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D and D Sugar Camp
01-30-2016, 03:18 PM
We are finishing up a small batch today,started with 34 gallon of sap collected this week. Almost done . I let everyone know what I end up with.

PA TAPPER
01-30-2016, 08:35 PM
Yes , I boiled 55 gallon of sap this morning. Sugar content at 2.0 percent. Nice butterscotch flavor. 605 gallon of sap boiled so far since tapping January 1st.

D and D Sugar Camp
01-31-2016, 08:39 AM
Sounds like you had a good day. We ended up with .75 gallons from the 34 gallon we started with yesterday. My tubing is running today and I added 9 taps yesterday all on 3/16 . Looks like a good week ahead. Attached is a picture of our small batch, real nice syrup with a great flavor. Have a great week everyone.1271212712

pennslytucky
01-31-2016, 08:52 AM
Yesterday I expected it to run, but when I got home at 3:30, the tanks were overflowing and sap was running down the hill! I boiled till 11 last night. Running hard still this morning. Looks like a great week coming

Run Forest Run!
01-31-2016, 10:21 AM
Beautiful looking syrup D&D. I especially like your quilted mason jars. We can't get them up here, so my sister was nice enough to bring me a box when she visited from NY. I never give those ones away.

D and D Sugar Camp
01-31-2016, 10:52 AM
Good to hear from you Run Forest Run, and thank you . Our local grocery store usually carries the quilted jars. By the way it's close to 50 deg. Here today and my 3/16:gravity is flowing awesome. Have a great week.

Run Forest Run!
01-31-2016, 10:55 AM
Same temperatures here today and the twigs are dripping like mad. I'll be living vicariously through you for a couple of weeks until it's the proper time for tapping up here.

D and D Sugar Camp
01-31-2016, 04:23 PM
Had 22 gallon of sap at noon and decided to boil it. Couldn't pass up the nice weather. Looks like it will probably run all night.

D and D Sugar Camp
01-31-2016, 07:42 PM
Just finished, 1/2 gallon of light amber.

PA TAPPER
01-31-2016, 09:48 PM
I boiled 75 gallon of sap this evening. Sugar content at 1.6 percent. Same nice butterscotch flavor. 680 gallon of sap boiled so far since tapping January 1st.

5050racing
02-01-2016, 06:05 PM
All nice everyone,I just tapped in nj ran yesterday but stopped now need a freeze,still more taps to install no rush now.

PA TAPPER
02-01-2016, 11:19 PM
I boiled 65 gallon of sap tonight . ( OOPS I mean yesterday , after Midnight ) Sugar content still at 1.6 percent. Mild butterscotch flavor. 745 gallon of Maple sap boiled since tapping January 1st.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-05-2016, 04:57 PM
Collected 90 gallons of sap this week. Started boiling at 5pm after work. Boiling on!!!

PA TAPPER
02-05-2016, 08:50 PM
I boiled 70 gallon of sap Feb 3rd. Sugar content was 1.2 percent. Dark Syrup . 815 gallon of sap boiled so far since tapping January 1st.
Collected 85 more gallon of sap tonight. Will boil tomorrow.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-06-2016, 08:13 AM
Back to boiling this morning, I quit last night around 10pm. 64 gallons to go .

Sugarmaker
02-06-2016, 10:16 AM
Tapped last night and this morning. Will finish tapping this afternoon. Then we shall see. I think all my systems are ready to go.
Regards,
Chris

Jim Brown
02-06-2016, 11:18 AM
Supposed to get wicked cold middle to end of next week. We will tap after the next cold spell
Jim

PA TAPPER
02-06-2016, 03:01 PM
This morning I boiled 85 gallon of sap I collected yesterday. Sugar content was 1.0 percent. Dark Syrup . 900 gallon of sap boiled so far since tapping January 1st.

Had a good freeze overnight so that should help sugar content. Had only ( 3 of my 7 ) 3/16" lines running for past week. I was sure I had some squirrel chews until today when all 7 lines are flowing like CRAZY ! Vac at 25 - 30" , Solid streams exiting tubing at tank with very few bubbles. Guess my trees were like some girls. Won't give it up until conditions are perfect.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-07-2016, 08:07 AM
Boiled 95 gallons of sap yesterday and ended up with 2.25 gallons of a nice amber colored syurp. 2.3 % if my math is correct, someone check me on that,it was a late night . Finished up everything around 3am. Wish everyone a good week. Go Broncos!!!

