How many boil outside vs in some sort of structure

[mudr]

Hi guys and gals,
I am almost finished building my very "professional" looking evaporator for this upcoming season. It will be my first season on my own, but I helped my wife's uncle for a few years so I guess I shouldn't be completely lost. My evaporator is a barrel evap, well, double barrel evap, with four steam pans. Insulated, bricked, has a grate, and I put two wheels on it so I can move it outside to boil but back inside for storage in bad weather between boils (I may boil 1 or 2 times per week). Boiling outside brings me to my question: how many of you smaller producers, say, below 150 taps, boil outside vs indoors. I think this would be interesting to see. For those of you using tarps, tent canopies, or other temporary structures, I'd love to see some pictures for inspiration.

Let's see if I can figure out how to make a poll...

[asknupp]

First year inside.10326

[NhShaun]

As of right now i will be boiling in the wide open. But hopefully if time permits, i will be making some sort of structure to protect me from the elements.

I saw a few photos on this forum and saved them, i plan to build something similar to this guys. But it will stand alone in a field, probably covering 2 or 3 sides with some plywood or pine boards.
10327

[sugarin' in the hood]

This will be our first year inside, shack will be completed enough to boil in this spring. Can't wait!!!

[Cabin]

I set up a tarp and boil in the woods.10328

[3GoatHill]

Mine is technically a permanent structure, but barely. It's an old garage with an old leaky metal roof with enough holes in the walls that I almost don't need a roof vent, :lol:

[optionguru]

Outside for the last three years but this year we're hoping to have the new 14x16 sugar shack ready.

10331

[handtapper]

I moved inside last season. Best move I ever made.

[Pauly V]

1033210333

My first year sugaring. 10x16. Almost finished.

[Ausable]

Hey! - I've been making Maple Syrup for 20 years. At present - I have a 10'x14' Sugar Shack. I boil down to almost syrup in the Shack. Finish to Syrup Outside on a nice day and still can the syrup in the house. - So a mixed bag. When I first started - I boiled outside in snow - rain - wind and sometimes it was sunny and nice. But - I had my fill of outside in a hurry and hid behind 4'x8' sheets of chip board and under tarps. Although my Sugar Shack is a little rough looking - I love it and would not be without a Sugar Shack for boiling.

[maple flats]

My first year when I started with 29 taps and during the season expanded to 70 taps, I boiled under a vendor's type canopy, on a Half pint with the stack leaning out the back at about 15-20 degree towards and braced from a deck railing. That summer I started my 16 x 24 sugarhouse (which should have been enlarged 3-4 yrs. ago.

[Smitty8377]

I started out using an oil take that I had modified. Here is my current set up. I Use a 24X48 that I bought from Smokey Lake. Someday I'll move the operation indoors but I'm quite happy with my makeshift shelter made from a tarp in the meantime1033510336103371033810339

[wnybassman]

Boiled outside for 16 years. This will be my first year inside.


1034010341

[johnallin]

Also boiled outside from 2006 until 2010. Two years on a modified wood stove, two years on a half pint.
I was hooked hard by then, ordered a Leader 2x6 and and built the sugar house. Much better inside though...
103471034810349

[Bucket Head]

I never boiled a drop of sap indoors until last year. No shack, shanty, lean-to or tarp- but now we have a sugarhouse. We should have built it many years ago...

Steve

[adk1]

Never boiled outside. Converted my garage into my sugarhouse.

[RC Maple]

Knowing how many sunny days we have with no wind at all, I also never boiled a drop outdoors. I thought if I was going to do this I was going to be comfortable. I may have missed some of the "back to nature experience" but I never missed it.

[Sugarmaker]

I also have never boiled outdoors. Some of the sugarhouses I boiled in sure felt like I was outdoors! Between wind whipping through holes in the siding to condensate simulating a rain forest along with dirt floors with mud.
I am glad to be in a much improved sugarhouse. Looking forward to 2105 sugar season.
For the folks outdoors, good luck and have fun!
Regards,
Chris

[psparr]

I guess you can say indoors. But only 2 firewood walls.10352

[COMSTOCK MAPLES]

Started out on a woodstove in my garage. Then moved into a small shed that the 2x6 barely fit into. So built a more suitable sugar house for this year. 10353

[wagnerppw]

Inside with lights and hot and cold running water. :)

[Algonquin]

Outside for me, on a trailer to avoid being shut down by the town.10538

[TerryEspo]

I use a tent frame with a tarp over top, when the boiling gets serious and the arch is rocking I need to remove the tarp so I can see what is going on !!
105451054610547

Soon, I keep saying a permanent building.

