Who here taps their maple trees?

[Scoop]

I've been tapping for a few years now. I don't have any fancy equipment. I've been using spouts made from a bush (witch hazel?) that has hollow stems. I hammer a nail in the tree just far enough to hold a plastic gallon bucket (the kind that ice cream comes in). I drill a hole slightly smaller than the spout and pop it in on a very slight downward angle. It will usually drip in a few seconds. I don't worry about dirt and bugs because I strain it several times before canning it. I cook mine down in the house over our woodstoves. It never comes to a full boil and does not leave a sticky mess on your walls like the books say. After all, you are boiling out the water, not the sugar. It smells so nice in the house. I have Silver Maples as best as I can tell and the syrup is yummy! I don't buy store bought any more.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Scoop - It sounds like you are very resourceful! I bet bamboo that has been dried would work too. You have me thinking now!

I was thinking about ways to store my sap without having to get a large garbage can and lining it and I came up with the idea of using 5 gallon buckets to store it in. I can go by Sam's Club and ask them for their buckets they use back in the bakery. They give them to me all of the time, so I think that's what I'll use there.

 

[Scoop]

gumpsgirl - I had friends that have done it for years show me how they did it. They use the 5 gallon buckets also to collect it in. They actually just sit them right by the trees and let it drip into them. Bamboo is a great idea I think. I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work. My friends also taught me that the very earliest drippings are the tastiest, the sugars are more concentrated I think. You will see that the syrup does get weaker looking the more that time goes on. So I try to tap as soon as possible, usually some time in February.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Thanks for the tip! I will plan to tap in February then!

 

[Slywoody]

When it gets toward the end of the season, the sap will get milky and taste sour. At that point it's over and don't mix that milky sap in with your good clear sap. Good Luck from an ol' maple syrple!!

 

[Scoop]

Slywoody, what kind of maple do you have? I'm just curious. My friends have the real sugar maples and their syrup is better tasting than mine, IMO. I've noticed that every year I seem to get various shades of amber. It isn't always the same, I think that it is due to when I tap. It tastes okay, sometimes it's dark, sometimes light.

 

[Rosalind]

Quote:
You're going to need a LOT of 5 gallon buckets. Like, 10 per tap, at least. And you're going to have to be really diligent about boiling every day, even when it's snowing/raining/sleeting/hailing. Even after cooking the sap down to 1/10th the original volume outdoors on the grill, while running two oscillating fans and the stovetop vent with the kitchen windows open, I was still setting off the smoke alarms 25 feet away and steam-cleaning the whole kitchen. On the plus side, the house smelled wonderful.

That's why I suggested the trash can thing, actually--I tried to do the 5 gallon bucket thing this past winter. I had 5 taps, 15 buckets, a spare beer fridge and about a zillion empty gallon-size juice containers. I didn't even start until a couple weeks into the season, and I stopped about a week before it was over. And it wasn't half enough, I still had overflowing buckets left and right. It's easier and cleaner in the kitchen to save it up until you've got decent weather, then cook it mostly outside. My co-worker did this when he tapped his trees, and when I followed his suggestion about the trash can in March, all of a sudden maple tapping got ever so much easier, and I wish I had started off that way.

 

[Scoop]

Rosalind, it sounds like you do a ton of maple syrup! How much do you do each year? I only do about 10 pints. Just enough for our use and then maybe I can give away a jar or two.That's why I can get away with reducing it slowly over time on the woodstoves. I know what you mean about steam cleaning your kitchen!

I didn't care to do that again! The first year I did it outside on my outdoor fireplace/stove I went through like a half cord of wood and I ended it right there. That's when my friends told me to just do it on my indoor woodstoves. It just slowly evaporates and oh boy does the house smell homey.

It makes you want to eat pancakes when you get up!

My daughter just found a picture I took of when I attempted to do it outside. I'll see if I can get that downloaded today. It takes my computer a while since it's outdated!

Anyone else got pictures? I'd love to see them and I'm sure Gumpsgirl would, too.

 

[Scoop]

I only had these lids on until I got it to boil. I didn't care for the smoky taste I ended up with doing it this way.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Yikes! I not planning on tapping that many trees! lol! If I can't keep up with what I'm collecting in the 5 gal. buckets, then I will go with the trash can idea.