New girl from Canada, eh?

[Galena]

Hello all

Saw this site yesterday while googling for ideas on how to clarify a cloudy batch. Though I am very much a hobbyist - most members here seem to have very large-scale operations - my tiny sugarbush can yield a helluva lot of sap, and my extremely primitive setup produces nice clear syrup...most of the time, anyway! I do not sell it commercially but do give it to friends and on occasion, swap a jar online for similar regional specialties - ie a jar of sorghum molasses from a friend in Missouri.

In terms of location I am approximately 60 km southeast of Ottawa, Ontario. Ogdensburg is the closest American town to me, approximately 30 minutes' drive from me, just across the bridge in Johnstown, upper NY.

So thought I'd stick my head in here and say hi before I go jump into the forums. Bye for now!

[spud]

Welcome Galena,

I think you will find Maple Trader to be very helpful. I wish you the best in your sugaring season.

Spud

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Welcome aboard. Just a river and a couple of miles between us. Maple trader has all sizes of operations so you won't be alone.

[Galena]

Thanks for the nice welcome, and I am ecstatic. My trees are producing again - I didn't pull the taps last week, as I felt sure that once the more seasonal weather returned, so would the sap. And it has! Not a lot, only 1/2 gallon but seeing that's from only 12 taps in 4 trees...yep, I think I'll get a couple more gallons or so before those trees start to bud. Just finished filtering out the bugs and crud. Heading into Ottawa for the day so won't boil down til I get a bit more, meantime will store today's collection in the fridge.

[Maplebrook]

Welcome to Mapletrader, fellow Canadian!

Darren

[Clarkfield Farms]

Welcome! Galena -- means "chicken?" Or have I got that mixed up with something else as usual.... like I should talk, with MY username!!!:emb:

[Galena]

Welcome! Galena -- means "chicken?" Or have I got that mixed up with something else as usual.... like I should talk, with MY username!!!:emb:

Actually you're right...according to my bf's Mom, who is Italian, Galena does indeed mean 'little chicken'...hell I dunno, it's the name of one of my cats. She came with that name, and I thought it would be cool :-)

[highlandcattle]

Yeah, another woman! Welcome. I joined up with my husband a while back. Good advice, some laughs, lots of info. Enjoy. We have a very small operation, but it's on our farm and we are too old for anything bigger. Keeps the farm in ag use and my husband out of the house during a good part of the year! Actually we make a good team. We sell at our farm, farmer's markets and local events. You always get to meet a great variety of people. Keep posting!

[Galena]

Yes, I thought this site needed more female presences. Very happy as my sap is running again after last week's freakazoid thaw. The trees were off for 4 days but my sugar maples with taps in have yet to bud, so left in the spiles. Some of the spiles have gone dry but the remaining ones are staying good.

[DonMcJr]

Welcome! Sure wish my SAP was running still...I Hung on and kept some taps in and it looks like its not gonna happen...:cry:

[Galena]

Hey all

I don't yet know how to post images in threads and don't want to get lost in the galleries. As I belong to DPChallenge.com and I am familiar with the sizes etc on which to post images there, I put up a couple images there of this year's batch and a shot for colour comparison from both this year's batch and last year's. Below the photos is a box with photographer's comments, that's where you can read about what you are looking at.

http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=1007184
http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=1007185

And by all means if I am violating protocol by posting images here, please let me know.

Thanks

[CBOYER]

will be funny to see a guy open the Sleeman bottle and take a good swig...:o

[Galena]

LOL not planning on letting that Sleeman bottle get in the wrong hands!!! :-0

Does anyone else get syrup like that? And how would it be graded if it was produced in large enough quantities to be marketed?

[CBOYER]

check this site:

http://www.siropderable.ca/Afficher.aspx?page=149&langue=en

to check the color, put a sample in a 1" dia. bottle

[Ausable]

Hey - Thanks for posting the grading scale - have that in my favorites list now. During the Sugarin Season - I usually come up with different colors with each boil and it is nice to know how they are rated. Part of the problem is - I leave my evaporator pans sweetened between boils and being the pans are not stainless my syrup continues to darken from the pans and changing sap conditions. I like the subtle differences in the taste too. ---Mike----

[CBOYER]

remember that is a reference, color on a computer screen could be very different than reality..but that explain the Canadian or Québec way to grade syrup

[Galena]

remember that is a reference, color on a computer screen could be very different than reality..but that explain the Canadian or Québec way to grade syrup

Good thing I'm a photographer and have a monitor calibrator, so I can probably get a fairly accurate idea as to what grade my *honey* syrup is!

