|
The Official Maple Syrup Thread 2011
I'm sure some people are close to starting and many other planning for the next month, so here's the official Thread for this year.
This will be my first year for syrup and the family is pretty excited! We have a new farm with about 10 acres of beech-maple forest. It's mostly steep gully, but we have a fair number of sugar maples near the top and close to the house. First question I have: What's better, setting up the evaporator near the house or near to where most of the trees are? I have more questions, but I want to post a picture of my planned evaporator pan first. Chris |
I'm glad you started this. I'm going to try and tap a couple of trees at our place this year. I've never done it before so I'm just going to wing it!
Does anyone else make their own taps? How do you make them? What type of bucket do you use to collect the sap? A friend of mine here locally just attaches gallon ziploc bags to the taps somehow. I haven't seen how she does this so I'm not sure how that works exactly..... |
where do you want to spend hours tending the fire? in the bush or near the house?
|
I would rather like to try this. We only have two trees, but it should yeild a quart or two of syrup.
|
I can't wait!!
This is going to be my second year sugaring and I've changed things around a wee bit from last year. Hubby built me a proper shack (out in the woods) and cleared paths to about 10 more very mature maples. I use a homemade open fire pit type thing for evaporating and this year its bigger so should go faster. For collecting I use 5 gallon pails with lids, it works great. I collect in 50 gallon reused olive barrels with a screened cut out on top to pour the sap in. Then I've added a spout on the bottom of the barrels to drain the sap when i'm boiling. I can't wait! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Place here on CL is selling out the taps and buckets with covers. That was posted just a few days ago. I think there were 93 taps and 100+ buckets. I was thinking of getting a few buckets just to have. I use a 2.5 gallon plastic container, plastic taps and clear tubing. I tap 2 to a tree no more and do 9 trees. 40 gallons of sap makes about 1 gallon of syrup. Conatianer swere originally used for soap for a car wash. Has its own carry handle and 2" screw on lid. Washed out and cleaned well they have been great. Fire on sap should go 24/7 until boiled down to correct thickness. Lots of water in sap.
|
Yep its just about time!! Gonna try a new evaporator setup, last year we did it over an open fire and the syrup definitely had a smoky aftertaste.
One thing that did work well for me was the use of homemade plastic spiles... I just took 1/2" pvc , cut into 4.5" lengths, tapered one end and put a small notch in the top to hold a bucket (or a wire wrapped around a 2-liter bottle!). Worked great! The sap started flowing down here last year on February 20th.... |
My open fire evaporator worked really well, I managed to build it so that the smoke was actually drawn away. While you could taste the smoke a bit in the syrup, it was lovely. And I probably wouldn't win any contests for color ;)
Our sap started flowing early March last year. And actually for my first time sugaring I hit it pretty bang on. Tapped my test tree and the sap started flowing a couple days later. I've been worried it wasn't going to get cold enough here to get warm enough to get the sap flowing but the temps have finally dropped. Now i'm paranoid i'm going to miss the start of the season, lol. Can you tell I really enjoyed my first season? Loved getting out in the almost spring like weather, visiting my trees on the 4wheeler with the wagon banging along. Or walking because the 4wheeler wouldn't start..lol. At least this year the sugar shack will be warmer then the open barn. I just hope the smoke wont be an issue. |
Quote:
Quote:
- probably doing between 25 and 40 taps, bought 25 plastic buckets spiles and lids - have an 85 gallon plastic barrel for storage - plan to build a concrete block arch, still hoping to find some firebrick or cheap enough ceramic insulation - was given a 2' X 4' stainless steel pan, not originally designed for syrup, hoping to use it as my primary pan. only issue is it is 2' deep! - have a smaller 16" X 16" pan I'm going to try to use as a secondary. I'll be ladling between the two. Hoping to construct some sort of angle-iron and sheet metal thingy so the pans can nicely share the arch But the question is: should I build the arch near the house (probably 100' from the nearest tree) or near the trees? I could build the arch right in the forest in the middle of the trees and save myself a walk (about 5-10' into a gully too). But, if I'm boiling all day and I work from home, wouldn't it be nice to boil near the house? That would involve more movement of sap and firewood though. Any thoughts? Chris |
I fear my time in Kentucky is slipping away! I haven't tapped any trees yet and I just know the weather is going to just turn on me and I won't get much this year. With that being said, it looks like a good week ahead so I hope I can at least tap a few. I know that my 10 year old won't forgive me if we don't make some syrup because he likes to make it maybe more than he likes to eat it.
Many will know this as a fact because it seems to happen year after year, but as soon as I tap a tree all else in life will come to a screeching halt because the bug will have bitten and I will see nothing else than sap being wasted if I don't get it boiled down to syrup. I hope everyone has a great year and I am looking forward on reading all of your experiences! Happy |
Quote:
My prefrence is to have the eveporator within walking distance to a bathroom, and close enough to have electricity, and running water. ALso, if you can shelter the evaporator from the wind that wil help a lot both with your comfort, and keeping the heat on the pans Another thgouht is put your 85 gallon tank in your pick up or on a trailor. drive around collecting sap, then back it right up near your evaporator. Another thoguht is buy tubing. connect all the tres together, and run the tubing right to your storage tank |
Ohhh...I love reading this thread. It gives me ideas and I can see when it will be available in my area usually.
|
How well do silver maples work? I hear they give less, but still a good quantity.
|
It seems like it will be forever before we start tapping again! We need to get a pan to boil it down in....anybody have any good suggestions?
|
I purchased a 6 inch depth stainless steam table pan last year. unfortunately I was unable to use it due to a move but am looking forward to this year. I do it will be better than the turkey fryer pot I used in prior years.
|
Quote:
There is about a 8' wide path between a paddock fence and the forest edge. We probably have to go about 200' to the middle of where most of the trees are. I have a hay wagon I could use, but there's not a lot of room to turn it around and I wonder how much fun it will be to use when everything gets muddy and wet. I also have a small dump cart for my lawn tractor but I don't think the 85 gallon drum will fit in it. I might be lugging pails of sap back and forth for the first couple runs until I get a better way figured out. Chris |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
We just got back from DisneyWorld and still have 18 inches of snow on the ground.
