Micro maplers?

[girmann]

It occurs to me that even the smallest people on here have more taps than me. Granted I'm a hobbyist, but I'm just in it for my own supplies. Is there a resource out there for the backyarders that want a minimum of equipment? My setup is 4 taps, all on sugars. My evaporator rig is two restaurant pans that sit on top of my gas grill. Usually I finish in a 1qt sauce pot on the stove and typical yield from a batch is ~10oz. In two seasons I've figured out so much - there must be others that are in the same boat, that have learned all these lessons (and more!) right? Where are they? :confused:

Or am I the only one?:emb:

[Troutman10]

I'm not the biggest producer, but have slowly expanded this year. I was in your shoes when I started last year. I bought a 3 tap beginner setup from a local guy and have wanted to expand ever since. This year I'll have close to 20 taps when things are all said and done. I wanna produce enough to give away as well as save for myself. The great thing is that syrup can be made with many different setups and alot of the materials needed for producing it are sometimes free. It's a great hobby! Enjoy it! My goal is to maybe have a more taps next year and cook over a wood fired fuel oil tank. Good luck!

[PapaSmiff]

girmann . . . you are far from being the only one on this site with just a few taps. Most of us started like that. But you may want to try a turkey fryer instead of the gas grill. I'm surprised the grill will get hot enough to boil the sap.
I haven't read it, but most people recommend a book called "Backyard Sugaring" or something like that. It seems to be the bible for hobbyists and has a lot of good ideas for low cost setups. Good luck and have fun.

[mathprofdk]

+1 On the turkey fryer. A great investment for micro batches.

[Billy_the_Kid]

+1 on the turkey fryer. Used one last year to make 3.5 gallons of syrup. The downside, it cost me about $100 in LP. Towards the end though, I figured out a decent system. Try to keep at least 1" but not more than about 2" of sap boiling in the pan. I would preheat 2 qts of sap on the electric stove in the house, in approx. the same amount of time that it would take to boil off two qts of water on the turkey fryer outside. With that method you never lose your boil on the fryer, and you can achieve about a 1.5 gph evap rate. I would run 10 gallons of sap down to one gallon of concentrate, then put that off to the side then start another run and do the same thing until I had a couple 2 or 3 gallons of concentrate. Then I would turn t turkey fryer down and get it close (215 degrees or so) then take it inside and finish it on the stove. Hope that helps.

[SDdave]

It occurs to me that even the smallest people on here have more taps than me

I am 5'11" is that small enough:lol: JK. I am definetly in your same shoes, their is a lot of us here in the same shoes. I've boiled on turkey friers, I am currently using the propane burners under a reclaimed bulk tank. I had 25 taps last year, this year maybe 10, maybe 5. who knows. All I know is that this is the best hobby a person could have. And coming to this forum is a great way to cure the shakes during the off season.

Good luck to you,
SDdave

[red maples]

I am 5' 10" so I am smaller than you. :rolleyes: you gotta start some where if you enjoy your 4 taps then thats all that counts!!!!

[girmann]

girmann . . . you are far from being the only one on this site with just a few taps. Most of us started like that. But you may want to try a turkey fryer instead of the gas grill. I'm surprised the grill will get hot enough to boil the sap.
I haven't read it, but most people recommend a book called "Backyard Sugaring" or something like that. It seems to be the bible for hobbyists and has a lot of good ideas for low cost setups. Good luck and have fun.

The pans sit right on the burners (Not sure if that's the wrong thing to do, but it works for me) and they boil vigorously, so I have no complaints. The other thing I thought I had going for me is that it seems to be more surface area than a turkey fryer. But this is my uninformed, find something that works, trial-and-error evaporation method.

I'll see if I can find the book, thanks for the suggestion!

[girmann]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm boiling down at about the same rate 1-2gal/hr with the gas grill. I used $15 of LP for 16oz of syrup, so my outlay is about the same as yours (and I didn't do the preheating). I only have storage for 4 gallons of sap, so my typical yield is between 12-16 ounces. Much too small for the fryer at that temperature! Usually I take it inside when it gets to 1-2 degrees above the boiling point of water.