I take that by sweetening the evaporator pans between boils, you mean that you don't rinse out any remaining sap from the previous boil...correct? Just curious because my 1st batch was a somewhat light amber, the 2nd a good bit darker, then the 3rd a clear honey gold. Batch 4 is a near match to 2, and 5th is my ugly stepchild batch...*sigh*...I suspect that adding about a gallon of sap might possibly help it clear, but don't know how much more I will get from my trees, and if I really want to try and salvage that batch.

[Ausable]

Hi Galena - I would guess that you are Batch Boiling and I did the very same thing for many years. When I batch boiled - I would get some fantastic light colored syrup. Usually the darker syrup would come later with changing sap conditions. The last few years I have been boiling on a small (2' x 5') - home made - continuous flow evaporator. My Son (Machinist) and Grandson (Welder) decided it was time I became more efficient at Syrup making and build it for me. When You start the Season on a continuous flow (Pans divided into sections and sap snakes through - the idea is sap goes into the start of the sap section and come out of the final section of the syrup pan as syrup) You flood the whold thing with sap to about 1 1/2" to 2" deep and boil and boil like a batch pan and when the level starts going down add more sap to maintain your level. Now with a batch pan - the whole thing starts getting more like syrup as you progress and finally you stop adding sap and keep boiling to you have near syrup and pour it off to finish later. On a Continuous flow you keep feeding sap and as you progress - in the final section of the syrup pan you will have almost syrup and you can test it and start to draw off some - but in the sap section where you add sap it is still sap. Now here is the difference - When batch boiling - when you are done - you are done... On a continuous flow - to be more efficient on future boils - You leave your pans sweetened - Which means in my case - As the fire dies - I insert isolation plugs - my sap pan is isolated from my syrup pan and my first two syrup sections are isolated from my last syrup section with about 1 1/2" of liquid this keeps them from blending together as things cool down.....But when I have more sap and fire up to boil again - I pickup - right where I left off on the last boil and as things start boiling good I remove the Isolation Plugs and away we go and my first near syrup drawoff is about 30 minutes after I start boiling - More efficient - but - takes a lot more sap to keep it going. Now My Son and Grandsons haul up additional sap for me to boil. LOL - I hope I didn't bore You with all of this - cause I don't know what You know or don't know. I left a lot out - cause most have heard it all before... Good Luck ---Mike---

[CBOYER]

I could add this: 2012 is a weird season, syrup color change at every boil, going from clear to dark, came back to clear, etc.

[Galena]

Hey all

Hmm sorry, don't know what happened to that post I put up a couple days ago...thanks Mike, for the lengthy explanation, I definitely am a batch boiler by the sounds of it. And yep, my syrup has gone from light to dark and now the flavour's getting molassesy...so my last batch, #6, is a nice light amber-gold but has a definite hit of molasses on the back of the tongue! And two of my trees are still steadily producing nice clear sap. Pulled the spiles on my other two as the spiles went dry, they've done their share for the year.

[Ausable]

Sorry for the long reply. Always someone new that reads the posts and benefits. Hey - glad You made some good syrup. My final batch was very dark and a heavier maple flavor then the first couple I ran - funny how the Maple syrup varies. All good though. Best of Luck ---Mike---

[Shawn]

Welcome to the site! We started small and still am compared to other's. This year we put out 250 taps with 89 on pipeline gravity feed. We have made mistakes and have learned from others and taken many a tips also. Last year was a good year with forty gallons and this year twenty, but being a hobby you will find you will grow. We do not sell our syrup either. With four of us involved we go the old one for you, one for me bit, and give it to family and friends. I have found its a year round hobby with everything you do and to get ready. We were lucky enough that one of the guys is a welder and made our arch that looks and works like the the thousands of dollar ones only this one was free and he enjoys it. Keep coming back.:)