who's ready to make some maple syrup?

[thecfarm]

We have been only boiling about a gallon at a time too. Just becuse that's all we have been getting each day.  :   She did have about 3 gallons gathered from 3-4 days. She had a deeper pot that she used,than when it got down to about a gallon,it went into the small pan so she could keep track of it better. Hope this week will be better. Wind is blowing.  :(

[JohnM]

Doing a boil now and the sap is running like mad! 8)  Put in three more taps for a grand total of 15 in 9 trees.  I'm thinking this week will be it so I'm getting what I can get.

Had a question for the pro's.  Plug or not to plug?  Do you guys fill/plug your tap holes?  And if you do with what kind of wood? (meaning does it have to be maple?)  I've read/seen/heard pros/cons for both.  I didn't plug mine last year, some are half closed up and some don't looked closed at all.

[thecfarm]

Glad your is running like mad. Mine is crawling like happy.  : Not doing much yet. As I said,did better 2 weeks ago than now. But that wind is still blowing,it feels warm out. It's not a cold wind.Brought a digital thermometer. The glass candy one was broke. So had to buy something. And as you said,much easier. She is finishing off a batch now.
I don't plan on plugging mine. Seem like someone on here said not too.

[GAB]

Got my best sap run of the year today.  It averaged just a smidgen above a gallon of sap per tap.
Checked 3 different pails for sugar content and got readings of 3.9, 3.6, and 3.7.  For me that is very respectable.
JohnM: I have never plugged a tap hole yet and do not plan on starting any time soon.
As an FYI: I've been involved in sugaring for over 50 years and have never seen my grand parents, uncles or my dad plug a tap hole ever.
Gerald

[Chuck White]

Sap was running really good until midafternoon today.

Sky was completely overcast and the sap all but quit running!

We gathered this morning and again around 5:00PM and gathered around 850 gallons.

With the 850 gallons + what we had already, we boiled all day and ended up making 23 gallons of syrup!

Tomorrow (mid-morning) we'll start bottling up in gallons, halves, & quarts!

Then see whether the sap will run again or not!

Whew, what a day, bed will feel good tonight!

[Chuck White]

We'll go to the sugar house a little later on this morning and bottle-up most of the syrup we have on hand!

That job goes pretty quick, just seems tedious!

[Chuck White]

Well, so far, we've made 40 gallons of syrup!

[thecfarm]

Well, as of now, we've made 4 pints of syrup!
That my small scale sap boiling.  ;D  But boy it's mighty good. And than some!! Still not getting any huge amounts. Only have 10 taps,but get 3 gallons a day???

[JohnM]

Sap storage was (is? :-\) becoming a problem so I saw-all'd the top off a barrel a friend had given me last year.

 

And between yesterday and today it's over half full! ;D

 

This is what we've got so far

 
...minus the stuff we've eaten, what's in the syrup dispenser and we gave a pint to a neighbor.  Nears as I can tell we're getting around a 20:1 ratio, pretty happy with that.   Only problem is I'm going to be boiling more than I expected...there are worse problems to have. ;D ;)

Ray, I can't understand why your trees aren't running better. ???  Do they have full sun?  Down in a hollow?  This should be prime time with the cold nights/warm days.

[thecfarm]

Yep,full sun. Most are first in line. The sun shines bright on the trees at high noon. But most are not much bigger than a foot across too. No hollow. But we would be in the storing part too if we had more.

[thecfarm]

 

 

This is just about the area,just a little to the right,but it's all cut the same way.I am up by the house taking the picture,than the driveway,than the trees that you see. I think we might have a tap in that tree on the far right.

[Chuck White]

We gathered just over 500 gallons of sap last night, so we'll boil it all down today.

We should draw off 10 - 12 gallons of syrup today!

[Chuck White]

Made another 12 gallons of syrup (med amber) today, then gathered sap again and got just over 400 gallons, so we'll boil that down tomorrow!

Mud is getting quite common around here and it's raining right now.