[girmann]

LOL! That's funny, and of course you caught my meaning. :lol:

It really is a fun hobby - although the runs the last few days leave a lot to be desired!!!

[Groves]

I'm only 5 years into this sugaring deal.

We're in Missouri, and there's quite a few trees around town, but rarely more than 2 per house, and usually just 1.

We did our first year on the turkey fryer, and like you all, we experienced the loooooong processing times and incredible costs of propane.

We moved to wood the next year and it's so nice not to spend 8+ hours at the burner anymore.

The revelation to me was learning that the evaporation rate was connected to surface area.

That made my tall and skinny turkey fryer look the wrong shape for what I wanted.

It was off to the races using steam pans and we've never looked back. We make 3-5 gallons a year.

If you're dead set on using the turkey fryer for whatever reason (I realize that open fires aren't going to fit everyone's situation.) then by all means invest in some insulation such that you can get the most out of your costly propane.

Fire bricks, ceramic blankets, whatever it takes to keep that spendy heat going to the sap and not blowing away (like mine was).

[emo]

As Groves said, if you can contain the fire, the better/faster you are going to evaporate. My first year took an entire weekend to boil down 10 gal. of sap using the grill. Second year used a 4qt and a 9qt dutch ovens over an open fire, I figured I was boiling off about 1/2 gal/hr. I boiled for almost a week and a half straight to make 5qts of syrup. Third year build the common foundatin block arch with 3 steam pans. The foundation block will crumble from the heat of boiling if it is not protected in some fashion from the heat of the fire; found that out the second year I boiled. Used sheet metal for a front cover/door and some 4in duct for a chimney. I had some old red brick that I used to line the fire box. I could boil about 3gal/hr with this setup.

Surface does make a difference on evaporation rate. The steam pans have more that a turkey fryer pot The turkey fryers are good setup though, burner and pot all together. The hard part is finding cheap method to contain the heat under whatever pan(s) you are boilng with.

[Groves]

Third year build the common foundatin block arch with 3 steam pans. The foundation block will crumble from the heat of boiling if it is not protected in some fashion from the heat of the fire; found that out the second year I boiled.

The crumbing is all relative. When I first laid a few blocks on the ground, I thought to myself, "This will get me by this year."

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch1.jpg

The blocks took all the abuse, and abuse them we did. There was a crack now and then, but everything held up. Every year since then, I've "needed" to rebuild it, but all I end up doing is adding more blocks to the front to make it longer. More pans, more GPH.

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch31.jpg

We're up to 8 pans, think I could use a few more, too.

Fire still just goes in the front.

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch32.jpg

If you have the space, I highly recommend it.

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch2.jpg

I could add firebrick and insulation, but wood is plentiful and cheap, and once the bricks heat up, it goes pretty fast.

[FameFlower]

Love the ingenuity!!! Nice work!

[girmann]

I'm only 5 years into this sugaring deal.

The revelation to me was learning that the evaporation rate was connected to surface area.

That made my tall and skinny turkey fryer look the wrong shape for what I wanted.



From the beginning, I understood that surface area was king. My first purchase was steam trays (okay, the second purchase was steam trays...after the beginner tapping kits).

I like the idea of just some concrete blocks holding them up. Sure appeals to my wallet, anyway...

[Ace_R]

Right now I have 10 taps and use a 75,000 BTU camp stove with a 2 x 3 welded SS pan. I have already made about a gallon of syrup this year and have yet to go through a 20 # tank of propane. The key, like everyone else has said.....is surface area.......I know this is supposed to be a labor of love, but spending days to boil down 10 gallons of sap is not my idea of fun. If you get the correct set-up you can really make your system work well. Good Luck!

[girmann]

Right now I have 10 taps and use a 75,000 BTU camp stove with a 2 x 3 welded SS pan. I have already made about a gallon of syrup this year and have yet to go through a 20 # tank of propane. The key, like everyone else has said.....is surface area.......I know this is supposed to be a labor of love, but spending days to boil down 10 gallons of sap is not my idea of fun. If you get the correct set-up you can really make your system work well. Good Luck!