I suspect we will get a few more storms before we are ready to tap~~~~~~~ Always a busy and fun time! |
there are trends but no specifics that say a silver maple has to have lower sugar content than any other maple. in general, sugar and black maples produce 3-4.5 percent sugar, red maples produce 1-2.5 percent sugar and silver maples produce .5-2 percent sugar.
however, fertilization and canopy size of the tree can lead to higher sugar content no matter what type of maple it is. i have made syrup from nothing but silver maples and it was awesome. moreover, the one batch was a very light syrup which should be an indicator that the sap had a high sugar content...it didn't take as long to cook so it didn't turn dark. the only downside i have noticed is that silver maples make lots more sediment than other types of maples do. what silver maples may or may not lack in sugar content, they make up for with sap production. my experience tells me they give more sap than red maples do. |
This will be my first year. I'm hear in Kentucky. Not sure when to start? ? This past week it was warm for two days and then the weather is supposed to get cold again. The highs in the hight 20's to mid 30's. HELP WITH WHEN! ! ! Don't want to miss out. I've built my evaporator/fire area and everything.
|
our local Agway sells the taps cheap, and I use plastic milk jugs to collect the sap
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Anyone warm enough to tap yet? I'm in KY and it's getting close. One day it's 50 the next it's only 30, so I'm not quite sure how to time it. This is my first year. I'll be evaporating in 6" deep large stainless steam table pans.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
I'm still looking for a bulk source of those 2.5 gallon plastic buckets.... I used a hodgepodge of plastic containers last year, would like to unify the operation a little bit. I only ran about 20 taps last year, I'l probably double that this year. Oh and I'd like to give a shout out to Willis Woods and his maple syrup/cider farm up by Springfield Vermont. We stopped by, he was generous with his time, gave us a little tour of the cider/syrup house and the rest of his farm. Been in their family since the late 1700's! It was great to see how the professionals do it! |
Quote:
Once it started getting dark, it pretty much quit, which is what I expected. We'll see how much I get tomorrow..... I do have a question about cooking it down though.....I cooked down the gallon I got today but I messed it up (like I said, it's my first time!). It didn't burn, but I did end up making maple candy rather than maple syrup LOL. I know hot syrup is thinner and runnier than cool syrup so I was just guessing and obviously guessed wrong. How do you know when it has cooked long enough without overdoing it? I did add a little water and dissolved the hard sugar and then cooked the water back out of it. Was just an experiment to see what would happen. I didn't overdo it the 2nd time, but I think it's still too thin. |
it will be thin. real maple syrup never gets thick like king syrup and such.
if you don't monitor the boil with a thermometer or test the syrup with a hydrometer, about the only way to know when it is in the ballpark is to watch the bubbles. i have noticed that the boil will start to "climb the pan" when it gets close. watch the size of the bubbles. when the bubbles grow from @ the size of peas to the size of a dime or nickel, the syrup is about ready. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Good luck. |
Quote:
I think I will start tapping on Wednesday. :bouncy: |
I am washing up my 4 buckets tonight and going to tap in the am. Only 31 tomorrow but mid to upper 40's the rest of the week. This is kind of early for us but looks like a good little run. Temps back down to low 30's for the weekend but I should have enough sap to work with if we get some cold days, a stock pot on the wood stove isn't the fastest way of going!
|
Quote:
i usually end with closer to one pint from 5 gallons of sap. i would say that you probably need to finish it longer or get a proper thermometer to help you along. a cheap candy thermometer will work fine. one problem with making small amounts is that when you get to the finishing stage, you may not have enough to cover the bottom of the pan...or at least not enough to allow you to properly finish it. it will burn really quick if you are not careful. i wouldn't even consider making syrup without at least 5 gallons of sap. another hint...something i THINK i have noticed, lol, is that if you shake the syrup in a jar and you notice swirlies, you probably need to cook it a bit more. |
Its prety warm here too, but there is soooooo much snow it wont let the trees warm up anyway. The temps are suppose to drop back down to freezing for next week again.
IM still not gonna tap till around March 10th. ..maybe the weekend before. Gotta see how much snow is still up against the trees. Right now Im just organising in the sap house. |
Our temps have not been good this year at all. Unusually mild winter. Already day time temps are high, and this is the first night below freezing for a while. Not sure its even going to get below again. :(
|
I want to buy some maple syrup this year and I seem to remember that someone was taking orders from other members last year. Am I right? Michiganfarmer would that be you? If so I would really like to buy some and if I'm wrong I'm sorry and maybe one of you could guide me in the right direction.
|
i should be sugaring right now, but i just don't have the energy to do it myself this year. my work schedule won't allow for work, sugaring and sleep, lol.
we had a good warm-up, but i think it is going to get a bit too warm towards the end of the week. typical story for my part of the world. but if you live in the south central pa, maryland and wv areas, now might be a good time to tap. |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:23 PM. |