D and D Sugar Camp
02-08-2016, 06:03 PM
We collected around 80 gallon sap since Sunday, unfortunately when I got home from work this afternoon one of my collection barrels was overflowing, no idea how much we lost today, we emptied it at 5 pm last evening. Started to boil at 5:30 pm going to boil tonight and tomorrow. Looks like winter is coming back for a little while.

pennslytucky
02-08-2016, 06:46 PM
overflowed here today too again... time for a better collection system.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-08-2016, 08:57 PM
I seem to be getting more sap since l reconfigured and went the 3/16 tubing. Weather was alot nicer than was forecast. Caught me off gaurd. Can't complain too much I didn't tap in til 2/7 last year. We'll ahead of last year's pace this season so far.

PA TAPPER
02-09-2016, 05:25 PM
Collected 280 Gallon on Sunday. Yesterday evening I boiled 110 gallon of sap. . Sugar content was 1.1 percent. Dark Syrup . 1010 gallon of sap boiled so far since tapping January 1st. Boiling again tonight ... gotta go !

psparr
02-09-2016, 05:39 PM
Collected 280 Gallon on Sunday. Yesterday evening I boiled 110 gallon of sap. . Sugar content was 1.1 percent. Dark Syrup . 1010 gallon of sap boiled so far since tapping January 1st. Boiling again tonight ... gotta go !

Told ya you'd be drowning.

Sugarmaker
02-10-2016, 10:27 AM
Folks,
Boiled about 2000 gal of 2%+ sap in the last two days. Made somewhere around 30-35 gallons of syrup, plus whats still in the rig. All Amber grade.
Was able to get over and see Keith Talbot Boiling on his 2.5 x 7 rig. Very smooth operation!
Regards,
Chris

PA TAPPER
02-10-2016, 11:23 PM
Yesterday evening I boiled 60 gallon of sap. Tonight I boiled 110 gallon. Sugar content was 1.2 percent ( see below ) . Dark Syrup . 1180 gallon of sap boiled so far since tapping January 1st.
Found out tonight that my 2 month old CDL brand "State Certified" sap hydrometer reads Minus .4 % with plain water .... What's with that ? Red line in glass lies up with Zero so I'm thinking paper scale did not move ....... Guess my real sugar percentages were .4% higher than I thought .....

Finished my last boil with maple sap tonight. Moving onto Black walnut after weekend deep freeze is over.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-11-2016, 05:08 PM
80 gllon boil on Tuesday produced 1.3 gal of amber syurp. 1.5%, not sure why the sugar content was down,weather was good and syurp was pretty light in color. I have 25 gallons of sap from the same run,going to see on Saturday if I may have miss measured my sap quantity from Tuesday.

5050racing
02-11-2016, 05:29 PM
Same here in northern N.J. 110gal yielded 1.3gal syrup so your not that bad!!

D and D Sugar Camp
02-12-2016, 05:14 PM
Just started to boil the 25 gallon of sap I didn't get to on Tuesday. This should tell me if the last batch had low sugar or if I made a mistake when on my amount of sap I boiled on Tuesday. Time will tell. I hope it was me , I have been averaging 2.3%. Man its Cold!!!

D and D Sugar Camp
02-13-2016, 11:22 AM
I guess it was low sugar. 25 gallons of sap made .40 gallons of syrup. 1.6% . It was the same sap from the good run we had on Monday and Tuesday. Looks good for the end of the week and weekend. Syrup was amber.Stay warm and have a good week

D and D Sugar Camp
02-21-2016, 08:24 AM
Collected nearly 80 gallons of sap since late Friday, when things finally thawed out again. Just started to boil at around 9am. Sap still running this morning. I'm hoping the sugar content is better than my last batch. If you boiled or tested yesterday in Pa ,what percentages are you seeing for this last run?

