Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where's the Sap??

[PhilNH5]

Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Alan40, Youare, Sugarmaker or anyother NE tappers,
I set my taps on March 9th. Beautiful day followed by a week of cold. I boiled down 5 gallons on Sunday. Got about 10 oz syrup.
I have collected one gallon from the 5 taps on Mon and Tuesday making a grand total of 6 gallons so far. Monday and Tuesday were 50+ degrees and hardly any sap.

How are your taps running? Should I just be more patient? I understand the low yield for the first week as it was just about 32 daytime highs. But the weekend and Mon, Tues were perfect sap running days. Is it due to the late winter?

I figured I could ask the other NE sugarers (is that even a word?) how their taps were doing?

Thanks, Phil

 

[sugarmaker]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Hi Phil,

By my standards, it's still quite early in the season. Erratic and unpredictable flows are part of the game. The only thing to do is talk about it. To wit...

Nobody nearby here has had a great run yet. Got half buckets full over Sunday and Monday. No freeze overnight probably was the main contributor. We did get a good freeze last night (16F), but it may not get warm enough today to take advantage of it.

I'm in the same town as the University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center. They have hooked up sensors to a handful of sugar maples and display real time temperature, sap pressure, and sap flow on their very cool web page. Check it out if you want to see what's going on here in Northern VT.

 

[alan40]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Hi Phil, just some hit and miss oppertunities here. Gathered enough to come up with about half a gallon of syrup. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif My homemade rig worked well but about 10:30 last night the wind came up from a different direction then normal and I kept losing my boil. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Finally got tired of that and stuffed the drum full. Boy did it boil then. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I can see were I'll need a shack next year and a square pan but this rig is a big improvement over a open fire. The boys and I are going out to check the buckets in about a half and hour if I get much I'll let you know. Already have my marching orders from my oldest. Pancakes for breakfast. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JohnMiller3]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

<font color="blue">have hooked up sensors to a handful of sugar maples </font>

Thanks Dave... for that site... very very interesting...

Never had the time to do any tapping... until maybe this year with a friend... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[ejb]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

This is my first year, so I can't offer any advice, but I put out 10 taps about 3-4 days ago and have collected about 25 gallons of sap so far...much more than I expected so soon, as I am not really prepared to store much more than that and haven't setup a place to boil it outside yet...guess I could have worse problems...is a regular trash barrel (new of course) an OK place to store the sap? Right now I have filled up all my clean food grade 5 gallon containers already...I'd be concerned about chemical residue in the trash barrels..any other suggestions?

As far as boiling it...anything I should know? How do I know when it is done? (Besides by expereience which unfortunately I won't have until it is too late for this year /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif)

Thanks.

 

[PhilNH5]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Folks,
Thank for the replies. Dave thanks for the web link. The PMRC site is interesting and useful info.

I was feeling pretty good that Dave and AL were somewhat in the same boat on the "hit or miss" of sap flow. Then I read EJB's post. His trees are doing great. I must say I am envious. I was hoping to get more syrup than last year now that I have a clue as to what to do. But it doesn't look that way. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Regarding boiling down. Read the link TBN Maple sugaring 2002 I started it last year and got a lot of help from Dave and Youare.

Basically you are boiling of lots of water. I scooped out any foamy stuff and added more sap to keep the pan full. When you run out of sap or time boil down until it becomes syrup /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif . At this point it can foam over. You can throw a little snow in to stop that.

I transfer to an 8 qt pot and go inside to finish it off. You can measure boiling point. Needs to be 7 degrees above waters boiling point for your area. You can use a densiometer. I can't tell you about those as I don't have one. Or you can boil until it "sheets". I dip a spatula into the syrup and watch it run off. If it forms discrete drips it is not done. When it falls off the spatula in a sheet it is finished. At this ponit 'tis better to err on the side of caution. If you undercook it you get gerat tasting but slightly watery syrup. If you overcook it - it can crystalize and you get sugar rocks. The batch I boiled down on sunday is watery so I am still learning this part. But it tastes great.

Hopefully this will help.

Phil

 

[ejb]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Thanks Phil for the advice/link. I'll need to re-read that thread.

Just for the fun of it I boiled down 2 gallons of sap last night inside on the stove just to get a feel for how it might go....gotta tell you it came out really great /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif..not sure why I am so suprised but it really is delicious...endd up with about 8-10 ounces of very nice tasting maple syrup. My guess is I under-boiled it a little bit, because it is a little watery texture, but the taste is great and the color is nice too..

