riley04
02-08-2011, 08:56 PM
New to the forum. I've already browsed and it looks like there is a wealth of knowledge. I'm excited to get some tidbits and share my experience. I've hit it off with a local maple producer and that fueled my desire to give sugaring a shot myself. I'm only going to tap a tree or two this year just to get my feet wet. I originally wasn't going to do any until next year, but I've gotten some really good info from some local folks, so I'd like to try. My question revolves around collection and the boiling. Since I'd to collect a fair bit of sap from only 1 or 2 trees....I'd like to wait until the weekends until I perform the evaporating. I was told by an old timer that I could collect my sap daily (if needed) and after a few days bring that amount up to a boil only for a moment and then let it cool....freeze it....store in freezer..and then all at once I could boil my thawed sap to make syrup at a later time. he mentioned that would kill off any microbes that might steel or spoil the sap. I figure if I'm only going to tap a tree or two...why not sandbag they sap until I have a fair bit to work with all at once.
Do I need to do this initial boil step or can i just freeze everything I get over the course of 2-3 weeks and then on weekends perform my boiling to make syrup. I know I'm butchering some of the lingo, but I'd like to hear some ideas on what I'm planning to do....since i'm going so small scale this year. Next year and beyond we'd like to at least produce a handfull of gallons for ourselves, family, etc. We'll see. I'm pretty familiar with how much sap and the processing conditions I'll use to make the syrup....but needed some advice on the above situation. Thanks in advance!
Do I need to do this initial boil step or can i just freeze everything I get over the course of 2-3 weeks and then on weekends perform my boiling to make syrup. I know I'm butchering some of the lingo, but I'd like to hear some ideas on what I'm planning to do....since i'm going so small scale this year. Next year and beyond we'd like to at least produce a handfull of gallons for ourselves, family, etc. We'll see. I'm pretty familiar with how much sap and the processing conditions I'll use to make the syrup....but needed some advice on the above situation. Thanks in advance!