Can you post a picture of what yours looks like?

[MJFlores]

I'm right there with you Girmann. This is actually my first year, and I did my first batch tonight. My property has only red maple, so in one week I collected 4 gallons of sap and boiled it down to 8oz. of the darkest maple syrup I've ever seen. Tasty too! I have old fashioned aluminum buckets, and aluminum taps. Every night after work my 5 year old son and I head out in the dark with a 5 gallon pail to fetch sap. We bring it home and use a coffee filter to strain it into cleaned milk jugs which we kept in the fridge until this weekend. I have a turkey fryer that I converted to turkey scalder for dressing Thanksgiving turkeys, so I used a clean stainless lobster pot on that to boil down our sap. I'm definitely mini-micro for sure. It is a heck of a lot of fun though, and really like browsing this board and seeing what others are up to. Glad to see there's plenty of small time bucket tenders like me out there LOL! :lol:

[Ace_R]

Girmann, sorry I don't have any pictures on hand, but give me a day or two and I can get one uploaded. The stove I have is 70,000 BTU not 75,000 like I said (my mistake). It is a northern tool special for around $100 bucks. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200408996_200408996 and then putting your pan of choice on the burners. I have some masonary blocks holding up the actual stove.....I still have some room for efficiency but you have to start somewhere. Hope this helps! (sorry minor edit.......the best thing I like about propane is that if I need to shutdown or walk away for a bit while I do things around the house is unbeatable; I know wood is probobly the cheapest way to go, but you can't beat the ease of propane......at least in my case).

[SDdave]

Yes exactly Ace R. That's what I love about propane...you can turn it off and walk away. get those pics up, i wanna see them too.

Happy boilin',
SDdave

[Tithis]

My setup is still really small. I made some changes from last year like lifting it up, adding a firegrate, a taller flue and some scrap metal for a door, but its still very small and basic. Downside is cinder blocks really arent meant to withstand the kind of heat we're trying to create. Sooner or later the blocks will crack and many will probably fall apart when you take it apart at the end of the season.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/Maple%202012/100_9020.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/Maple%202012/100_9022.jpg?t=1328725637

Still boils and burns pretty decent though. While my boiling rate isn't that much better than what I was doing the end of last year, the amount of time I spend actively managing the fire to achieve that rate is down drastically. Right now I pretty much just go out every 15 minutes to add a bit more sap and some more wood. If I'm good about preheating the sap before adding it I can boil 15 gallons of sap down to a pan and finish whats in the pan on a hotplate in 12 hours or so.

There is still plenty of room for improvement as my setup has a lot of wasted heat. Last time I boiled I held an oak leaf above the flue and it burst into flames within a few seconds. That's heat that should be going to boil my sap. If my setup was longer I'd actually try to make an arch to force the hot air against the bottom of the pan, but as is doing something like that would cut down on the space I have to burn wood.

Oh well, maybe next time I make some smores over the flue.

[girmann]

I used coffee filters last year - what a pain in the arse!

I used cloth baby diapers now. Much higher throughput (if you know what I mean) and it catches a lot more stuff. I fold it up by 1/12 (fold it in thirds once and in half twice) and put it at the bottom of a ~1qt filter. This is a lot faster than the coffee filters and much less expensive and unwieldy as the syrup specific wool or synthetic filters. Those seem to be made for filtering gallons of syrup and they just don't fit into my small production quantities.

Make sure you used unused cloth diapers, tho! :mrgreen:


I'm right there with you Girmann. This is actually my first year, and I did my first batch tonight. My property has only red maple, so in one week I collected 4 gallons of sap and boiled it down to 8oz. of the darkest maple syrup I've ever seen. Tasty too! I have old fashioned aluminum buckets, and aluminum taps. Every night after work my 5 year old son and I head out in the dark with a 5 gallon pail to fetch sap. We bring it home and use a coffee filter to strain it into cleaned milk jugs which we kept in the fridge until this weekend. I have a turkey fryer that I converted to turkey scalder for dressing Thanksgiving turkeys, so I used a clean stainless lobster pot on that to boil down our sap. I'm definitely mini-micro for sure. It is a heck of a lot of fun though, and really like browsing this board and seeing what others are up to. Glad to see there's plenty of small time bucket tenders like me out there LOL! :lol:

[ChromczakC]

Thanks, your post with pictures was really helpful.

