What Is The One Thing Your Syrup Production Just Can't Live WIthout?

[jkbemdavis]

Hi Friends,
I have lurked on this site for aound a year as I have spent time helping friends collect sap and boil in their very different sugar shacks. Both have very different operations...one cooks "the good old fashioned way" on a flat pan over a fire, and the other has a more modern sugar house and large evaporator set-up. As I listen, and read, the stories, tips, etc I hear are often different.
This year, I have friends helping me build an evaporator, and I hope to be tapping around 20-25 trees soon...still don't know if I'll be using galvanized or plastic buckets...and a few trees will be gravity method. I realize this is pretty small scale, but it's a big deal to me.
As I get ramped up, my biggest question is what is the one tool, trick of the trade, tip, piece of equipment, etc. that makes it so much nicer or eaier for you as you make syrup? I'm trying to make this process the best possible, and think of as many things as I can before I get started...or should I just jump in feet first?
Thanks,
John

[spencer11]

i couldnt live with out a lot of stuff. 20-25 taps is a good number to start with. depending on when and how long you can boil everyday if i were you i would build my evaporator to do about 7-10 gph(gallons per hour). how big are you building your evaporator?

spencer

[jimsudz]

John, Buy your self a good hydrometer and test cup, so any syrup you make won't spoil. Make sure you have lots of good dry wood to burn! Split wood fairly fine for your small rig, makes it a whole lot nicer to get good boil. Good luck Jim

[jkbemdavis]

We are building a 275 gallon oil drum evaporator. I bought the stainless and we will be starting the design modeled after plans here next week. Thanks for the advice.

[jkbemdavis]

For the hydrometer do you mean to test the sap, or the syrup? I've had one guy recommend spending big bucks on a refractometer. I have a fair amount of wood (probably not dry enough but it'll have to do)and can burn most evenings and on weekends.
Thanks

[red maples]

This is a really hard question. At this point in the game there are so many things that make life easier and sugaring fun. I sugar by myself. Started with 20-25 taps cooked outside on a block arch with a roasting pan did that for 1 year then went crazy and jumped in both feet. With an estimated $11-$12K later with an all stainless drop flue 2x6, sugarhouse, little vacuum pump, releaser, all the tubing fittings, transfer pump etc etc etc. The first year I went bigger was a little stressful because I was still extremely green and still learning all the time. still am. that first year I learned more than I ever thought and improved stuff so much to make things easier for myself.

Looking back to my first year on those 20-25 taps I think the number 1 biggest thing that helped me was my planning with the help of "backyard sugaring" by rick mann. although some of the practices I wouldn't recommend now (basically food grade issues if its not food grade and doesn't sell as such don't store food in it period!!! ) but I built my block arch back in the fall time and got wood together during the summer. So when it finally came time to get going that stuff was ready to go.

Being prepared is key!! that is the one thing I can't do without. there is always a few days or week of pre prep before the season hits. Getting last minute things together cleaning adjusting etc.

One other tip I can give you if you plan on going bigger in the future start now. it will save you time and $$$. if your going to move up to 50...100...300 what ever then build your arch to support what you might like to get up to in the next 2-5 years. 20-25 taps now will sorta limit exactly how big you can build it at this point but do what you can. after that point you can slowly add taps, equipment, add on to the sugarhouse, etc etc etc.

You have worked with other sugaring operations so you know how much work is involved and you know your reward is very sweet...pun intended.

Hope this helps
Good luck

[red maples]

We are building a 275 gallon oil drum evaporator. I bought the stainless and we will be starting the design modeled after plans here next week. Thanks for the advice.

Hydometer for syrup and cup sap hydro no biggie. No need for fractometer at this point. Save your money for other things. I still don't have 1, but I do reccommend buying a few2 or 3 they do break and you need a back up I like to keep 3 or 4 on hand just in case then I test them all next to each other.

[stoweski]

Hi Friends,

As I get ramped up, my biggest question is what is the one tool, trick of the trade, tip, piece of equipment, etc. that makes it so much nicer or eaier for you as you make syrup? I'm trying to make this process the best possible, and think of as many things as I can before I get started...or should I just jump in feet first?
Thanks,
John

Tool: sharp tapping bit with 18V cordless drill
Trick of trade: Split & stack your wood early... like April the previous year... and lots of it!
Equipment: Clean pans & filters... lots of filters
Other: Sap hauler... my wife with buckets in tow. Can't do it without her.

Of course there are hundreds more tools, tricks, equipment, and others, but best thing to do is to prepare as much as possible (I spend a year figuring out what to do... ADK1 spent his whole life figuring out what he wanted to do :D ) and then dive in. Only way to learn is by doing!

Oh, and you'll ALWAYS be trying to make the process the best possible... no matter how much you know or how many tricks/tips you receive.
Good luck!

[PapaSmiff]

John,
The best piece of equipment I ever bought was a hydrometer and test cup, for syrup. It's the only way to get good, consistent syrup without spending a bundle. I'd also try to scrounge up an old grading kit from someone who is about to throw theirs away. There should be alot of them available next year, when the grading standards change.

[Tweegs]

There are a few things I can’t do without:

Time- It seems time just flies during the season. Stockpile it like cords of wood, all you can.

An heir- No matter how big your operation becomes, or how small you decide to stay, at some point you won’t be able to do it all on your own. Start them young and teach them well. They won’t remember minor mistakes or how hard the work is, they’ll only remember the syrup at the end.

