Black Walnut Syrup

[TonyL]

I posted this in the Indiana section, but thought I would stick it up here also as there have been a few questions in the past. It's sweet, with a hint of the walnut taste, at least to me. We got 29 of these 1.7 oz bottles of the stuff, not sure what we're going to do with it. The math came out to around 90:1. Very peculiar to filter, as it has a pectin(?) or something similar in it.....needs a coarse prefilter.

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u434/sprkplugphoto/2965CC75-4C40-43ED-9C8E-524D7E754BFA_zpsqvp0kcgn.png (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/sprkplugphoto/media/2965CC75-4C40-43ED-9C8E-524D7E754BFA_zpsqvp0kcgn.png.html)

[Run Forest Run!]

How cool. It's too bad you can't transport the taste through the internet for all of us to try.

[maple marc]

Tony, thanks for posting. I've been collecting and boiling my walnut sap from 10 trees--Slooooow boiling, on the back porch with steam pans at 2.5 gph. Don't want to combine it with maple. Good thing I don't have much sap. I'm logging my data for Cornell. My sugar is about half my maples, so I expect about a 80 or 90 to 1 ratio as well. It will be interesting to see how it goes through a filter press. Can't wait to taste it. GOLD!

Marc

[mantispid]

I make a small amount of walnut syrup every year. It's quite a treat! And yeah, there is some sort of polymerizing organic compound that gels up when you're boiling. Instead of sugar sand it has something that looks more like amber caviar which shows up in a pre-filter. It tastes good, too.

[Joe Meyer]

I boiled up my take from 6 black walnut taps on Saturday. Got about 13 oz. was all. The stuff left in the filter was almost like gelatin. I agree though with Mantispid, it does taste good too. Great little bottles TonyL. Where did you get them?

[TonyL]

Thanks all. Yeah, it's a bugger to filter. On a gravity setup it will plug a pre-filter right NOW. I think a coarse pre-filter would really help the process, will definitely experiment in this direction next year.

Gold is right! We only had 29 bottles of the stuff, and we're giving most away just so we can get some feedback. We do intend to sell a few, and they are almost all spoken for at $6.00 per 1.7oz bottle. The interest and curiosity for this stuff is crazy! I think we could get $8 per.

Joe, the nip bottles came from the same place we get our 12 oz syrup bottles....Fillmore Container.

[bawplank]

do you have to tap the walnut any different? the reason I ask is because I tapped walnut and maple and the maple gave me all the sap I could handle and the walnut never ran any.

[Hannah]

do you have to tap the walnut any different? the reason I ask is because I tapped walnut and maple and the maple gave me all the sap I could handle and the walnut never ran any.

Same here, I have a sizable walnut tree and put one tap on it out of curiousity and in four weeks I might have got half a gallon of sap from it.

[maplefarmer]

Tony, gathered 155 gal walnut sap last night, today combined it with our 18 gal we ro down to 14%, boiled and drew off about 1.5 gal. hoping to get a little more sap tom. to boil and then finish from the evap. the sap tested 1.75% from the trees, some trees had a full 5 gal bucket, some were almost dry. smelled very different while cooking, like an earthy smell, and several of us did taste tests most agreed like a buttery, nutty taste. one person said like a werthers, and 1 said tasted like graham cracker. def. different.

[Bucket Head]

I think it's too early still for the "other" syrups- at least in the northern states. I know birch syrup season comes after maple season. Sap moves in those tree's from root pressure, not stem pressure like a maple, so the temps. have to be above freezing, day and night I believe.

I'm am no expert on this subject by any means. Hopefully some folks with walnut/birch experience and/or knowledge will fully explain the sap movement on your tree's.

[TonyL]

Fantastic, maplefarmer! Agree on the smell while boiling....made me want to cock my head and look sideways at the pan a couple times. Not bad, just different. Very inconsistent flow also, just like you stated. Are your walnuts still running? We tapped back in January to catch a run, and ours have dried up.

Already looking to next year, and upping the tap count. It's good stuff, and interest is very high. Would love to try a black walnut version of "maple nuts", maybe using the BW nutmeats, or even a Black Walnut cream.

[Jeff S]

This is my second year tapping Black Walnut and it definitely does not have good flow, out of 32 trees tapped I will only get 5 gallons on a good day. Also agree with others about the gel that forms on top, looks disgusting but taste just like the finished syrup. My trees have been running between 2.5 - 3 %.

[Homespun]

Maybe Black Walnut sap production depends each individual tree? Overall, mine produce about 80% of the sap that my maples do. Mine tend to run on the days the maples don't. Their sugar content is 2-1/2% to 3-1/4% this year, vs the 2% to 2-1/2% sugar my maples produce.

[maple marc]

I made .54 gallons of walnut syrup from 10 taps and 35 gallons of sap. Brix ran about 1.5 compared to about 2.4 for my maples. Very interesting taste--like apple jelly. It was very difficult to filter. In fact, I wouldn't call it filtering. I tried to run it through a pre-filter and an orlon cone, but it wouldn't even get through the paper unless I squeezed it like a jelly bag. I think most went through the seams, so the syrup is very cloudy.

I would recommend using taps with very long shanks because of the thick and furrowed walnut bark. The cast aluminum Leader 5/16 spouts do not work well--the newer stainless steel spouts work much better.

I had visions of being a walnut producer, given that I have many more walnut trees here than maples (and prices I hear are being paid). But given the small production and the problems with filtering, I won't do it again. It was a fun experiment.

[Planethill]

Does Walnut sap go "buddy" like Maple sap does?