-Chris




The crumbing is all relative. When I first laid a few blocks on the ground, I thought to myself, "This will get me by this year."

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch1.jpg

The blocks took all the abuse, and abuse them we did. There was a crack now and then, but everything held up. Every year since then, I've "needed" to rebuild it, but all I end up doing is adding more blocks to the front to make it longer. More pans, more GPH.

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch31.jpg

We're up to 8 pans, think I could use a few more, too.

Fire still just goes in the front.

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch32.jpg

If you have the space, I highly recommend it.

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/arch2.jpg

I could add firebrick and insulation, but wood is plentiful and cheap, and once the bricks heat up, it goes pretty fast.

[emo]

I think if needed 8 pans, I think I would start looking at a regular evaporator, WOW. I put a solid 4x8x16 block on top of the sides, makes for a useful table. There are some advantages to using a smaller block arch. Managed to fabricate a cover and using the arch at Thanksgiving to spit roast a turkey. After 6 hours over low heat from a wood fire, that was a really good smoked bird.
Using a55225523

[lyford]

This is my first year trying sugarin at my house. I have two steam table pans and will be burning over a simple cinder block box without a smoke stack. I have ten buckets total. My question is what do you "micro maplers" use to filter your syrup. Free or cheap methods are best for me. Any ideas? Thanks!

[shane hickey]

I have a couple of real small operations that come
To me to filter there syrup. They make syrup all season
Then put it in pails. Ill reheat it and run it through my
Filter press and use my caner to fill their containers for a smalli
Price this may be an option to find a bigger producer in your
Area and do the same thing

[happy thoughts]

This is my first year trying sugarin at my house. I have two steam table pans and will be burning over a simple cinder block box without a smoke stack. I have ten buckets total. My question is what do you "micro maplers" use to filter your syrup. Free or cheap methods are best for me. Any ideas? Thanks!

I pretty much just let mine settle out. I usually don't start with sap and finish to syrup at the same time. That means I usually have something near syrup sitting in my fridge for a few days and the sand that settles is easy enough to take care of before I throw in more fresh sap to boil down again. I just keep going like that until I have enough near syrup to finish inside. I then bring that to density and store again in the fridge in glass gallon jars. In a day or two I carefully pour out the clear stuff, bring it to bottling temp and pack it.

To save the sweet stuff that might come along with the sandy part, I usually add fresh sap to the cloudy stuff, let it sit in the fridge a day or two, then pour off the clear and add it to the next batch. The sand settles out quickly if diluted enough.

My syrup doesn't come out perfectly clear when first packed, but what eventually settles to the bottom is pretty minimal over time. It's not perfect but good enough for me especially since I'm only making a few gallons.

[girmann]

I use cloth baby diapers and a 1qt funnel. I've never used one of the reqular filters, so I have nothing to compare it to - but it seems to trap the sugar sand fairly well and doesn't cost nearly as much.

Just make sure you use an unopened pack of baby diapers! :o

[ericjeeper]

back when I first started, I did not even bother with a filter. Just put the sap in a gallon pickle jar and let it settle out for a few weeks. Then pour off the top.

[SevenCreeksSap]

The book referred to earlier is called Backyard sugarin, by Rink Mann, and does have a lot of good basic information and ideas. If you go to the Maple Guys equipment sales above your post and click on books its the first one there. Good to support the Maple guys for providing this site.

[girmann]

I'll check that out and report back!

[Sandersyrup]

Here is my Craigslist setup. I boiled About 15 gallons in 5 hours last Sunday. I found the huge SS pot at an antique store for $30. Free fireplace bricks, duct flue, $10 50 gal agave syrup barrel. And some fixtures to regulate flow. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/13/5ydahyra.jpg

[girmann]

Oooo! I like it! Sounds like you made out great! I just added up how much I've spent in the past three years, and it's way higher than that!