A budget director- Someone relatively sane to control the purse strings. This hobby can quickly slide out of control. If left unchecked, the sugar maker who starts with but a few taps and good intentions will, in a few short years, become a land baron managing hundreds of miles of tube and erecting the Taj Mahal of sugar shacks. The addiction really is that strong.

Those are my top three can’t do withouts. You might want to consider adding a mental health professional though. Someone here once posted, that in the midst of it all, he found himself wondering when, exactly, it was that he lost his mind. I dare say there isn’t a one of us here who hasn’t shared his thoughts.

[jkbemdavis]

Tool: sharp tapping bit with 18V cordless drill
Trick of trade: Split & stack your wood early... like April the previous year... and lots of it!
Equipment: Clean pans & filters... lots of filters
Other: Sap hauler... my wife with buckets in tow. Can't do it without her.

Of course there are hundreds more tools, tricks, equipment, and others, but best thing to do is to prepare as much as possible (I spend a year figuring out what to do... ADK1 spent his whole life figuring out what he wanted to do :D ) and then dive in. Only way to learn is by doing!

Oh, and you'll ALWAYS be trying to make the process the best possible... no matter how much you know or how many tricks/tips you receive.
Good luck!
Any recommended tapping bits? My one friend said they use regular drill bits, while another fellow told me they should be the old fashioned wood bits. Also what kinds of filters? I assume you mean for cleaning the sap prior to boil, then for cleaning the syrup prior to bottling?
Thanks

[1badsapper]

Something to keep my German Shorthairs from floating their jowels in the sap pails.

[stoweski]

Any recommended tapping bits? My one friend said they use regular drill bits, while another fellow told me they should be the old fashioned wood bits. Also what kinds of filters? I assume you mean for cleaning the sap prior to boil, then for cleaning the syrup prior to bottling?
Thanks

I only use the Canadian tapping bit for sale at Bascoms. Many people recommend other, less expensive bits saying they're the same thing. I've never heard of anyone complaining about the Canadian bits. I have two in case I 'misplace' one in the woods.

Clean filters... I use a simple cone paper filter for the sap... especially if I'm filtering sap out of buckets. Wash them after each use. Then I use the synthetic flat filter that Bascoms has and a few (sometimes 4) paper pre-filters to keep the synthetic filter a bit cleaner. I just pull the paper filters off one at a time as they get loaded with gunk.
Wash them off after each use and roll them dry, do not wring them out.

There's no doubt the items above can be expensive. But in my mind they're worth it.

Still say the best and most useful equipment/tool is the sap hauler!!! :D

[highlandcattle]

There are sap hydrometers and syrup hydrometers, so get both. Also you can get refractometers on line for both also for about $50.00 each, comes in handy in the woods to check sugar on various trees.

[Z/MAN]

I swear nothing drills a hole in a tree like the canadian tapping bits! Well worth the money.

[Maple Hobo]

I can make due with a lot of differnet ways to make syrup.... NONE of it matters without a few good Maple trees.
Take me back to wooden spiles and bark buckets... I still need Maple trees to do anything.

[Dill]

When your just starting small a hydrometer is the one tool you can't live without. I tried to make it with a thermometer only and could never get it right.

[3fires]

A hydrometer and test cup.

[Big_Eddy]

Some good advice above.

I've been doing this for a while now and the scale is bigger, but the thing that probably made the most difference for me was my filter canner.

I boil on the pan, then finish on a propane burner. Until I got the filter canner - I would then pour the hot syrup into a cone filter (suspended a number of different ways, never satisfactorily) then ladle the filtered syrup into a funnel and then into the bottles. The filter would cool too fast and the syrup would crust on the outside and not flow through, the syrup in the pan would cool off too fast and I'd have to reheat, I'd burn my fingers in the hot syrup holding the funnel, syrup would be everywhere and it just was not a fun time. I'd lose as much as I bottled, plug up 3 filters, have to reheat 2 or 3 times, and the kitchen would be sticky for a week.

With the filter canner, I pour an entire 20litre stock pot into the filter, pop the lid on, lift it onto the counter above the sink, and proceed to fill all my bottles in one go, no reheating, no mess, and it all flows through the filter and right into the bottles.

Highly recommended for anyone with 50-150 trees who bottles in glass.


With 25 trees for your own use only, you're a smaller scale and probably not ready to make that step, but I'd wager that filtering will give you more headaches than anything else this season. Depending on how particular you want to be, an old white t-shirt might be good enough. If you move up to a cone filter, a mechanism to hold it and collect the syrup should be next in line.

[jkbemdavis]

Thanks to all who replied. Will do as far as a good cup and hydrometer. Also will make sure I have a good tapping bit or two, as well as some decent filtering equipment. Time will tell if the Maple Trees themselves are producing the content of sugar that will make the work so much more enjoyable, and also if the number of seeds last fall results in sugar issues as I have been reading could happen.
Regards,
John

[fishman]

My checkbook, debit card and my wife to keep me under control. Otherwise I'd be doing a few hundred taps.

[stoweski]

Thanks to all who replied. Will do as far as a good cup and hydrometer. Also will make sure I have a good tapping bit or two, as well as some decent filtering equipment. Time will tell if the Maple Trees themselves are producing the content of sugar that will make the work so much more enjoyable, and also if the number of seeds last fall results in sugar issues as I have been reading could happen.
Regards,
John

Trees will produce sap... at least most will. You'll enjoy every minute of it... and there will be many, many minutes. And in April you'll be thinking to yourself "Man, I can't wait until next year to do it again!" :D