First time boiling

[The Fireman]

Hello all

First post too. My wife and I decided on a whim last weekend to tap a few of our big maples here in central NY, had a lot of fun collecting sap over the past few days and enjoyed our first boil yesterday afternoon. I decided as we got close to 7 gallons of sap on sunday that I'd need a bigger storage space, so since I had a brand new 65 gallon tank that I picked up last spring and never used I figured that might be just the ticket if I burried it in the snow bank on the front porch. Worked like a champ and collected about 20 gallons by yesterday afternoon off 7 trees.

Once the rain let up it was time to light the fire and start the boiling, I had no idea how long it would take but since I had all night and pleanty of good dry hickory and maple firewood and an improvised fire ring built from fire brick I got from work I was ready to go.

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I lit the fire at 3:30 and with in half an hr I had both pots rolling now to just keep adding sap and feeding the fire....and cook some sausages for dinner, cant let a good fire go with out dinner. After boiling for 5 hrs I had my 20 gallons of sap worked down to a little less than a gallon before transferring it inside to finish it off on the stove.

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2 hrs later and one screwed up meat thermometer later...next time I read the instructions that say do not submerge the probe first I had what looked and tasted like maple syrup. I was at 214* when the thermometer stopped working and went for quite sometime after that to get to where it seemed to sheet off the spoon. In the end we got 5 pints out of about 20 gallons of sap I'm not sure if I should have boiled it longer or if thats about right but I didn't want to take a chance on burning it either.

Just finished off a whole mess of pancakes what a good feeling to taste our own syrup for the first time, thank you so much for all the information on this great forum. I did a lot of reading before I started boiling and having that fresh in my head made the process a lot more fun. Cant wait to have the enough sap for another run.

[Run Forest Run!]

Great job!! Wasn't that fun?! :D ...........another one hooked.

[optionguru]

Welcome to the addiction. I would spend the $30 and get a hydrometer. I used many candy thermometers and got varied results before stepping up. Now there's no question, syrup every time. Good luck.

[The Fireman]

Thanks, most definitely hooked, already planning on a few more taps next year and building a stainless pan with some sort of a draw off tap over the summer.

A hydrometer is also high on the list, been researching trying to decide whats best for a small hobby operation. sure is a relaxing way to spend some time outdoors in the early spring.

[ronintank]

I started on a whim 3 years ago and am fully addicted now.
I plan on building a little bigger and better each year so I don't go broke all at ounce.

[crazyjackcsa]

Welcome! I started 4 years ago with a single tap. Now all my trees are tapped and so are my nieghbours! 19 taps in total. You'll be looking around for more trees next year, that's for sure!

[The Fireman]

Oh yeah, I've got my eye on several nice cantidates for next year already that are right along my driveway, if I decide to venture further into the woods I could tap around 100 trees on our proporty so plenty of room expand in the future

[Swagner]

Your right on the fact thats it's a great thing to do at the end of winter beginning of spring. Nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air. The good thing is if you find after it cools you want it a little thicker you can reheat it. I prefer mine to be more like honey consistency so I go a little above and beyond the norm. Another great way to tell when it's getting close it to watch the bubbles. As it nears finished syrup the will get bigger and shiny looking. Good luck it's a great addiction.

[The Fireman]

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to pay more attention to the bubbles as it gets close next time as well. also going to have to try to get it a little thicker next time too, not going to mess with this batch as it tastes good and I don't want to take a chance on messing it up just wish it had come out a little thicker as it soaks into the pancakes a little quick.

Haven't collected any sap since Tuesday, the weather got cold again and everything is froze solid, makes me glad I didn't wait until today to boil I wouldn't have been able to get anything out of my tank.

[kiteflyingeek]

Welcome to the addiction!! Glad you had fun and are ready for more work because this hobby, I mean addiction, will take lots of work. It goes something like, "we'll, if I only tap 20 more trees than last year, I only get another 4 gallons of syrup. So, I'd better tap another 40 trees because I need the extra syrup to sell/give away." Well, that is what happens to some of us anyways :lol:

You can always use this thin syrup as part of your energy drink replacement -- that's one of my uses for my syrup. But I have to water it down more than you will since I find straight syrup is a little too thick to drink.

--andrew