What a lot of fun...today I am going to work on the other 25+ gallons I have collected; going to try and boil it on my woodstove out in the shop.

If this works out as well as it seems I may just need to build myself a little sugar shack this summer for next year. I am lucky, I probabloy have 500 (at least) trees on my property I could tap...I only did the easiest ones this time around.

I'll report back on my results /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[sugarmaker]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

EJB,

Now you've gone and done it. Bigger sugarhouse, more buckets, more trees, bigger pan, more firewood, maybe run some pipeline? Now that the maple bug has bitten you there's no going back. Kidding aside, it is a lot of fun, isn't it? Congratulations on your success!

I still like the spatula method that Phil mentioned. Syrup of the proper density will slide off a large spoon or spatula in sheets; underboiled syrup will drip off like water. You won't be able to tell from the thickness or viscosity whether it's done; hot maple syrup runs just like water. Even room temperature it is thinner than the ubiquitous Aunt Jemima.

Don't worry too much about making it perfect; you're not selling it, so if it tastes good, it is good.

As for your 25+ gallons, just remember that you're going to put 24.3 of those gallons into the air in your shop. Wallpaper, posters, photos, etc. may not be the same afterwards.

 

[ejb]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

>>you're going to put 24.3 of those gallons into the air in your shop

Well my shop is just a shop with two big 10ft doors on either end and no finish materials so I have no concerns about it...but I did decide against doing it in the kitchen for just that reason.

Just fired up the woodstove stove about 30 minuites ago and the first large batch is just warming up.

You are right about the bug bitting...its just too much fun...maybe once I add up all the costs of setting up a "real" sugarhouse (small scale) the bug will pass...my total investment this year was less than $20..perhaps that is part of the reason it is fun. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Youare]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Sorry I did not reply sooner, been out looking for all that sap myself, was hoping someone else was getting what we don't have.

The first trip gathering Saturday produced a bunch of frozen chunks of sap, each bucket was about half full and the sap was running pretty good. Sunday I was too busy other places to gather. Monday with the warm temps. I thought the buckets would be running over, not.

I think it stayed too warm Sunday night for the sap to run on Monday. Tuesday we checked hardly a drop, Wednesday we gathered about a 1/4 of a bucket full per tree. I don't really know what is going on.

The trees we tapped are in a deep snow location where there is not a lot of frost in the ground but the snow is still 12 to 18 inches deep. It looks like this season being that it came a little late may not be long. The weather today is cloudly and rainy which will keep it from running.

I know others in the area have not gathered a great amount of sap either. I have not heard what the sugar content of the sap is yet this year, I bet it is on the low side.

If I had to make a guess why things are like this I would have to say the dry summer last year is the contributing factor. Most trees really suffered from the dry conditions around this part of the state last summer.

I think this year may be a low volume year.

Randy

 

[alan40]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Hello to you all, got about 11 gallons of sap today with 20 buckets. Not bad. I've noticed that the buckets on the west facing side of the trees appear to produce more sap. Is there a bucket placment strategy? Most places seem to put there buckets anywere and if they use two or more never on the same level. Bou is'nt this fun!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Looks like I'll be boiling all day Saturday if this keeps up. Better get more snowsnake medicine. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Take care

 

[alan40]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Just finish a 24 x 28 garage this year and had questions about boiling in it. The results were about 50/50 about boiling inside. So I went with the 50 percent that said No. Last year I saw a couple of metal sheds that were free if you went and got them. Hope to find the same deal this year. A sugar house for free. Can't beat that!!! Now all Ineed to find is a 19 x 24 pan to boil in and I'll be in syrup making heaven.
Take care

 

[ejb]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

>>Just fired up the woodstove stove about 30 minuites ago and the first large batch is just warming up.

Well just to report results, as I said I would, I tried my second batch out in the shop in a 4 gallon pot on my woodstove and after seven hours of running it as hot as I could, only managed to drop the level by about 1 inch...so had to resort back to the stove inside.

So on the stove inside I boiled down the 4 gallons in about 6 hours and have another great batch.

Still have 30 gallons of sap to go(and taps still running)...I better come up with a better solution soon /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Can't finish this amount in the house...guess I'll try a real low-tech open fire with the pot more or less right in the hot coals tommorrow for the third batch...and the rate I am going I am not even keeping up with the trees. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[PhilNH5]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Randy,
Thanks for the reply. I guess misery does love company - or at least I feel a little better knowing others are having a low yield. I never consisdered the drought from last year but it seems feasible.
We still have plenty of snow on the ground. Makes the trip out to check the taps a bit of an adventure. The dogs have smartend up and don't accompany us. When they break through the snow they have to swim their way out.
So they stand on the driveway and watch us. Pretty smart.

