Maple Syrup

[buickanddeere]

I tend to agree, though them be fighting words on the syrup forum. I will say that I don't think which type of wood makes any difference. Personally I prefer softwood. It doesn't fill the firebox with coals and it burns hot and fast, which is what I want. Also, it's a good way to use that kind of wood. I like oak, all, maple, hickory, etc in my woodstove, but I gotta use up the poplar, basswood, pine, box elder, etc somewhere. Might as well put it to use. Here's my cooker, by the way. It'll burn a full cord of soft wood in 3 hours .

View attachment 543796View attachment 543797

. Where is this Maple Syrup forum ?

 

[buickanddeere]

Experienced something that was like a scene in a movie . My future sister in law from Flint Michigan almost ended her engagement to my brother . She was visiting while we were boiling maple syrup and we were very proud of the success. While the entire extended family was feasting on a breakfast of pancakes and sausage . She was looking around the table and my Mother asked what she was looking for . Sister in law answered out loud in her heavily accented voice with “ you have any molasses “. The conversations of 18 people immediately stopped, you could hear a pin drop and we all stared at her in frosty silence . She looked around scared but had no idea what she had done wrong. Apparently she had never ever tasted maple syrup , did not know what to do with it and was afraid to try it . She was handed the pitcher of fresh syrup and she poured some onto her pancakes during the deafening silence . She made a point of immediately saying how good the syrup tasted .....Don’t know if she liked the syrup or not but she knew it would be a long way to hitchhike or walk home .

 

[RobA]

. Where is this Maple Syrup forum ?

General Maple Discussion - Sugarbush.Info

 

[teejk]

Experienced something that was like a scene in a movie . My future sister in law from Flint Michigan almost ended her engagement to my brother . She was visiting while we were boiling maple syrup and we were very proud of the success. While the entire extended family was feasting on a breakfast of pancakes and sausage . She was looking around the table and my Mother asked what she was looking for . Sister in law answered out loud in her heavily accented voice with “ you have any molasses “. The conversations of 18 people immediately stopped, you could hear a pin drop and we all stared at her in frosty silence . She looked around scared but had no idea what she had done wrong. Apparently she had never ever tasted maple syrup , did not know what to do with it and was afraid to try it . She was handed the pitcher of fresh syrup and she poured some onto her pancakes during the deafening silence . She made a point of immediately saying how good the syrup tasted .....Don’t know if she liked the syrup or not but she knew it would be a long way to hitchhike or walk home .

I married a woman a long time ago that detested many of the foods I grew up with...turns out it was only because I guess her dad didn't like them hence they were never served. Now we probably lead the nation in broccoli consumption, she on her own consumes more pickled herring than anybody and she put 2 corned beef briskets in the crockpot first thing this morning. But back to the topic...here in west central Wisconsin we are still dipping well below freezing at night and the daytime temps are hovering around mid-upper 30's (today and tomorrow being warmer but I think that changes next week). All the makings for a good season I think.

 

[buickanddeere]

I married a woman a long time ago that detested many of the foods I grew up with...turns out it was only because I guess her dad didn't like them hence they were never served. Now we probably lead the nation in broccoli consumption, she on her own consumes more pickled herring than anybody and she put 2 corned beef briskets in the crockpot first thing this morning. But back to the topic...here in west central Wisconsin we are still dipping well below freezing at night and the daytime temps are hovering around mid-upper 30's (today and tomorrow being warmer but I think that changes next week). All the makings for a good season I think.

2-3 weeks ago we had a few days of modest sap run. Looks like nothing more for about a week.

 

[motownbrowne]

It ran pretty good here today. Not a huge run, but at least a gallon per tap. It started earlier in the day than it has been, so that helps a lot. Got my cooker fired up for the first time. Boiled about 800 gallons of sap in 4.5 hours. Used about 50% of a cord of wood. Drew off about 9 gallons of syrup towards the end of the day. The ratio of sap to syrup was much better than that, but the rest of the sugar is sitting in the pans now. I tested the sugar content at 2.5%, which isn't bad.