The book "Backyard Sugarin'" was neat and I like the folksy tone, but it seems like the very basics followed up with a lot of different setups that I might not really consider "Backyard". Well, it might be if you have a few acres! Not here in suburbia, tho!




Here is my Craigslist setup. I boiled About 15 gallons in 5 hours last Sunday. I found the huge SS pot at an antique store for $30. Free fireplace bricks, duct flue, $10 50 gal agave syrup barrel. And some fixtures to regulate flow. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/13/5ydahyra.jpg

[Sandersyrup]

My post made it sound like most I it was free stuff (not that I read it again). I paid for the tube, flue and a firplece grate. I also decided to buy SS spikes and some bucked. Overall I've probably invested $200 in my setup. But it all should last.

I've already made close to a gallon of syrup, so I'm well on my way to breaking even!

[QUOTE=girmann;206104]Oooo! I like it! Sounds like you made out great!/QUOTE]

[bmiller]

Hey Girmann, i only am running 11 taps so far this year ,did 15 last year,i used a butchering kittle that was only used to heat water with and closed the sides up with metal and lay a piece of metal on top for a lid.I'd boil all my sap down then when it was getting close would ladel it out into a smaller square pan and finish inside on electric stove.(much to wife's objection)
When i gather it this year ive been putting it in a 20x20 x 10 inch deep stainless pan and set it on woodstove all nite and add some in mornin before work,plus a stainless pot and finish off on propane stove.made a gallon and half a pint of syrup so far. I really enjoy doing it .

[Howdole]

We started small 9 old lead taps a big pan over open fire in back yard of one acre of silver maples. Have slowly improved operations. First year tried to cook down some in house had moisture dripping off ceiling and delaminated a few cupboards now just finish it off indoors. Have gotten rid of lead spiles bought plastic spiles and tubing feed into twenty gallon plastic tubs and milk jugs. Bought two restaurant size shearing pans and had local guy weld stand for. Fire built under this cook downs start six in morning finished by ten pm thenfinish indoors. This year set thirty taps....most finished product was five and one half gallons...would have been more but someone didn't keep close eye on fire and had boil over...almost led to divorce. Bought a couple of cloth filters but our final product usually dark and settles.

[Galena]

...and set it on woodstove all nite and add some in mornin before work,plus a stainless pot and finish off on propane stove.made a gallon and half a pint of syrup so far. I really enjoy doing it .


*grin* sounds like my setup...only just a 4' deep stainless hotel pan and a big woodstove as evaporator, and electric stove but haven't yet come close to finishing off the 2.5 gallons I've collected so far. The season's young!!

ETA: did try a cloth filter but wasn't happy with it so stayed with the paper coffee filters. Still leaves some sugarsand behind, but that way people I give it to know it's mine, and it's just inert minerals anyway. Easy enough to pour off the syrup and discard the sand if they want.

[girmann]

Whoa! That sounds like an awesome way to:

1) Heat the house!
2) Humidify the house
3) Add aromatherapy to the house (What's better than walking into a house that has the light scent of maple???)
4) Make maple syrup!

Way to use all the resources you have at your fingertips! That's what I love about this hobby!




Hey Girmann, i only am running 11 taps so far this year ,did 15 last year,i used a butchering kittle that was only used to heat water with and closed the sides up with metal and lay a piece of metal on top for a lid.I'd boil all my sap down then when it was getting close would ladel it out into a smaller square pan and finish inside on electric stove.(much to wife's objection)
When i gather it this year ive been putting it in a 20x20 x 10 inch deep stainless pan and set it on woodstove all nite and add some in mornin before work,plus a stainless pot and finish off on propane stove.made a gallon and half a pint of syrup so far. I really enjoy doing it .

[girmann]

LOL!

We have popcorn ceilings in our house and it still hasn't stopped flaking off from the first year of boiling inside!

I find that my cookdowns are getting longer than 8 hours, too. I find that the longer I boil, the darker it gets. And every time I think I have the cloth diaper method nailed, I get a ton of niter in my finished product. I gotta figure out what works and what doesn't.

