coryjoaquim

*also as a side note, i was ready to throw the batch away but my friend who brought over the rock wool in the first place said "well, its only made of rocks so i dont think it is poisonous at all" which is why i thought i would find i third party to chime in before i dump the syrup...

as far as i know it was regular rockwool. it didnt burn per se, but blackened, smoldered and gave off a noxious fume right by the door (this firebox is seven feet long and hot hot hot!) which is why we tried to remove it. only a few smallish tufts (think the size of a dime) fell into a vat of over 30 gallons of boiling sap, which we tried to find and skim out. taste aside, if the fibers are filtered out will this be hazardous to consume? i realize the ridiculousness of this situation and that you fellas are not experts on this subject but it seemed the best place i could find on the internet to ask. i'm also inquiring in real life to real people who may have more expertise. thanks! cory

*meant to type "strain out all the little fibers with a cloth filter..."

i just used to rock wool to plug up a big hole at the top of the furnace door where it connects to the base my home made maple syrup evaporating pan. after about an hour the rock wool began to burn and stink to high heaven, so my friend and i began trying to carefully remove it without burning ourselves in the intense heat. unfortunately numerous tufts of rock wool got away in the draft and flew into the boiling sap! we skimmed off all we could find in the steam, and now that the fire has died down i can see that there are lots of little strands of rock wool floating in the half finished syrup. my question is this: if i strain out all the little fibers in the cloth, am i risking anyone's health by serving them this maple syrup? i know i may have jeopardized the flavor of this batch, but is there any reason to worry that tiny amounts of rock wool might be toxic if ingested?