2007 Official Maple Syrup Thread.

[bill not in oh]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

At the end you will hear Solomon the Turkey

So Bob... have you taught Solomon [ROFLMBO] how to stoke that fire? could come in handy around Thanksgiving.....

[seedspreader]

Originally Posted by bill in oh

So Bob... have you taught Solomon [ROFLMBO] how to stoke that fire? could come in handy around Thanksgiving.....

You know, he has a bad attitude about things like that.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

It's an option on www.photobucket.com.

It's not as cool as yours, but it works... LOL.

I mean how did you transfer the video from your camera to the computer?

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by FreightTrain

i gave up on boiling it outdoors for now.... need to experiment more..

i did boil down 5 gallons indoors which produced 2.5 half pint canning jars of the most delicious caramel tasting syrup ive ever tasted

It sure is fantastic stuff. Im addicted to everything about maple syrup

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

It's not as cool as yours, but it works... LOL.

Ya know, making syrup is fun anyway its done. Its a beautifull time of year to be in the woods, or anywhere outside for that matter and syrup is such a fantastic product, lol.

The only reason I have a bigger operation is I thoguht it would be great fun making money doing something I love doing anyway, and it is. I am just extatic every spring. I lie in bed at night and chuckle to myself about how something this fun shouldnt be legal.

If I could I could convince my brain of God's existance, (my heart wants my brain to believe) I would thank him for such a wonderfull sweet treat, and a wonderfull time of year.

[Aintlifegrand]

You know I am so jealous of you guys...well I found out the reason that the sap won't run here even though i have a bunch of maple trees is because once it is in the 50's in the day it never goes below freezing again...so I will have to visit family up north if I want the experience . One other question, who sell's their excess syrup on the forum. I buy it all the time at the stores, but would much rather buy from HT folks than others.

[seedspreader]

Originally Posted by Aintlifegrand

You know I am so jealous of you guys...well I found out the reason that the sap won't run here even though i have a bunch of maple trees is because once it is in the 50's in the day it never goes below freezing again...so I will have to visit family up north if I want the experience . One other question, who sell's their excess syrup on the forum. I buy it all the time at the stores, but would much rather buy from HT folks than others.

Mad Max does... er... I mean MichiganFarmer.

He should have it up on the barter board in a few weeks I would imagine.

[ripcat-ranch]

Originally Posted by michiganfarmer

If I could I could convince my brain of God's existance, (my heart wants my brain to believe) I would thank him for such a wonderfull sweet treat, and a wonderfull time of year.

Go with your heart!! I did in 1994 and haven't looked back!

[Aintlifegrand]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

Mad Max does... er... I mean MichiganFarmer.

He should have it up on the barter board in a few weeks I would imagine.

Thanks

I will watch for it...

[ripcat-ranch]

I tired of not being able to boil because of the weather so decided to bottle up what we had so far.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by ripcat-ranch

I tired of not being able to boil because of the weather so decided to bottle up what we had so far.

thats light syrup. Its tough to get light syrup over an open pan on a wood fire.

[ripcat-ranch]

The syrup is really good. Everyone in the family believes that it is much better than what we did last year. We really enjoy the whole process from cutting the firewood to eating the french toast. I wish we could do it for profit but with only red maples it would not be feasible to do not to mention we have sold the land and are moving to Kentucky. Hopefully we can make some there as well. I will send some pictures of our set up the next time we boil.

[seedspreader]

So max, you running up there yet? And dog gone it did you get your tank repaired?

[ripcat-ranch]

We finally got some sap.......30 gallons to boil tomorrow! It's just to bad the temps aren't going to cooperate tomorrow as it isn't supposed to get above 30.

[RedneckPete]

Sap ran like crazy today. I'm not sure why. Last night we has a fairly major snowstorm, and lows around -8C. Today the high only hit +1C, but it was nice and sunny. I got about a 2 liters (half gallon) of sap per tap.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I'm not complaining.

Pete

[MELOC]

i stopped collecting two days ago when it was 70 degrees. i went out to check everything today, but the sap that ran was frozen and i couldn't empty the jugs. hopefully it will thaw a bit tomorrow and i will evaluate the trees for buds and decide if i can still collect. i see some bud swell in some trees, but not in all. no full-blown open blossums yet. time will tell if i can continue.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by Aintlifegrand

You know I am so jealous of you guys...well I found out the reason that the sap won't run here even though i have a bunch of maple trees is because once it is in the 50's in the day it never goes below freezing again...so I will have to visit family up north if I want the experience . One other question, who sell's their excess syrup on the forum. I buy it all the time at the stores, but would much rather buy from HT folks than others.

the sap has to run up to the buds sometime. The sap is what give the buds the energy to open.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

So max, you running up there yet? And dog gone it did you get your tank repaired?

The hole is about the size of the factory bung that drains the tank so I came up with the idea to trim the hole nice and round, an just put another bung in it. My dad bought a new bung friday. I havent put it in yet. The temps have dropped down to below freezing, and arent suppose to come up untill Tuesday. Then they arent suppose to freeze at all untill next weekend. I might be up a creek this year.

I finished tapping saturday though. I might have spent a week tapping for nothing,lol, or at least for very little. I guess I need to buy a vaccume pump next year. A vacume pump will pull sap from the trees even when it doesnt freeze at night.

[MELOC]

it gets expensive real fast, lol. i was hoping to sell a little syrup and help pay for my $300 pan. i only made 2.5 gallons so far. all my neighbors are grateful to receive free samples of soap and syrup...but they are to cheap to buy anything, lol.

i noticed that the price of syrup at my local mennonite butcher shop has increased by $1+ to just over $7.50 per pint. i guess that reflects the increase in fuel costs during the last year.

[ripcat-ranch]

This is what we start with.........not the traditional flat pan set up but does work well during the summer to steam lobsters!!!!


As we near the end we switch one barrel to a flat pan........




We boiled 22 gallons and got 1 quart and a pint of syrup. We are just a bit jealous of those of you who have sugar maples!