This winter hasn't been the year to experiment, though. I'm so exhausted hauling and boiling, there hasn't been any time for experimenting. And when I do have time (like after the season's over) there's no sap! :lol:

Good luck and enjoy!




We started small 9 old lead taps a big pan over open fire in back yard of one acre of silver maples. Have slowly improved operations. First year tried to cook down some in house had moisture dripping off ceiling and delaminated a few cupboards now just finish it off indoors. Have gotten rid of lead spiles bought plastic spiles and tubing feed into twenty gallon plastic tubs and milk jugs. Bought two restaurant size shearing pans and had local guy weld stand for. Fire built under this cook downs start six in morning finished by ten pm thenfinish indoors. This year set thirty taps....most finished product was five and one half gallons...would have been more but someone didn't keep close eye on fire and had boil over...almost led to divorce. Bought a couple of cloth filters but our final product usually dark and settles.

[bmiller]

Whoa! That sounds like an awesome way to:

1) Heat the house!
2) Humidify the house
3) Add aromatherapy to the house (What's better than walking into a house that has the light scent of maple???)
4) Make maple syrup!

Way to use all the resources you have at your fingertips! That's what I love about this hobby!love myself girmann:D

[bmiller]

sorry girmann meant to say love it mself :)

[mouseydew]

Was so psyched to find other maple enthusiasts that also have a tap or two at most! I evap using an old brick chimney BBQ and a cast iron enameled pan. Think I need to invest in some steam trays to increase surface area and window screening to keep down the cinder/ash coming up through the grate.

7517

[Michael Greer]

I'm not the smallest of syrup enthusiasts, but I might have the smallest sugarbush. I have a little parcel that measures only 90' by 110' that's just chock full of nice trees. I hung a dozen buckets there last year, did a little thinning last spring, and hung 18 this year. The trees are just at a size that will respond well to a little care, and I can look forward to a time, maybe five years from now, when I'll have thirty buckets in that tiny urban forest.

[girmann]

Wow. I can't believe it's been two years...

Anyway, my primary evaproator (the grill) just died. Now I have to figure something out mid-season! :-O

Can't figure out whether I should build a block arch... I haven't quite figured out the chimney... Or how to make one. I don't have any welding equipment here - nor is it in the budget. The rest seems like a snap.

Mark

[happy thoughts]

Wow. I can't believe it's been two years...

Anyway, my primary evaproator (the grill) just died. Now I have to figure something out mid-season! :-O

Can't figure out whether I should build a block arch... I haven't quite figured out the chimney... Or how to make one. I don't have any welding equipment here - nor is it in the budget. The rest seems like a snap.

Mark

Go with the block arch and some deep full size SS steam table pans. You don't need no stinkin' weldiing equipment :). If you stack your blocks and leave a gap for an elbow then you can fast plug around the elbow and attach your straight pipe run. That's worked well for us so far these last 2 seasons. We removed and reinstalled the chimney/fastplug both seasons to keep it from rusting and plan to do the same this year. Others may have more solutions.

[girmann]

Go with the block arch and some deep full size SS steam table pans. You don't need no stinkin' weldiing equipment :). If you stack your blocks and leave a gap for an elbow then you can fast plug around the elbow and attach your straight pipe run. That's worked well for us so far these last 2 seasons. We removed and reinstalled the chimney/fastplug both seasons to keep it from rusting and plan to do the same this year. Others may have more solutions.

I already have the SS steam table pans. I'm just having a hard time picturing it... Do you have a camera?

Thanks for the reply!

[happy thoughts]

Wish I had some pics and even if I did I couldn't upload them. But here's something similar I found done by another forum poster that takes a little different approach. The pipe is set into concrete to make it's own block.

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?21905-Block-arch-designs&p=236821#post236821

I may actually try this when my current arch goes down and needs a rebuild. Hoping to get at least another year out of this one.

Good luck. Hope you can get something going for the season.

[Rangdale]

I use propane and have gotten it down to one tank of propane (typical 20lb propane grill tank) per gallon of syrup (unless it's really cold and then it takes about 1.25 or so). Of course I am not counting the 20 tanks of propane and various burners purchased while figuring the current method out!! It's still not as cheap as wood but if you aren't making a ton (we only made 5 gallons last year) it's not too bad. And it's pretty fast, we usually do a quart every afternoon after the kids get off the bus and it only takes 2 hours from start to finish.

