use device! I use it to measure brix for maple syrup and my honey. It’s very accurate, easy to use and easy to read. It’s a good quality, feels good and sturdy.

Fonctionne très bien. Très pratique pour le sirop d’érable.

I make maple syrup and have been doing so for 10 years, just as a hobby. But last year I bought this as I was in a friendly competition with a friend of mine. Using this I was able to refine my technique and I produced some real quality maple syrup. All I did was turn on YouTube and watched a couple of videos on how to use it and it was pretty simple. But the results last year from using this was 100% better. I wish I would have had this 10 years ago! Highly recommended…..even for the folks who just do it as a hobby.

Seems to work well and accuracy seems to be spot on. Simple to use

Works perfect! Highly recommended. Very easy way to know when our syrup was ready.