Sometimes when it rains, the mud will stiffen up!

[thecfarm]

Man oh man oh man oh man.I could not take it any longer. Temptation did me in. Finishing off some maple syrup in the house.Man oh man oh man oh man,there I go again!! That smells up the whole house!! That needs to be a scent with those so called candles.Wife made some biscuits. A biscuits,lots of butter and lots of maple syrup. In the microwave and I stood in front of the microwave with the door open and shoveled it right in,before I came too,to where I was and what I was doing. Man oh man oh man oh man,that is mighty good. And than some!!

[Chuck White]

Sounds like you're right into it Ray!

I think Maple Syrup is one of those things you can taste before you even open your mouth!  ;D

[21incher]

Man oh man oh man oh man.I could not take it any longer. Temptation did me in. Finishing off some maple syrup in the house.Man oh man oh man oh man,there I go again!! That smells up the whole house!! That needs to be a scent with those so called candles.Wife made some biscuits. A biscuits,lots of butter and lots of maple syrup. In the microwave and I stood in front of the microwave with the door open and shoveled it right in,before I came too,to where I was and what I was doing. Man oh man oh man oh man,that is mighty good. And than some!!

I did my first boiling in my garage with the doors open and I think the whole garage got a coating of maple vapor. 4 weeks later it still smells like maple syrup in there, every time I go out there my mouth starts watering and I get a syrup craving. I think it is addictive.

[MikeON]

I've been boiling sap on a sawdust burner. 

Sap boiling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcaGD9NLc2w

The burner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bda-S2-Lq2g

It has a 30 gallon burner inside a 55 gallon drum.  The outer drum contains the heat and holds the dishpan full of sap.  Usually get about 3 gallons of syrup from 9 trees.  The burner starts out real hot and gradually tapers off. Burns about 5 hours on sawmill dust or planer chips.

[thecfarm]

Looks like a good idea.

[Permaculturist]

We're getting about 5 gallons of sap per day from 10 taps right now, and we're cooking it down on an open fire.  This is our first year collecting sap.  Most of our trees are still on the small side for tapping, but I've been looking into tapping saplings under vacuum using "sap caps".  I did a few tests with a hand vacuum pump, and got just as much sap from a topped 1.5" sapling or a 1.5" branch stump as I do from a 10" tree with a spile in it.

[Chuck White]

Half-gallon a day is good, but when it really runs, I've seen it fill and even over-run the bucket!

You should be able to make some good syrup!

[JohnM]

Nice work, Perma!  Fun ain't it! :D

We put up another gal (+a half pint) of syrup yesterday and have enough sap for at least one more gal.  Leaving the taps in for now but can imagine we'll see much more judging by the forecast.

I meant to mention this book earlier in the thread/season. ;D  "Backyard Sugarin'" by Rink Mann.  It's a small little book, about 90pgs, over half is which is showing different evporator ideas.  He preaches keeping it simple and cheap! ;D  It was really helpful for me last year.  (...better late than never, right? ;D :)

[Gregg Huffman]

What's the best way to store maple syrup? I made a gallon of it and wondered how long it would last in the fridge.

[thecfarm]

How much freezer space you got? Could freeze up 3 quarts and leave one quart out.
Could can it too. But don't know the in and outs of it.

[Chuck White]

Canning syrup is most likely the simplest canning job there is!

1. Get yourself adequate number of jars with lids and some new seals!

2. Put your syrup in a pot on the kitchen range and bring it to a boil.

3. Jars all clean!  Pour syrup into the jars and put the seals and lids on them!

4. Let the jars cool down, then put them wherever they are to be stored.

DONE !

The easiest and fastest way to preserve it is to place the jug of syrup in the freezer!
It will get might thick, but it won't freeze solid!

If you have any syrup that get a light mold on the top, don't throw it out, pour it into a pot and bring it to a boil and skim the stuff off the top and re-can it!

[Gregg Huffman]

Thanks guys!