 

[Thomas]

Trees are being stubborn here will be 3 days w/out a tickle best so far 58/1 fingers cross for 40/1.

 

[Thomas]

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:laughing::thumbsup:

 

[Willie B]

It has been a while. We stopped about twenty years ago. My earliest efforts were a 275 gallon oil tank cut about 1/3 off the top. I'd use an angle iron frame with a couple cross bars. I built a brake to bend pans. Mine were galvanized steel, it solders well to seal corners.

As we got more into it I built a 24 x 40 sugar house, and bought a 2 x 6 Lightning evaporator with 4' raised flue pan. That was a nice rig! We had 250 taps, but our sugar content was low. Made very high grade syrup mostly. Typical spring, we made 50 gallons.

 

[teejk]

It ran pretty good here today. Not a huge run, but at least a gallon per tap. It started earlier in the day than it has been, so that helps a lot. Got my cooker fired up for the first time. Boiled about 800 gallons of sap in 4.5 hours. Used about 50% of a cord of wood. Drew off about 9 gallons of syrup towards the end of the day. The ratio of sap to syrup was much better than that, but the rest of the sugar is sitting in the pans now. I tested the sugar content at 2.5%, which isn't bad.View attachment 544395

For a casual observer, I seem to remember warm/cool days & cold nights from a few people that only produced for personal consumption (I guess if it gets warm and stays that way the party's over for the year). In a commercial sense, how do you test for sugar content or otherwise know when it's time to quit cooking? Does viscosity come into play at all? How do you market it other than getting on the road and hitting every local tavern with a few jars like they do around here?

 

[Spentit]

It is that time of year. A word of advise to any new comers chasing deals on Craigslist. Stay away from most of the older pans. Many if not all years ago used lead solder to seal them up. Not a boiling pan you want to use. Makes bad syrup.

 

[motownbrowne]

For a casual observer, I seem to remember warm/cool days & cold nights from a few people that only produced for personal consumption (I guess if it gets warm and stays that way the party's over for the year). In a commercial sense, how do you test for sugar content or otherwise know when it's time to quit cooking? Does viscosity come into play at all? How do you market it other than getting on the road and hitting every local tavern with a few jars like they do around here?

Yep, warm days and cold nights. There's other factors, real and imagined that affect sap flow too. I think it helps when the frost goes out, and weather systems seem to help too. A good snow storm coming through will stop the taps all at once, but when they open back up again it can be a heck of a run!

As far as marketing is concerned we have it pretty good. Growing veggies is our main business and my dad's been doing it for 40 years. We've been making syrup just as long. We stock our farm store with syrup and we've got lots of loyal customers who've been buying from us for decades. If I doubled my production I might have to get creative, but this year was actually the first year that we haven't run out of inventory before the next season. Last year was our first on vacuum and we made 180 gallons. About 75 more than the previous 5 year average.

Regarding finishing, we use a sap hydrometer to test for sugar content in the sap. It reads between 0-6 brix. We use a thermometer and a syrup hydrometer to test the syrup. When it boils at 7ｰF above the boiling point of water, it's finished. Because we will cool, reheat, filter and bottle the syrup after it leaves the evaporator, I draw off the syrup a couple percent shy of the targeted density.

 

[motownbrowne]

It is that time of year. A word of advise to any new comers chasing deals on Craigslist. Stay away from most of the older pans. Many if not all years ago used lead solder to seal them up. Not a boiling pan you want to use. Makes bad syrup.

I think that's good advice. I will say though that millions of gallons of good syrup has been made on lead soldered pans. It really starts to be an issue if you've got lead soldered buckets, lead soldered collection tanks, a lead soldered evaporator, etc, also if you put anything acidic in the pans that's no good.

If you've got lead soldered pans, don't scrub the joints. Once coated in nitre or sugar they don't leach into the syrup. There's other precautions you can take too, such as testing the finished product to be sure it's safe.