Good luck everyone.

Terry

[The Sweet Spot]

Boiled outside for years, than went through the process of making a large enough sugar shack to handle all of the trees on our property. That's about 5000, game on. We will be at 1000 this year, on vaccum.

[WI Sugarpop]

We boiled outside from 1995 to 2008, then moved into our temporary shack with temporary arch from 2009 to 2011, then moved to our permanent shack with new evaporator from 2012 to the present. The outside wasn't done when we moved in. Sure is great being inside.




10571 10570

[Lukie]

1057310574Out side for three years here on inside and what a diffrence

[watsey]

Boiled outside last year on a small cement block arch with hotel pan. Moving into a neighbours sugarhouse this year. It hasn't been used in 60 years or so. Cleaned it up and had my brother make me a 2 x 3 flat pan to sit on the existing block arch. Going from 8 taps to 60. That is if spring will ever get here. Long term forecast is saying colder than usual into late March...

[dblact38]

I boil outside, I try to keep it simple right now. Have my neighbors stop by for a drink, and still play with my kids outside.

[ScottyWelden]

I am quite excited for my first season--so excited that I moved my cinder-block evaporator into the shed. Thank God I did--there's over two feet of snow on the ground in CT.:(

[Spartazoo]

I have been able to make a 10x10 Ez-Up awning very comfortable for boiling. It has worked better than I would have guessed.

[jrm]

This is my 2nd year boiling outside. After first boil last year used makeshift tarps for wind protection -- until I melted two on the stack. This year will use crazy high snow banks to help as wind barriers, plus some tarping.

Really small scale... 2014 3 taps. This year tapping 7-8. Barrel evaporator.

[CampHamp]

Started in my wife's 6x8 greenhouse and now have a proper shack. We're both much happier! :D

1079210793

[PloverTown]

11426 11427 11430

First year at it, completely outside. I finish in a small pan on my deck or in the garage, depending on the weather. Building a garden shed in a few weeks, and I'm planning to build an overhang off one side where I can set up the stove, so next year I'll slightly less exposed.

[brikel]

11663
Boiled under roof this year sure was nice

[fishman]

80 taps and boil in a 16x16' 3 sided lean to. Left the front open so I could vent the steam plus I can park the mower and the tractor inside for all but the 3-4 weeks of sugar season.

[Cedar Eater]

This is my first year boiling and this is where I boiled. 11668

I really love the convenience of having the boil just a few steps away from my kitchen, but I plan on having a separate shack next year for wood fired boiling. It might be a multi-purpose (high tunnel, tractor garage, sugar shack) building.

[MichtonTree]

My first year and it was outside, with a temporary shelter to keep the snow or rain out....and it did snow.

11670

[Jswanson]

Not quite inside yet but definitely under cover, Built a 14 X 22 Lean to type shed open on 3 sides. Will close it in as time and resources allow.

[DaveB]

1033210333

My first year sugaring. 10x16. Almost finished.

Your sugar house looks like my design only mine opens up on the other side. I like the windows - something I'm lacking.

I started outdoors and added a canopy on days when it would rain. When I moved to propane burners I would move it on my porch during inclimate weather and then finally I built a 12x16' sugar house that I finally hope to complete this summer/fall.

[Shaun]

This was my first year inside. 4 years prior I was outside with no shelter, it did not seem that bad. This year the weather seemed windy,rainy and just terrible. Never was so happy to be inside. Only thing I missed is staying a little cooler on those last few days of the season. Face is well done on those days.

[tekwind]

11744
I built a temp shelter out of pallets so I can still boil down in rain or snow. The "roof" was on hinges so I can open up completely in the nice weather! Looking to build a permanent shack.


2015 - 46 taps ; 10 gallons of awesome syrup - converted wood stove with extension, 6 hotel pans.

[scottdevine]

Getting ready for my first season and very excited. Depressed weather is unusually warm, but it's bittersweet as it is allowing me to finish my repurposed pallet shackhttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/24/5ff0ff762e87f2df6f915102755ecd7e.jpg evaporator had first test burn and I will be cutting in the trays in 2 weekshttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/24/c93ec32df8e7df5217e1f7b154204187.jpg I'll post again when everything is done and tarps are up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bill@mysticmaple]

Last year we started boiling after several year hiatus. Boiled outside on home made flat pans and an oil tank arch, 35 buckets. This year about 70 taps on gravity, hybrid pan under a pavilion roof.

[TooManyIrons...]