Sugarmaker
02-21-2016, 03:09 PM
Folks,
We have had a couple good runs. Yesterday we got 800 gallons of sap and pushed through some syrup from the last shut down. We made 20 gallons of amber in 6 hours. Still boiling raw sap ate around 140 GPH. Another 240 gallons of sap today and we made 3.5 gallons.
Regards,
Chris

PA TAPPER
02-22-2016, 06:43 AM
Collected 205 gallon of 1.3 % sap yesterday. 70 gal walnut and 135 gal maple. Decided to boil them together. Makes a very interesting syrup! Walnut flavor comes right thru maple. Just have to see if the taste remains the same after packaging. Walnut tends to boil up and over in final syrup pan if not watched like a hawk.

Sugarmaker
02-22-2016, 07:14 AM
Froze up here this morning. Should reset the maple runs.
Need some rain to get things going.
Regards,
Chris

adatesman
02-22-2016, 08:54 AM
I'm just outside Philly and boiled down 80gal of maple and 30 gal of walnut on Friday. Yesterday (Sunday) was another 60gal of maple and 15 gal of walnut. Maple was running ~2.4%, which seems high given it was all Norway maple and the walnut ~1.5%. Buds are looking big (the second pair of petals on the buds have parted), so I suspect that may be the last of it for me.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-22-2016, 05:41 PM
Boiled off 64 gallons yesterday,which produced 1.3gls of syrup. 2% no complaints. Collected 40 plus gallons of water today. Still running strong at 5pm. Should be a decent week if you can trust the weatherman.

Run Forest Run!
02-22-2016, 05:47 PM
D&D, I can't believe that you've ALREADY made 6.5 gallons! Those propane burners must be running red hot 24 hours a day!! What a great start to your season. :D

deerslammer
02-22-2016, 08:59 PM
The saps been flowing like crazy for days now. I've done 2 straight days of boiling and will boil again tomorrow, I have canned 1&1/2 gallons of the best tasting syrup you could imagine.

Sugarmaker
02-23-2016, 07:28 AM
Sap run snuck up on us last evening. Another 15 gallons of amber syrup made from our sap and two neighbors sap combined. Sugar content is still at or above 2%. 600 gallons of sap boiled in 4 hours.
Fighting off a cold. Should be a good run this p.m. and into Wed.
Beautiful morning!
Regards,
Chris

PA TAPPER
02-23-2016, 11:44 PM
Boiled 175 Gallon combination maple/walnut sap Sunday, 70 gal tonight and more to boil tomorrow evening.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-25-2016, 12:19 PM
RFR did you get started yet? We're enjoying the early start compared to last year. We have to credit the weather and the switch over to 3/16 tubing, it's is impressive how well it works. No more buckets for us. Glad to hear from you ,let us know how your season is going.

Run Forest Run!
02-25-2016, 01:07 PM
RFR did you get started yet? We're enjoying the early start compared to last year. We have to credit the weather and the switch over to 3/16 tubing, it's is impressive how well it works. No more buckets for us. Glad to hear from you ,let us know how your season is going.

Haven't started yet D&D. We've had ice and snow falling for the past two days, however the weather looks like it's going to swing for the better really soon. If I can get all of the things done inside (that I promised I'd do before tapping ;) ) I'll start playing outside without feeling too guilty.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-25-2016, 02:53 PM
RFR, I hope you get everything done. I just had surgery today
, totally unexpected but I should be back on my feet by Saturday. We have +/- 76 gals to boil on Saturday. Best wishes.

Sugarmaker
02-25-2016, 04:29 PM
D&D,
Hope things are good with you!
Regards,
Chris

D and D Sugar Camp
02-25-2016, 04:53 PM
Thanks Chris , I'm doing fine now. My wife will make the boil happen this weekend. Gotta love family.

Thanks,
D&D

Dennis H.
02-25-2016, 06:04 PM
Just finished up boiling for the day. Technology is great. 210 gallons of sap that I collected yesterday evening and another 160 gals today sent it thru the RO and boiled for 2 1/2 hrs!
Pre-RO days would have taken me about 15 hrs!

KV Sappers
02-25-2016, 07:14 PM
Just finished up boiling for the day. Technology is great. 210 gallons of sap that I collected yesterday evening and another 160 gals today sent it thru the RO and boiled for 2 1/2 hrs!
Pre-RO days would have taken me about 15 hrs!
Way to go Dennis. Trees ran good for me yesterday but today nothing. Sent you a pm.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-26-2016, 10:22 AM
Feeling better today after the surgey,went ahead a started to boil . Wife shuttled right around 80 gls. of water to the house last evening.
No use sitting inside when I can be outside making syurp.

