Sugar content??

[seanmacc]

First- this board & all of the help is GREAT and very much appreciated!

This is only my second year, and I'll admit that I'll probably find when the sap starts flowing again that I'm in too deep! No harm, it'll all tastes good in the end!

My question is- I've only made just under a gallon of syrup during two different short boils. It took me about 18 gallons of sap to make 4 1/2 pints of syrup the first time, and about 7 1/2 gallons to make just under a pint of syrup the second time. Not a fan of the lack of maple flavor, but the syrup looks great- very nice light amber. Last year, 5 gallons of sap would yield a pint, 10 would give a quart, and so on. Is anyone else noticing this? Again, being new, I assume that this is due to low sugar content? I do run all of the sap through a standard pop-on filer that I've placed over my bulk tank which all of the taps on tubing flows through. I also pour what I've collected from buckets into the same tank through the filter.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Will this improve as the season really starts to get going?

[vermontkyle]

There are a ton of factors that effect sugar content. I just bought a sap hydrometer and it is pretty interesting checking out different trees etc. as well as the sugar content when I remove a layer of ice from the buckets (about 3% as opposed to 2% normally).
An old sugar maker and I were talking about it yesterday and he is under the impression sugar content goes up as the season peaks-I don't know for sure. Also I know that the freshness of the sap has a fair amount to do with it as does whether it is a sugar maple or red maple etc (I assume you know this).
Trees also are different. There is a legendary tree somewhere in Vt. That is known as the 10% tree that has a whopping sugar content of 10% equalling about 10 gallons of sap for a gallon of syrup.
FYI I was looking through the states ag review magazine the other day and there were some pretty cheap 2x4 evaporators for sale in it if you are thinking of upgrading.
Good Luck,
Kyle

[seanmacc]

Now that I think about it, I started a little bit later in the season last year...might have had more sugar content in the sap at that point.

I tap all sugar maples, only have a few reds on the property of any size. Also, the sap had just run and I boiled it right away. I guess I'll find out more as the season progresses. I'll check into getting a sap hydrometer.

And that "magic tree?" Why can't we all have one of those?!

Thanks for the info!

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

Kinsley hill and kinsley rd. has some sweet trees on it. There was 3 or 4 that researchers tested that were in the 5.5 to 6% range. Bob White of Micro Spout company had a picture that he said was the sweetest tree in VT? A field tree out all by itself somewhere??

[seanmacc]

I boiled 6 gallons or sap the other night to test the theory again- first time since we went back to the "deep freeze." Those 6 gave me a full quart of syrup. Might be something to what vermontkyle had said about removing the ice from the bucket....I poured the sap from my bulk tank which consisted of the "thaw" of what had ran into it and froze a week or so ago. Most of it was still ice in the tank. If that held true all the time the sap to syrup ratio would be 24:1! Good thing I was watching it & didn't just trust my normal boiling times! Again, nice color. Still has sort of a "nutty" flavor, but I like the late stuff anyway. To me, the dark stuff's the gold!

I'm learning! Would still love to have a tree or two that would have that high sugar content! No matter what, I've started boiling at 5 this morning and have a feeling that I'll doing the same every night- all night!

[Daren]

Hey Sean....the extra time it takes makes the taste better if you ask me! (ok, not really, but it helps the mindset). How did your season end up? Are you still getting clear sap up that way. I am pretty familiar with that area as I have been hunting that area every year for the past twenty or so years. It tends to be a little colder a little earlier and also a little later than down here in Fletcher.

[seanmacc]

Daren....I agree- on both! Although there's always so much to do these days that I don't seem to find myself just "sugaring" this year. I get too anxious to take care of other things outside while checking in on the boiling consistently. When I can put other things aside, I find that this hobby is about the best thing next to finding a good spot on a knoll and sitting for hours during deer season!

If I fill my pan and let it boil down without adding anything, I'm getting a very nice, light syrup with pretty good flavor. Otherwise, medium amber. Last year I was on a mission to get what sap I had left at the end of the season boiled down and after boiling straight through an entire weekend, I ended up with syrup as dark as molasses with just about the best flavor I've ever had. Shared some pints of these with a bunch of people and now they're depending on more of the same this year!

Still some patches of snow here even after the 70 degree weather. You're right- late start, but the season lasts a little longer, too. We're up on the North Road- 5 or so miles. Oddly enough- I, too, have a wife that humors and tolerates it all!