I'm probably going to sap my sugar maple this week and try to make some syrup. Any suggestions?

My grandpa did but he is pretty dead. I still have quite a bit of his syrup.

Oops, I think I don't have any left.

My Brother-in-law's parents used to... Did you need some tips?

I'm probably going to sap my sugar maple this week and try to make some syrup. Any suggestions?

Plan on collecting between 40 and 60 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.

 

You'll need a good way to boil off all of that water - dont even think about using your kitchen stove.

 

Good luck.

Clean non-reactive containers. Boil in SS containers, takes longer than you think, temperature very important for brix and color. 

Plan is to sap my own tree and maybe find one in the woods to steal sap from. I have one maple, one hickory, and probably a dozen oaks.

 

Probably going to sap with PVC and boiling by fire outside

I'm probably going to sap my sugar maple this week and try to make some syrup. Any suggestions?

 

 

My Brother-in-law's parents used to... Did you need some tips?

 

Really? lol

I have taped maple trees before but I've heard that sycamore syrup is kind of like butter scotch so I'm going to tap my sycamores this year and give it a try.

Why am I thinking you tap in the fall? When the trees are going dormant.

Tap in the spring when the sugar is sent back up to the branches.

Tap in the spring when the sugar is sent back up to the branches.

Thank you, I knew I was wrong.

Tapped my trees today. One sugar maple that woodpeckers attack often and an ugly maple. It's too cold today but it will be in the 50s tomorrow.

 

Goal is 1 quart of syrup this year

That's what you want...ice cold coming into warm.

 

I have a friend who's done it.

 

Very cool.  Also very time consuming.  But way cool. 

Did it in Boy Scouts once. At today's prices, you're about to spend $50 on fuel to produce a product you can get at Costco for $12.

Did it in Boy Scouts once. At today's prices, you're about to spend $50 on fuel to produce a product you can get at Costco for $12.

Yes, but making stuff is fun.

 

Hooch, cast boolits, now syrup.

Good news, got about a gallon between the two trees today.

 

Bad news is I noticed FIVE holes in my tree leaking sap. Woodpeckers. The sugar maple too. I wish my old neighbor was here to shoot it while I was at work (sorry fishnut)

Sorry to be the wet blanket here. I'm involved in more time-wasting hobbies than probably anyone in these forums.

 

My advice: Go out and buy your maple syrup from some other sucker and devote the time you've saved to your family or some other, more productive, endeavor.

 

It will take you 50-100 hours to make one gallon of syrup. What's minimum wage? $7 x 50 = 350 = more maple syrup than you will eat in your lifetime.

 

Just sayin'.

I did it last year here at my home and I used to work on a farm that did it commercially in Ohio 35 years ago.

 

I collected about 100 gallons of sap last year and made about 2 gallons of syrup.  The below was from week 2, we made about half a gallon that week.

 

How many tanks did you go through on that turkey fryer?

How many tanks did you go through on that turkey fryer?

 

That pot holds 15 gallons.   Each boil we did used an entire tank plus part of different tank to get it down to the last gallon.  The last gallon we boiled down on the stove.

 

So to answer the question, I went though 6 tanks plus a little more.    Clearly it was a very inefficient way to reduce the sap and I had plans for a wood burner this year but never got around to building something.

 

I wanted to do something with more surface area to boil it off faster but shrug, I used what I had.   The commercial boiler I worked with years ago was a wood burner and fit in a bay of a garage.  Sap in one side, syrup out the other.

 

Since we missed two runs already, we're not going to tap this year and will probably do it again next year.

 

It was never about saving money, it was about making our own.     We ended up making a bunch of candy, giving away quarts and my wife also made Apple/Maple jelly with it.    I used up the 2nd to last quart over the weekend.

Wow! For me, Aunt Jemima handles this process.

Wow! For me, Aunt Jemima handles this process.

Get out.  High Fructose Corn Syrup water is nowhere near how good actual maple syrup tastes.

Fresnel lense and a black pot?

Wow! For me, Aunt Jemima handles this process.

I will back you up on this. Fake maple syrup for the win

 

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Wow! For me, Aunt Jemima handles this process.

 

I will back you up on this. Fake maple syrup for the win

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

I'm curious about the product surface area. Stainless steel or ceramic I hope?

I'm curious about the product surface area. Stainless steel or ceramic I hope?

 

My pot is a 15.5 gallon Bayou classic stainless steel pot.  http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1060-62-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXD94A

Wow! For me, Aunt Jemima handles this process.

 

 

I will back you up on this. Fake maple syrup for the win

 

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 I wouldnt touch that stuff if it was wrapped in a brown paper bag. 

There's Table Syrup/Pancake Syrup vs actual Maple Syrup.  Pancake/Table Syrup is really just sugar, water, and artificial flavoring.