Phil

 

[PhilNH5]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

Alan and ejb,
I am still envious. You folks have a plenty of sap compared to me. I am up to a grand total of 7 gallons.
I hope I at least have 5 gallons for this weekends boildown.

ejb, I used a 20 qt stockpot on my gas grill side burner last weeknd. Took about 3 hours to get to the point were I take it inside to finish off.
The gas grill certainly is fast but no where near the charm of doing it over a wood fire. Does you woodstove circulate hot air. Both of my woodstoves have an outer "jacket" around the firebox. This allows the air to pass through and warm up. Off course it makes them useless for boiling or cooking.

Alan,
The south side of the tree is supposed to be best. It warms up faster so flows earlier and longer. But in my small scale I need to use all of the trunk to avoid getting to close to last years taphole.
Phil

 

[Youare]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

I will generally look for the side of the tree that gets the most sun when hanging a bucket. The sun warms the tree which gets the sap flowing up, and the cooling of the tree at night makes the sap flow back down. I also look for the side of the tree with the most branches and tap under a branch or above a root swell.

The weather here sounds like it is going to stay too warm at night for the sap to flow down. Sunday the perdiction is for snow showers maybe then the sap will flow a little better.

As far as boiling inside, as long as there is some way the steam can exit the building there should be no big problem. The hot steam is going to rise and condense on anything cooler and drip back down if it can't get out quickly.

A metal roof may be cold enough to allow the steam to create a small rain forest inside or run down the inside of the roof until it finds something to get wet. Good luck sugar'in. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Randy

 

[sugarmaker]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Where\'s the Sap??

We had a great run yesterday; most buckets half full or better. Rainy and 36F; who'da thunk it? And no, I don't think the buckets were full of rainwater. Tanks are full now, so there'll be lots of boiling going on this weekend here.

 

[ejb]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Followup questions please

Sugarmaker (or anyone else) a few more wrap-up questions:

My first time has been very successful and really a lot of fun, I now have about 6 different batches stored in the fridge, a total of about 1.5 gallons.

My questions are as follows. Some of the batches came out perfect, just the righ consistency. Two batches are on the thin side...can I reboil these and remove some more water? They taste is fine as is, but just a little thicker would make it perfect...

Also, if I want to store some of these in regular small syrup conainers to give as gifts to some friends (i.e. pintsize bottles), do I just heat it back up and put it into the bottles? will it keep unrefregerated this way?

One batch went too far and is sugar...if I wanted to make little candies, should I just heat it back up into a liquid and pour it into little molds of some sort? Is that all there is too that?

Thanks a bunch...really was a great season/first time for me overall...been having buttermilk panakes a lot for dinner lately /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[sugarmaker]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Followup questions please

EJB,

Congratulations! You've got everything you could ask out of your sugaring season: lots of fun, and some Grade A-yummy syrup!

Yes, you can heat up the thin syrup anytime time to adjust it. Just bring it back to a boil for as long as necessary. For that matter, you can also add water to adjust too-heavy syrup back down.

As for packaging, heat the syrup to at least 180F and fill bottles or jugs or new cans (you can reuse clean bottles or jugs but not cans). Fill the container within 1/2" of the top and cap immediately. Then give it a little shake to sterilize the unfilled portion. Syrup packaged like this will keep indefinately on a shelf.

If you do get a jug of syrup with a little mold on the top, just skim the mold off with a spoon, reheat the syrup to boiling, and repackage. It'll be nearly as good as new.

I've found friends and family love the fancy glass packages you can get from Small/Waterloo or Leader Evaporator. My personal favorite is the glass jar in the shape of a maple leaf.

As for the sugar, it makes great candy, with the molds (little maple leaves or small people or such; rubber molds available from the same folks as above). It also tastes great just poured onto a slightly buttered plate and chipped off into chunks.

You should be able to heat the solid sugar back to liquid, but be careful to use a low/medium heat because it will scorch easily. My recipe is to heat the syrup to 240F, let cool to 165F, then stir as you're pouring into molds. I only get perfect candy about half the time, though. Candy making is a real art and I have real respect for folks who can realiably make maple sugar time after time. I am not blessed with that skill, unfortunately. Good luck!

 

[ejb]

Re: Alan40, Youare and Sugarmaker - Followup questions please

Well thanks again for some great advice...already planning on how do do things bigger and better next year. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif