Northeastern Catskill Mountains (Windham Area)

[ChromczakC]

Hi,

I just want to share that I tapped my trees yesterday with my daughter (21 months). We only live on 1 acre, but we have a big south facing hill with many sugar maples on it. Last year we produced more sap than we could boil with only 7 taps-- the syrup was excellent and we used up the last of it about a week ago. This year I build a cruse block arch thanks to the inspiration I got from some other members here on the forum. I borrowed some steam pans from my parents and tested it out yesterday and had a good boil going (just water). I'm really looking forward to the weather this coming week!

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[millscrest]

Great bonding time. I bring my 3 young boys with me every year and they can't wait to get started and have asked me to tap today. With the weather for this week I think I have to agree with them. Keep the traditon going for the kids.

[ChromczakC]

Thanks, I will!

[happy thoughts]

ChromczakC- What a sweet and precious picture of your daughter! That one made me really smile:) I think it would make a great avatar pic.

Best of luck this season and keep the tradition going and growing!

[ChromczakC]

It looks like I will get to boil enough to make a gallon of syrup this weekend. My wife picked me up a 55 gallon food grade barrel as a valentines day present!

[Run Forest Run!]

My wife picked me up a 55 gallon food grade barrel as a valentines day present!

You've got a real keeper there! I can't imagine a more perfect gift for you. :) My husband got an apple pie......my trees were frozen and there was no sap to collect so I had lots of time on my hands.

[ChromczakC]

Thanks!

Well, I spent yesterday boiling and learned a lot of tricks to using a block arch with two pans. It was fun having neighbors stop by and people waving as they drive by. I ended up finishing it today in the kitchen and I must have over boiled it because what I expected would be a gallon turned out to be 2 and a half quarts, and only one of the quarts is actual syrup-- the rest is sludgy sugar... I am going to get a hydrometer and thermometer. I wish I didn't over boil it, but oh well! It's still early and I'm expecting to get much more sap. I'll consider this the test run. I'm just glad I was able to use wood and didn't have to waste money on propane on a turkey fryer.

[ChromczakC]

I'm also getting a candy mold just in case I over boil again...

[JSEDLAK]

I did a small arch las year just like that, then we added a third pan, by the end of the season we had 4 pans. Be carefull transferring the hot sap, I got myself pretty hood last year. I ended up finding a couple 5'×6' stailess pans on here over the summer. I am looking to get rid of one. It leaks but can be fixed. I'm sure by next year you will be looking for bigger.

As far as the syrup goes, you should be able to pick up a digital thermometer at most grocery stores for about $10 just make sure you check the boiling point of water each day before you finish because the temp will change a little. Another way to tell is that the syrup will start to climb the sides of the pot and want to boil over when it is done. I too boiled all day saturday, got 3 gallons of fancy...which my wife was not very impressed with, she likes the grade b the most. Good luck with the next boil.

[sugar ED]

Thanks!

Well, I spent yesterday boiling and learned a lot of tricks to using a block arch with two pans. It was fun having neighbors stop by and people waving as they drive by. I ended up finishing it today in the kitchen and I must have over boiled it because what I expected would be a gallon turned out to be 2 and a half quarts, and only one of the quarts is actual syrup-- the rest is sludgy sugar... I am going to get a hydrometer and thermometer. I wish I didn't over boil it, but oh well! It's still early and I'm expecting to get much more sap. I'll consider this the test run. I'm just glad I was able to use wood and didn't have to waste money on propane on a turkey fryer.
Chromczakc (and only one of the quarts is actual syrup-- the rest is sludgy sugar..) .....Just add more fresh sap to your sludgy sugar and boil it back down and filter ,it will be like it didn't happen ! good luck sapping

[ChromczakC]

Thanks! It worked! I have another 55 gallons in the tank that needs to be boiled today.

[ChromczakC]

Well, I am certainly getting better at the finishing process. All went well today except it appears that I singed my eyebrows and eye lashes! My neighbor came over and helped out and all in all it was a good time. I made a little over a gallon of golden-amber syrup.

[ChromczakC]

Third boil was the charm! I started boiling late Sunday, 5:30pm till about 11:45pm before I quit. I boiled about 34 gallons and finished it tonight in the kitchen. The synthetic filter I got from leader evaporator worked excellent for filtering out the small stuff and the hydrometer is extremely helpful! I don't know what I was making before without it! I have around 80 gallons of sap waiting to be boiled and am just about out of storage space. Exhausted after work today, I really wasn't looking forward to staying up late to boil some more and to my rescue, my wonderful wife said she would pick me up another food grade 55 gallon barrel tomorrow! The plan now is to keep collecting the sap behind the shed (out of the sun light) and boil it up this Friday and Saturday. I'm also going to try making some maple candy too! What fun!

[ChromczakC]

The 4th boil was a long one and I quit after about 10 hours of boiling. This time I had 2 large pots and a cake pan resting on the sides of the block arch to pre warm the sap before i put it in my first pan. This method worked very well for me. I boiled down close to 60 gallons of sap and actually ran out of jars to store the syrup in. I decided to test out the new candy mold I bought with the method found here http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?8770-Maple-Candy-Recipe It worked great! I wish I had more molds. The syrup turned out to be a very nice amber with a very strong flavor. The synthetic filter and hydrometer once again were priceless for me and made the whole operation so much easier-- I'm thinking of testing out the stored sap that I made without the hydrometer to check to see if it is actually sap... I still have around 30 to 40 gallons left to boil in one of the storage tanks... I may save it for later today or tomorrow after work.