Sugarmaker
02-26-2016, 11:02 AM
We are in cold/hold, with a warming trend coming Saturday.
Should be back in maple mode Sunday and Monday.
Regards,
Chris

D and D Sugar Camp
02-26-2016, 11:16 AM
Same here Chris, looks like from Sunday through next week we might see some big runs.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-27-2016, 06:15 PM
Just finished up 75 gallon boil ,ended up with 1.3 gals of dark amber syrup. A little disappointed on the sugar content 1.5%. Tastes great though. Sap was running good at 6pm. Trees should run heavy tomorrow. This was our first dark batch of the year. It was a good day, after a rough week. How's everyone else doing?

sbedilion
02-27-2016, 06:47 PM
Doing ok for my first year. 20-25 taps i made myself by drill 3in sections of dowel rods and carving the ends to size. Im learning lots...kids learning too. Boiled to about gallon last night. Made some walnut too...not much different than maple. Up to about 2 gallons for the season. Work fab'd me up a 2x3 pan...works great for my 1st yr and my backyard operation. Already planning some lines for next yr....I enjoy collecting buckets but its hard to make a few gallons on buckets w limited collecting time. Im struggling w finishing though. I bought a hydrometer after my first batch...but bought the wrong one so im still flying blind..and too late to worry about ordering a new one. i keep making runny syrup then reboiling the next day to thicken up.

D and D Sugar Camp
02-28-2016, 12:06 PM
First Dark Amber of the year.13393

Sugarmaker
02-28-2016, 03:37 PM
Gathered and boiled sap today. You know the drill:) We have made 100 gallons of Amber Rich to date.
625 gallons of 2% sap today. Just starting to smell a little yeast in the sap tanks.
Regards,
Chris

D and D Sugar Camp
02-28-2016, 06:06 PM
Collected 90 plus gallons since 11pm last night on 43 taps. I had a mishap shuttling sap to the house and lost 27 gallons, barrel tipped over. Ughhh!!! Nice numbers Chris, should be a busy week for you all. Have a good week everyone.

sbedilion
02-29-2016, 09:59 AM
Finally got to boil down to a full gallon. Up until now, I've only managed a couple 1/2 gallons. Feels good to end the day with something more than a couple pint jars. A few more tapped trees next year and ending the day with a gallon of fresh syrup won't seem like such a challenge.

D and D Sugar Camp
03-04-2016, 05:48 PM
Boiling down 120 plus gallons collected this week , hoping for better sugar content. TGIF!!!

D and D Sugar Camp
03-05-2016, 03:38 PM
My estimate was a little off, 120 turned into 150 gallons . Still boiling !! I need to get a hobby R.O. . Saps flowing pretty decent. It looks like tomorrow and Monday will be good run days. We will be pulling our taps mid week ,boiling down on the weekend and calling it good. The forecast looks unfavorable from Monday on. Glad we tapped 1/26. Anyone else thinking its pretty much over?

KV Sappers
03-05-2016, 06:25 PM
D and D I agree with you that the season is all but over. I think the trees will run tomorrow and probably Monday but after that I'm pulling the taps. Temps are not to get much below high 30's mid 40's this coming week. Short season for me as I did not get my taps in till Feb. 17.

D and D Sugar Camp
03-06-2016, 07:11 PM
Our weekend boil of 150 gallons made 2.8 gallons of dark amber syrup. It has a robust maple flavor, my favorite. We were a little disappointed in the sugar content at 1.8% but has been the trend of this season here. No complaints, 1 more boil to go! 13566

PA TAPPER
03-06-2016, 09:52 PM
Today I gathered and boiled 135 gallon of maple / walnut sap. I was sick last week and had to dump some but now back on track. I expect maple flow to stop shortly but I am optimistic about another week for the walnuts ?

D and D Sugar Camp
03-11-2016, 06:29 PM
Just started our last boil for the season, 76 gallons we keep in our small walk in all week. Had to dump 30 gallon that we couldn't fit into the cooler. Pulled my taps Tuesday evening after work. Off to Raystown Lake on Sunday!! How did everyone else make out during our March heat wave?

Sugarmaker
03-11-2016, 06:33 PM
Wrapping it up in NW PA.
Just a couple days of clean up!:)
Regards,
Chris