First time trying....

[Wells maple]

Well I just started sugaring and that's exactly what I got!!! Evaporated about 3 gallons on the stove in the kitchen, got down to foamy syrup and pulled it of the heat. Checked the temp and hit about 222. Burnt my pinky and had sugar! hahaha... I'm hoping with a greater volume i'll be able to control it from running so hot so quick?? Living and learning I guess!

[Run Forest Run!]

Congratulations on your first maple product. You're now officially hooked. :)

[happy thoughts]

Welcome to the forum! This can be a really addicting hobby so be prepared:). How many taps do you have and will you be doing all your boiling in the house? That's probably not a good idea unless you like enough humidity to make it rain inside your house. :lol:

If you only have a couple of gallons to deal with at a time you might want to think about some other options for evaporating. The sap doesn't have to be boiled down completely to syrup every time you boil. You can concentrate batches to near syrup and combine them together for later finishing,

If you have a wood stove you can put pans of sap on it instead of a pot of water for humidity. I've also used crockpots with good results. Filled and left uncovered on high the volume will reduce by at least half in 10-12 hours. I used to fill them up at night to reduce while I slept. Anything you've evaporated below the boiling point should be brought to boil for 15 minutes or so on the stove to kill off any microbes that may have survived the low heat. You can then store it in the fridge in a clean container for a few days until you have enough to boil or evaporate off again.

Hope you learned your lesson about putting your fingers in hot syrup :) Good luck and have fun!

[Wells maple]

Thanks for the tip on the pinky thing. lol.. My neighbors and I built and arch out of a old 275 gallon oil tank and bought a way to expensive pan! :o We have far to many taps out for beginners, 65 on buckets. My neighbors are go big or go home kinda guys! LOL. I thought I would do a little test run in the kitchen tonight to see what was what, and have gain some knowledge. Thanks for the welcome to the forum, I'm sure i'll have many questions moving forward and I'm looking forward to learning and sharing this good time with my family and friends.