I agree that if anyone is shopping for a cooker to avoid a lead solder rig, but if you've already got one or can get a starter unit really cheap, they are possible to use safely and make good syrup. All the manufacturers used lead solder and least into the 90s. Leader stopped in 91 I think. The others were a few years behind. Then lead-free solder was used for several years after that.

 

[chado613]

Motown
Could I ask your advice on finshing.... I have borrowed a turkey deep frier and have about 3-4 gallons to finish?

Have you ever tried this method?

 

[motownbrowne]

Motown
Could I ask your advice on finshing.... I have borrowed a turkey deep frier and have about 3-4 gallons to finish?

Have you ever tried this method?

Sure thing.

I'd start with about a gallon in your pot; enough to cover the bottom with 2-3" of liquid. Turn your heat on high enough to get a good boil, but be careful not to scorch the sides from the flames locking up the side of the pot. Use something like a chopstick to check the depth intermittently. Add the rest of the liquid in small amounts to replace what's evaporating.

You'll also need an accurate thermometer, like a meat or candy thermometer. You will want to boil some water and check the reading on the thermometer in the boiling water. Whatever that is, you want to add 7 degrees F and that's the temp to bring your syrup to. Be very careful at the end; a pot of boiling syrup can foam up very quickly and spill over the pot making a huge need, and possibly burning the syrup. It takes a long time to get it to 5 degrees over the boiling point of water. After that it can go very fast.

 

[chado613]

Great thanks you sir!!

 

[teejk]

Be very careful at the end; a pot of boiling syrup can foam up very quickly and spill over the pot making a huge need, and possibly burning the syrup. It takes a long time to get it to 5 degrees over the boiling point of water. After that it can go very fast.

That should have been in bold! I remember that from when we used to make black raspberry jelly. Not only is it a real mess, it can be dangerous. That hot syrup on skin will stick like glue as it burns through your hide! And it comes up like a flash.

 

[teejk]

Yep, warm days and cold nights. There's other factors, real and imagined that affect sap flow too. I think it helps when the frost goes out, and weather systems seem to help too. A good snow storm coming through will stop the taps all at once, but when they open back up again it can be a heck of a run!

As far as marketing is concerned we have it pretty good. Growing veggies is our main business and my dad's been doing it for 40 years. We've been making syrup just as long. We stock our farm store with syrup and we've got lots of loyal customers who've been buying from us for decades. If I doubled my production I might have to get creative, but this year was actually the first year that we haven't run out of inventory before the next season. Last year was our first on vacuum and we made 180 gallons. About 75 more than the previous 5 year average.

Regarding finishing, we use a sap hydrometer to test for sugar content in the sap. It reads between 0-6 brix. We use a thermometer and a syrup hydrometer to test the syrup. When it boils at 7ｰF above the boiling point of water, it's finished. Because we will cool, reheat, filter and bottle the syrup after it leaves the evaporator, I draw off the syrup a couple percent shy of the targeted density.

I get to Eau Claire often because it is our nearest large shopping city. If I'm in the neighborhood with time to kill I'll think about driving a few more miles and check it out. Is there a business name?

 

[motownbrowne]

I get to Eau Claire often because it is our nearest large shopping city. If I'm in the neighborhood with time to kill I'll think about driving a few more miles and check it out. Is there a business name?

That'd be great! I'm a bit of a drive from Eau Claire (a little more than an hour), but we always enjoy visitors. If you put Rising Sun Farm into Google maps it'll bring you right here. I'll PM you my cell number. Shoot me a text or a call. I'm here pretty much all the time, but we only boil every few days depending on the sap flow. You're welcome any time, but it's always more fun when the steam is rolling.

 

[Spentit]

A tip to bring down the foam on a boil is strike a knife or any utensil through some butter. Not a chunk just a film and dip it into the boil and foam will drop. It will foam again but does cut it back for a while.