Maple Syrupin

[GCJenks204]

@Ryan Browne I am glad to see you are getting help and able to get some syrup up. Can't wait until I am down there again and an pick some up from you.

 

[Ryan Browne]

@Ryan Browne I am glad to see you are getting help and able to get some syrup up. Can't wait until I am down there again and an pick some up from you.

Thanks Gary, we just finished a week or so of cold weather, so we had a nice break from the sap flow. It was great to be able to catch up and get things cleaned and readied for the main part of the season.

We started getting good sap again today, and we cooked for a few hours this afternoon. Looks like great weather for the next week at least. I'm very excited and hopeful that the weather cooperates and that we can make a lot of syrup.

 

[malk315]

Working our sugarshack today. Great day for Maple Sugaring

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[Johnmn]

 

[Ryan Browne]

Cooked for a few hours this afternoon. Had some great friends over to do all the hard work while I crutched around keeping an eye on things. Sap is really running great. Had some buckets that were full to the brim in 48 hours. Can't complain about that! The vacuum tubing is working really well, but we're constantly fighting the squirrels who like to chew the lines. A friend suggested a dog at every tree. I'm inclined to agree.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Here's a quick video of my good friend Jerome (also seen in the lift erecting the stack) feeding some firewood.

We stoke it like this about every 4-6 minutes opening each door alternatingly.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Even more good news: I just went and checked my tanks. My 260 taps on vacuum ran 3 quarts each in the last 5 and a half hours. That's coming in at a very good rate, and I'm hoping it runs all night.

 

[malk315]

Running like mad here too Ryan! We expect to be collecting up to 300 gallons of sap each night with the forecast. Perfect conditions -- no drought either with the snow we just had the trees will be able to gather whatever they want with their root systems etc.

When we are done with a bunch bottled I'll grab a case and then I'll need those who contacted me to remind me I'd be happy to ship a pint. We sell our pints for $12 each. If you want multiple pints I'd be happy to accommodate! We should have plenty to sell this year.

 

[Marshy]

Cool stuff guys. My wife decided we were going to tap trees this year and show our kids how its made (rather boring for a 3 & 4 year old lol). Then when she found we had 8 gallons of sap in a few days I think it began to sink in that this could be a fair amount of work since we are cooking it down with the kitchen range lol.

My neighbor has a sugar shack and around 1000 taps iirc. He's using tubes/vacuum and reverse osmosis before it reaches his boiler. Otherwise his boiler looks nearly identical to yours @malk315.

Have any of you guys drank the sap straight? I guess it's like the new coconut water craze, to drink maple water... Who knew.

 

[Marshy]

I should add, his might be a little larger but looks quite similar. Only significant difference might be his door and that he has forced air into his combustion chamber.

 

[malk315]

Cool stuff guys. My wife decided we were going to tap trees this year and show our kids how its made (rather boring for a 3 & 4 year old lol). Then when she found we had 8 gallons of sap in a few days I think it began to sink in that this could be a fair amount of work since we are cooking it down with the kitchen range lol.

My neighbor has a sugar shack and around 1000 taps iirc. He's using tubes/vacuum and reverse osmosis before it reaches his boiler. Otherwise his boiler looks nearly identical to yours @malk315.

Have any of you guys drank the sap straight? I guess it's like the new coconut water craze, to drink maple water... Who knew.

Very cool. Closest ive come to drinking sap is my buddy using some in his brew for maple beer!

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[Marshy]

Very cool. Closest ive come to drinking sap is my buddy using some in his brew for maple beer!

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We had more sap than we did big pots at the moment so I drank a full glass of cold sap. It was tasty, just a hint of maple and slightly sweetened. I think maple water is the next healthy flavored water craze.

 

[Ryan Browne]

We had more sap than we did big pots at the moment so I drank a full glass of cold sap. It was tasty, just a hint of maple and slightly sweetened. I think maple water is the next healthy flavored water craze.

I drink lots of raw sap, especially at the beginning of the season. No need to bring your water bottle to the sugar bush when you can ladle sap from the tank . I've been dreaming about bottling sap for about 5 years now. I think it would compete very well against coconut water. Too much equipment necessary to bottle it for retail sale, though. At least too much for me to make the investment. I think it'd be a great product though, and probably more profitable than making it into syrup.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Cool stuff guys. My wife decided we were going to tap trees this year and show our kids how its made (rather boring for a 3 & 4 year old lol). Then when she found we had 8 gallons of sap in a few days I think it began to sink in that this could be a fair amount of work since we are cooking it down with the kitchen range lol.

Some of my favorite memories growing up are of cooking syrup in the springtime. I was probably a couple years older when it started to be fun, though. Be careful of a couple things, though, one it's an addicting hobby. If you keep it up, you or your kids will get hooked and next thing you know you'll be running 300 taps. And second, 8 gallons might not be a problem, but there's lots of stories of people cooking sap in the kitchen and ending up with peeling paint or wallpaper. It's a lot of water to release into your house. A turkey frier with a stainless pot works pretty well if you want to move outside. However you cook it down, though, have fun, and I hope you end up with some tasty syrup as a reward.

 

[Marshy]

Lol thanks for the warning in the paint. I'm starting night shift tonight so I started up last night all night cooking it down. I had the exhaust fan running to help with the moisture. Something outdoors would be more convient like you are saying, a big propane cooker of small wood stove. End product came out nice, probably about half a quart.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Well gentlemen, the sap is running good right now. Looks like we should have about 1000 gallons of sap to cook tomorrow.

Here's a little video of the sap coming into the tank. I have about 265 taps coming into this small Shurflo vacuum pump.

 

[GCJenks204]

So Ryan is it safe to say this will be your best year yet?

 

[Ryan Browne]

So Ryan is it safe to say this will be your best year yet?

It's a strong possibility. In 2013 we had an incredible year and made 165 gallons of syrup from 450 taps without any vacuum system.

So far this year we have finished about 105 gallons but we should not have any problem hitting 150 gallons with the sap we will collect over the next couple of days. My goal for the year is 200 gallons, but even if we stopped collecting sap tomorrow I'd be very happy with how well the season turned out. Another point of reference is 2012, when we made only 35 gallons from the same 450 taps, so anytime we get over 100 I'm relieved.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a couple more freezing nights in the next ten to twelve days. If that happens, we'll definitely beat the 2013 record, and we'll have a good shot at my goal.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

Our season is done here. My taps are pulled and I'll be cleaning my equipment this weekend.

Now on to the yard. And my chickens are a week old already (7 to go). And garden...

 

[Ryan Browne]

Well we made 30 gallons of nice dark syrup on Wednesday. Had a real nice time and had plenty of good help. That ne'er-do-well @Redbull661 even showed up to make some cookies, fill a couple wheelbarrows, and blow my neighbor's mind by putting a TM661 in his hands.

Ended up cooking about 1200 gallons. So as of now, I'm at about 140 finished, with sap to make 150-155 and another 15-20 still in the pans.

I can honestly say that putting my woods on vacuum this year has made this season a success. Without that tubing I'd really be hurting.