Maple Syrup; another cool thing to do with wood!

[rustyold36]

David it seems we both have exactly the same goals for this operation. yes my pan is small but it will boil all the sap I collect in two days down in just a few hours . It is just starting to get efficient when I run out of sap to boil

[spaco]

We made syrup for 10 years in a small hobby operation, too (30 to about 50 gallons per year).
Since Bill is still looking for “morsels”, here’s my $.02:
http://spaco.org/ms.htm

and:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H36FFo-xk-g

Pete Stanaitis

[dbaillie]

That Jim has to be a universal truth… Out of curiosity just how much syrup are you “southern” maple guys producing from an average tap? On a good year I can only produce 1 liter so that puts me at 3.7 taps per gallon… from the sounds of it you and Pete must get rivers… Our season starts, then freezes up then may or may not start again… looks good so far for part 2 of the season. We get a definite colour and taste change in part 2 of the season though. I prefer it some people no…

[dbaillie]

Pete I love that video. At a puplic Hotspot I think I watched it 3 times last year. You need near perfect control of your sap flow, a reservoir system for sap and stable fire temp though. I like a compromise of trickling in preheated sap to about an inch of concentrated stuff for faster evaporation. I don’finish in the boiler because I built it into the fire box and can’t slide it off…
Ps at 50 gallons you have left the world of "hobby " and joined the world of “side venture”
Best regards David Baillie

[rustyold36]

David my average seems much lower than yours. this year I had 32 taps on 14 trees and yielded aprox 4 gallons . jury is still out last of it is cooking now. I would say 75% came from 5 trees while others proved fruitless. So on an average it took me about 8 taps per gallon. This year our season was really broken up. We had a few days here and there over a couple month period, nothing steady. This is only my second year and I have no real taps or buckets. I have been using copper tubing for spiles and coffee cans for buckets. On good days I have had buckets overflowing and fallen off on the ground empty. Much room for improvement. All in all I am happy. I have zero invested and enough syrup for myself and my daughters family’s. I hope to get some real equipment and expand to the other side of my creek where the majority of my mature maples are. I don’t get back there much because I don’t want my dogs thinking it is ok for them to go there, They go everywhere I go.

[dbaillie]

Hey Jim you can’t beat free… If you ever want to spend some money the plastic taps for the tubing system are only about 30 cents a piece. One of those, 2 ft of tubing for another 30 cents and a used food grade white bucket with a lid and you are in business. I have 50 of the old school aluminum buckets taps and covers but plan on doing the setup mentioned above if I go bigger. A friend of mine does it that way and only visits his taps every few days…

[BillSchiller]

I went with the plastic taps this year in hopes to invest in buckets and tubing next year.
I collected 46 gallons Wed and Thurs cooked it down for 1½ gallons of syrup for a total of 3½ this year. My goal was 1 gallon. I started with a dozen taps and ended up with 32.
I learned a lower heat will make a light amber syrup. High heat will burn the sugar on the sides and make the syrup darker. I think if I can drop it in at the rate it evaporates it would prevent the burning. This also means the pans need sit on the fire and not in it. So much learning this year and get rewards for doing so. Next year I will at least double my evaporator with a minimum of 4 times the taps.
What a great way to anticipate spring and summer!
My intention is to bring a couple pints to Argos this year. I say intend because my remembery malfunctions sometimes.

[dbaillie]

Its that time of year again!
Only 20 taps this year. Its off to a slow start. Its still too cold at night for good sap production. Only 40 litres today hardly worth firing up the boiler but the girls were excited. The boiler is in the greenhouse this year on a cement slab. The early spring humidity is good for waking up the raised beds.

[BillSchiller]

So far I have 80 bags hung. I hope to do another 160.
It’s been a little too cold so far to get any real amount.
It sure is nice your girls get to learn. Good bonding time they’ll always remeber.

[dbaillie]

That’s awesome bill! I just don’t have time for more wish I did

[Handy_Andy]

Recently went on a family outing to the Kalamazoo nature center for a maple syrup outing. Hiked through the woods and learned all about it. Most stuff I knew, but one interesting bit was that you can make syrup from just about any tree. One fellow made syrup from walnut sap. reported nice nutty flavor. (go figure)

[rustyold36]

My granddaughter and I hung 2 dozen bags last Saturday. Was running good then but not really warm enough when the sun don’t shine. Could be go time any day now though.

[rustyold36]

Wow Bill you are going to be a busy man. You must have a huge wood pile.

[dbaillie]

A perfect Friday night.

[BillSchiller]

David, I have sap/syrup envy.
I’m hoping to start boiling next week.

[BillSchiller]

Jim, I sure hope it keeps me busy. My neighbor tapped 300 trees last year and made 39 gallons of syrup. I’m hoping to make 20-30 gallons. Nature will determine the outcome.

[dbaillie]

It wasn’t up to temp yet but it’s working well…

[rustyold36]

Do either of you have a figure of the wood used to make a gallon of syurp. It has been two years since I made any. I think at that time I figured with my setup the wood used had a higher value than the syurp produced. I only make enough for my family and gifts for friends. I do it because I like to get out and do something in the spring and for the time spent with family by the fire.

[BillSchiller]

With my evaporator, I think I used under 1 cord of wood to make 13 gallons of syrup.

[dbaillie]

One cord of what bill?