As usual, none of the poll choices perfectly apply to me. For some reason I always have to be different, I always end up being the "none of the above" person. Although this time perhaps "a combination of the above" would better apply. LOL

My homemade arch is located outdoors but in a permanent location. I have a basic but permanent shanty roof over the arch so I can continue to process during rain or snow. I have two "walls" that are temporary - I use two prefab fence sections for wind screens. They are temporarily staked in place and can be easily moved if the wind direction changes.

I love all the photos of members' shacks, you all can count me jealous. ;-) I would love to build a shack but the expense is not justifiable for me. My goal and challenge has always been to produce the best quality syrup for the least cost, and so far I have consistently been winning the local bragging rights for this contest (nobody has come close to how little I have invested). I do not sell syrup (I give it away as gifts) and I am not interested in another expensive hobby, so no shack for me.

[Noseguard76]

1st year outside with a half-pint set up in the woods. Will use a pop-up tent if it rains. 1/2 pint and fire wood covered with a tarp when not in use. Can't justify the cost of a permanent shelter since I have no plans to sell, will just give what ever is made to friends and family. Boiling for a good time.

[bill in il]

I run about 100 taps. My sugar shack is an old unused 1000 bushel grain bin. I set it up that way my second year when I built me a 2x6 arch thanks to help from this site. I have a fan at the top fill door to draw out the steam. Works pretty well for my small operation.

[Cedar Eater]

My plan for next year sprang from some of the ideas I've seen on this site. I plan to build a firewood drying shed with open walls, except maybe for the short wall that will face my outdoor wood fired boiler, which would have a sliding 4' wide barn door. So it will be like a pavillion with a shed roof, 12 X 16 with a 12 ft high wall on the east long side and an 8' high wall on the west long side. Then I'll fill it with firewood stacked to the rafters and racked with cedar blowdowns to keep the stacks from toppling, but arranged so that I can hollow out the center as I burn wood to heat my home and leave stable walls of firewood around the sides. Come February, I'll move my sugar dryer in and maybe build some fires in it to dry some of the wood for evaporating. If I have to, I'll add tarps or whatever to the insides of the firewood walls. This is my plan. We'll see if it happens.

[Schroomer]

2018 is my first year sugaring (at 63 years old) and I am soooo hooked. I built a home made arch with a wood stove door, and SS shelf/w 3 hotel 4" steam pans. Used a turkey fryer and a 7 gallon pot to preheat. One steam pan I installed handles. Tapped 12 trees, 20 taps, 185 gallons of sap. Did 3 boils and ended with 4.9 gallons of syrup. Learned lots of lessons about niter.

I have not had anything get me so pumped as 12 hours in 10 degree weather with 20 mph winds while making amazing maple syrup. I can't freakin wait until next year.

18435

[highlandcattle]

Ron's sugar shack this year is his one car garage. Right next to the house. Concrete floor with drain. Windows,electric, all his tools. Confiscated my nice antique barrel chair and watches his Kindle.Sipping coffee and having a nice time. Long ago on the farm,on an old box stove in the yard,tarps,put up a small shack,added on a couple times.

[Sinzibuckwud]

We were outside for several years and don't miss it weather was always an issue it seemed.
Had to cut a couple hemlocks and a white pine down for a new septic a few years back. Had a friend mill the wood with his homemade mill built on a trailer, his old 54 Ford tractor got it out to the build site. I'll batton it once this year's addition to the front is done. Don't want to step out in February and don't want to step in during late March. No doors or windows so I'm only getting taxed on an unfinished structure :lol:
Salvaged roofing, made my own brackets, had plenty of nails and lag bolts from scrapping over the years.
18442 first year
18443 this year with lean-to for wood.
Not bad for the price of two tanks of gas.

[red dorakeen]

This is an old poll and I'm not sure how I voted since I've gone from no shelter, to a temporary shelter, to a sugar shack.

[georgelineman]

2x3 divided flat pan on home made davy jones style home made arch.Boil outdoors.. 84 taps 40 on 3/16. 44 on buckets. And staying outdoors I like it that way. just a small roof over the evaporator to keep the snow and rain out of the boil.

[Trapper2]

Never boiled a drop inside in 25 years. See the picture progression, I assume someday I will take that step though.18458184591846018461

[Trapper2]

18462184631846418465

I do have a door now but we still like to run an hour at night with it open for nostalgic reasons. Lol And the box is sealed without flames shooting out of it.

[JimSeyMN]

18478 3 years trying, always outside. This year boiling in the snow. . . . Amazing to watch the steam go to snow! (Why is the photo upside down?)