Tree sap gathering and syrup making

[duluthralphie]

It's a red maple. I'd rather not say exactly where I live but... somewhere up in the north east US. I will get a picture later.

I have 2 red maples, they are still dry.
It’s my break time. Tapping trees the way I do it is slow and very cold. I spend too much time kneeling in the snow and not wearing gloves.


I was surprised when I tapped one boxelder, the syrup started running immediately.

This tap was in for about 5 seconds..

Here is what I get from the 3 taps combined from this tree. Today is chilly and windy so not a good day.

For my Southie friends.. these are the two types of taps I use.

I have another type of tap made out of metal, I used them about 40 years ago when I tried tapping trees... it was ugly and the WW refused to let me try it again until last year..

Above is a t- used to connect the lines they save on the amount of hose you need and instead of 5 lines into one bucket I can just put one in the bucket.

Here I am drilling a hole for the tap. I use a 5/16 drill bit. Below you see the healed hole I used last year. I moved this years hole 3 inches away.

ye

And here is what it looks like when tapped. On a good day I will get 10 gallons from this tree. Trees seem to be like milk cows, some just give more milk than others.

I use the plastic hammer to tap the taps in and seal the cover on the buckets. I use food grade buckets. Everything needs to be disinfected and kept clean as mold can develop and ruin the syrup.

I have a silver maple tapped that will give me more than 20 gallons a day. However, I am a tad worried about my silver maples this year. We are suppose to be in the 60s on Sunday coming off a high in the 50’s on Saturday. It is not suppose to freeze Saturday night, so it is possible the silver maples might bud/blossom on Sunday. If they do the sap is useless as it will turn sour. ( this comes from a friend that taps trees for a living.). So I worry now too..

 

[duluthralphie]

DH and kids just put our taps in too! We do anywhere from 30-75 trees mostly just for us and family and have more syrup sitting in the basement than I know what to do with! I kind of feel like tree tapping math is like chicken math....

I have a couple gallons in the freezer from last year too..
Oh well, it never goes bad.

 

[duluthralphie]

Oh, in case anyone cares, I try to tap the south side of the tree as it seems to run best there.

 

[rjohns39]

What do you use to cook it down?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Bye! I'm no longer a member of this thread.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I hope my Maple Syrup connection is tapping trees this year. I give him my extra eggs through out the year and he gifts me with maple syrup in the spring. He makes the best maple syrup I have ever had. I had about 4 different shades of maple syrup in my cupboard last summer.
I use the ample syrup for alot more than pancakes! I make meringue cookies with maple syrup and egg whites, yum! And Maple Pound Cake is so good.

 

[gmjarvi]

What do you use to cook it down?

My buddy uses a big evaporator, but he is working with hundreds of gallons at a time. I have heard of people doing small batches on their stovetop.

 

[duluthralphie]

What do you use to cook it down?

My buddy uses a big evaporator, but he is working with hundreds of gallons at a time. I have heard of people doing small batches on their stovetop.

Do not do it on your stove!

That is what I did to upset the WW for 40 years. There is so much moisture and stickiness coming out of the syrup the whole house needed a scrubbing and painting when I was done.

I used a turkey fryer type burner last year. But it is too expensive and time consuming doing it that way.

I just made a stove to cook it down on this year. It holds 4 stainless steel trays about 6 inches deep... each tray holds about 4 gallons of sap.

I will add sap as it boils down. I think I will be able to do about 20 gallons an hour.

I also made a reverse osmosis system that should pull out 50 gallons of water a day. I use 5 household RO filters hooked in parallel to a manifold.

 

[gmjarvi]

Do not do it on your stove!

That is what I did to upset the WW for 40 years. There is so much moisture and stickiness coming out of the syrup the whole house needed a scrubbing and painting when I was done.

I used a turkey fryer type burner last year. But it is too expensive and time consuming doing it that way.

I just made a stove to cook it down on this year. It holds 4 stainless steel trays about 6 inches deep... each tray holds about 4 gallons of sap.

I will add sap as it boils down. I think I will be able to do about 20 gallons an hour.

I also made a reverse osmosis system that should pull out 50 gallons of water a day. I use 5 household RO filters hooked in parallel to a manifold.

I just know some people do it that way, that's all lol. Outdoors or in a dedicated facility is likely best. I think that's why people have "sugar shacks", no?

 

[duluthralphie]

I just know some people do it that way, that's all lol. Outdoors or in a dedicated facility is likely best. I think that's why people have "sugar shacks", no?

Yep.. and that’s why they vent so much out the roof