[802maple]

With maple I usually have or can get the answers, but I am finding this interesting. I talked to a guy a few days ago down in Springfield, Ma and he was saying that professional chef's pay as much as $60 dollars a pint for high grade walnut syrup. Don't ask me what high grade walnut syrup tastes like, because that was the first time I had even heard about it, and now I run across this thread.

[TonyL]

We have taken deposits on 4, 12 oz bottles of Black Walnut for next season. $50 per bottle, and they never even blinked. We intend to tap every walnut we can find. The stuff is amazing.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

last weekend I stopped by MES Tent and was talking with the guys. One of them said that (i cant remember which one walnut or birch) had more health benefits than maple, Some thing was said about a omega 3.

HEY 802 LONG TIME.

[Zucker Lager]

We have lots of paper birch here in far northern Wisconsin 20 % of our wood lot, and I've been seeing a few threads talking about tapping them but I'm not sure that would work in my area? Seems like the paper birch here if they get a wound they don't do well, heal up that is. Some in our area are getting a black fungus (Inonotus obliquus) that eventually kills them and it seems like trees that are wounded get it, a broken branch or skinned bark from a falling tree is enough to do that so I'm thinking a tap might do the tree in? Would like more information about tapping them if its safe? Would be fun to experiment. thanks Jay

[Ma&Pa-sapper]

My maples are producing very poorly so far this year because we are getting nights that are just too warm for good sap flow in southeastern Pa.

I had heard that black walnuts will run when the maples are marginal so I set 7 taps in some walnuts that are poor lumber at the bottom to see what I would get. Well yesterday my maples did not run at all, but the black walnuts averaged a half gallon per tap on gravity. I boiled some down to a concentrate on the stovetop and the flavor is good. The question I have for those of you who have made black walnut syrup before is at what temperature are you using for your end point?

[Jeff S]

I use the same reference point of 219*

[Ma&Pa-sapper]

Thanks Jeff! I had asked because as I was getting close to syrup it seemed to have a greater tendency to boil over than maple syrup does.

A little input for those that are not getting much sap production from their black walnuts. With black walnuts having such a thick and deeply furrowed bark when I tapped my first trees I drilled in the valley or thin part of the bark and set the taps as usual for a maple. When I drilled the sap started flowing immediately and profusely, however it slowed significantly once the taps were set. I wondered if the seating of the taps was compressing the wood too much where the sap flowed on a black walnut. As a test I tapped an additional tree but this time I drilled on the high thick portion of the bark and set the taps a little lighter. The hope was that the thick bark would still make the seal around the tap, but that the tap itself would not compress the sapwood. That tree produces half again more sap than the others and the thick bark does make a good seal without me having to go back and set them as hard as I usually do to seal.
This is just a couple of trees and your mileage may vary, but I would like to hear others thoughts and experiences with how they tap their walnuts.

[MidMichMaple]

Thanks for the tip. Tapped a black walnut today as an experiment and did it the same way you did on your first attempt. Sap started fast and slowed down, just like you said. I'll try it the other way and see how it goes.


Thanks Jeff! I had asked because as I was getting close to syrup it seemed to have a greater tendency to boil over than maple syrup does.

A little input for those that are not getting much sap production from their black walnuts. With black walnuts having such a thick and deeply furrowed bark when I tapped my first trees I drilled in the valley or thin part of the bark and set the taps as usual for a maple. When I drilled the sap started flowing immediately and profusely, however it slowed significantly once the taps were set. I wondered if the seating of the taps was compressing the wood too much where the sap flowed on a black walnut. As a test I tapped an additional tree but this time I drilled on the high thick portion of the bark and set the taps a little lighter. The hope was that the thick bark would still make the seal around the tap, but that the tap itself would not compress the sapwood. That tree produces half again more sap than the others and the thick bark does make a good seal without me having to go back and set them as hard as I usually do to seal.
This is just a couple of trees and your mileage may vary, but I would like to hear others thoughts and experiences with how they tap their walnuts.

[Michigan Maples]

Here's an interesting discussion on filtering the walnut sap/syrup. I've tapped 3 very large walnuts about a week ago, one tap each and have gotten around 1 gallon of sap so far.


http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?27343-Anyone-Tapping-Walnuts

[MidMichMaple]

Should the walnut sap be crystal clear like the maple sap? What I collected from the walnut today was slightly yellow. But I wonder if I didn't hit healthy sap wood? There was some dark shavings before I hit the light colored shavings when I tapped.

[adatesman]

As a data point, all of the walnut I've gotten this year (~30 gallons) has been a bit cloudy with a slight tint to it.

[wildlifewarrior]

@Zucker Lager

That chaga fetches quite a price! Look into it for selling for tea, it is a super food (well drink) like maple.

Sorry don't want to derail the thread. I would love to try some walnut syrup some time……some day!

Mike

[PA TAPPER]

Should the walnut sap be crystal clear like the maple sap? What I collected from the walnut today was slightly yellow. But I wonder if I didn't hit healthy sap wood? There was some dark shavings before I hit the light colored shavings when I tapped.

The first collection after tapping walnuts I see off color ( yellow or brown ) walnut sap in about 50 % of my buckets. After that it is as clear as maple sap. I toss out the off color sap the first time collecting.

[MidMichMaple]

Thanks. The walnut sap I got today was clear, so my experience seems to align with yours.

[Ma&Pa-sapper]

Thanks for the tip. Tapped a black walnut today as an experiment and did it the same way you did on your first attempt. Sap started fast and slowed down, just like you said. I'll try it the other way and see how it goes.
Glad it may have helped. So which method of tapping your walnuts seems to be working best for you MidMichMaple?