[KGodshall]

Hey girmann, I just found this thread. Wish I had found it sooner.

I started off with 12 taps that were my father's and he wasn't using them anymore. At first, I only used 6 of them, but then I found another tree...... and then another, and then...... well, now I'm up to 25 taps and I found some MORE trees!!

I do my boiling on my woodstove. (Yep, I'm cheap.) I always have a pot of water there anyway, so I figured I'd put a steam pan on there and just let it simmer away.

Last year I did a total of 4 gallons of syrup, and, if it gets warm this year ever, I hope to do about the same.

Best thing about this site, is that there are some big time players here, and they willingly pass along their knowledge and experience. I'm a hobbyist and always will be, but I can take their intellect, apply it to my hobby and enjoy some high quality maple syrup and candy.

Best.

[KV Sappers]

I use propane and have gotten it down to one tank of propane (typical 20lb propane grill tank) per gallon of syrup (unless it's really cold and then it takes about 1.25 or so). Of course I am not counting the 20 tanks of propane and various burners purchased while figuring the current method out!! It's still not as cheap as wood but if you aren't making a ton (we only made 5 gallons last year) it's not too bad. And it's pretty fast, we usually do a quart every afternoon after the kids get off the bus and it only takes 2 hours from start to finish.
Rangdale , would you share your propane setup? Sounds like you have a good setup and it seems pretty fast. I'm using 3 propane burners and it takes me about 4 hrs to do a quart of syrup.

[Rangdale]

Absolutely. I have two of the cast iron 3 burner propane stoves (got them at Northern Tool) and a pan that is roughly 2x3. It's a home made pan that my father in law made up so it's not exact, more like 27x37 I think. Then I have a table that is covered in flashing that the burners sit on. Fashioned on top of the table but under the burners is my preheater which consists of roughly 18 feet of copper tubing. One end of the tubing goes to a hotel pan that is elevated above the pan and the other goes into the pan. The heat from under the pan heats the cold sap as the pan is boiling. It get's to dam near boiling about the time that I need to add sap so it works quite well. I fashioned some make shift blockers out of sheet metal that go around the bottom of the burners to help keep heat contained under the burners. Here is the picture of the preheater and table that I happen to have on my phone but can certainly post one of the entire thing if anyone would like.8703

[SDdave]

Rangdale could you post the entire thing? I would like to see it.

SDdave

[Rangdale]

Not the best picture (and still need to clean the pan) but you get the idea. Nothing fancy but works for us!8709

[KV Sappers]

Not the best picture (and still need to clean the pan) but you get the idea. Nothing fancy but works for us!8709

Thanks for sharing. Doesn't have to be fancy as long as it gets the job done.

[girmann]

Hey girmann, I just found this thread. Wish I had found it sooner.

I started off with 12 taps that were my father's and he wasn't using them anymore. At first, I only used 6 of them, but then I found another tree...... and then another, and then...... well, now I'm up to 25 taps and I found some MORE trees!!

I do my boiling on my woodstove. (Yep, I'm cheap.) I always have a pot of water there anyway, so I figured I'd put a steam pan on there and just let it simmer away.

Last year I did a total of 4 gallons of syrup, and, if it gets warm this year ever, I hope to do about the same.

Best thing about this site, is that there are some big time players here, and they willingly pass along their knowledge and experience. I'm a hobbyist and always will be, but I can take their intellect, apply it to my hobby and enjoy some high quality maple syrup and candy.

Best.

Hey KGodshall, welcome!

I can't imagine what it's like to come into a home that's used a wood stove to boil down... The sweet smell of syrup as you walk in the door...

I haven't tapped yet this year, but looking forward to the season!

[girmann]

Not the best picture (and still need to clean the pan) but you get the idea. Nothing fancy but works for us!8709

Rangdale,

That's AWESOME!!! I love the way the preheater is integrated with the table. Your pictures are fine... and I'd like to see more of them so that we could see more detail of how it goes together.

I wonder if there'd be a way to build that into an arch - or at least firebrick it to keep in more of the heat...

Yup - I haven't even started building mine and I'm already telling you how to modify yours... :emb:

[SDdave]

Rangdale, thanks for the picture post. Very helpful. What size of copper tubing did you use? I assume naturally vacuum/pressure allows it to flow thru, but do you have to prime it at all?

Thanks again,
SDdave

[Rangdale]

It's 1/2 inch copper tubing and it was a very technical process that went into choosing that size....I had it in my shed. No real priming needed. I just fill up the cold sap pan and then open the valve on the other end until it starts running into the pan. Since the pan is that much higher than the table it just naturally flows thru when the valve is open. I was worried that it might boil inside the copper tubing before it was time to add it to the pan but it seems to be okay. I will get a little sputtering and such when I open the valve but not much. The one problem I will have is what to do when I don't want to add any more sap into the pan. I have a drain valve underneath the fill valve so I'm thinking I can just cycle water thru during the last bit of boiling. I don't want any of the sugar that might be in there to burn and potentially throw off the taste.

[girmann]

Rangdale,

Got that Camp Chef double burner setup at Cabelas for <$100! Since wanted a dual pan setup, I just went with two, 6" deep 1/2 Steam tray pans (12.5"x10") It doesn't hold a ton of sap, but then again, I don't harvest much, either. Once I get it up and running, I'll post pictures.

I need to figure out how to make that pre-heater!

Girmann

[Rangdale]

Girmann,

I only start with about 4 gallons or so in my pan. This is the first year with the pre-heater and it works great. I kept the valve closed until the pan got up to boiling and opened it to just a trickle and it's constantly coming out at 180 degrees. It's hot enough to not effect the boil and just have to worry about keeping the cold sap pan full. It's still not the 8-10 gallons an hour of evaporation I'd like but think I'd have to go traditional to do that. Let me know how it goes!

[girmann]

Yeah, I think I'll start w/o the preheater and see what kind of evaporation rate I get. I'm guessing it's going to be in the 1-2gal/hr range. That's okay, since on a good day, I'm only harvesting between 5-8 gallons. How did you connect the copper pipes? Was lead solder good enough to keep the piping together, or did you have to use silver solder?

[Cabin]

The pans sit right on the burners (Not sure if that's the wrong thing to do, but it works for me) and they boil vigorously, so I have no complaints. The other thing I thought I had going for me is that it seems to be more surface area than a turkey fryer. But this is my uninformed, find something that works, trial-and-error evaporation method.

I'll see if I can find the book, thanks for the suggestion!

I started out with 5 taps. Preheater was the wood stove in the cabin and I used a large stainless stew pot on the fire ring outside for boiling. Got at best .5 gallon per hour and spent 30 hours straight boiling. Made a block arch this year that I can fit 4 steam table pans on(maybe next year I will afford a 2x4 pan) and have 26 taps out now and 8 more going in next weekend.

[Michael Greer]

Don't use lead solder. Period! Lead solder is for electrical connections, not food products.

[Rangdale]

Nope, I used silver solder, no lead. I think it cost me $12 for a small roll of it and it was more than enough. It doesn't take much solder per joint, about 1/2 inch. My evaporation rate is 5 gallons an hour which isn't too bad but 10 would be better!

[Michael Greer]

You'll be looking for more trees in no time.

[maplestudent]

You'll be looking for more trees in no time.

It is a never-ending search for one more tree.

[girmann]

Thanks! I've never done plumbing before, so I'm a bit worried about how it would come out. Sounds like a great way to start learning to do it, tho. Better learn to learn this way then to try to learn on pipes in the house.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

It is a never-ending search for one more tree.

LOL so true!! A huge 30" diamter one!!

[Rangdale]

Plumbing is pretty easy, the trick is to make sure you have clean joints. They sell a cool little combo wire brush for doing the inside and outside joints. Mine isn't super pretty but it doesn't leak!

[eustis22]

I've found that the sharkbite compression fittings take all the worry out of plumbing