Anyone in southern Maine

[Bdaigle1]

Hi everyone, I just started learning how to make maple syrup this year and did alot or reading and research on how the process is done. I did my first batch last week and it didn't go as well as I hoped it would. I built a block fire pit and got 2 pans to boil down the sap. When I tasted the syrup it had a distinct smokey flavor. What I'm looking for right now is to see if there is anyone what is willing to let me watch the process of making syrup so I can see what I did wrong

Thanks Ben

[Peeper]

Sounds like (or tastes like) you need to get your smoke stack further away & higher up from the boil, I did a block fire pit my second year with smokey flavor and I think that's part of the package with such a setup.

[Bdaigle1]

Anyone around wanna show a newbie the process of making and filtering syrup

[Ridge777]

I agree with Peeper about your stack height. I used a 5 pan block arch for first couple of years and had two 5" pipes with a stack length of 10'. Pay special attention to get any ash or pan burn out as you boil. I used a fine mesh hand strainer and continuously removed stuff as I boiled to keep my flavor good. Try your best to not kick up a lot of ash when you add wood and that might help also. I pulled my almost syrup off and finished on propane then filtered with a cone filter.

[Ryan August]

couple things. Keep at it, you will figure it out. I started with pans dropped into a barrel. trying to build up a chimney is stage one. doing ur best to make the pans as fitted as posible is step to. I do not have much more than circular saw and hand saw for cutting the metal on the barrel and was never real tight and always had smoke sneaking out hear and there. I think the authentic flavor of smoke in back yard rig is part of the game, heck, maybe even use it as a marketing strategy. Authentic Miane backyard Maple syrup with Natural smoke flavoring. ANyhow keep at but my techniques over the years on a barrel arch suggest a hint of smoke may be part of the game.

[boondocker]

If you feel like driving north you are more then welcome to come hang out with me in the sugar house, I don't have a block arch but you can come see how things are done. I am 15 minutes east of bangor. Like the other guys said I believe your stack is the issue, go higher it will make more of a draft and pull the smoke through the arch and keep it awa from the pans. Make your stack twice the length of your arch, if it's 6ft long stack would be 12'.....if it is 8ft long your stack would be 16' ect...... hope the helps. Good luck!

[Atgreene]

I'm in Sebago, but anyone down your way I'm sure would let you look around and answer questions. Ashley Gerry in Limerick/New field (several others in that area) or numerous others in Buxton/Hollis. Worth looking at other folks setups to get ideas.

[Bdaigle1]

I appreciate the help. I'm gonna do more research on block pits plus the "barrel evaporator" which is the route I wanna go for next year. Does anyone have advise on filtering. I filtered the sap before putting it in the pans to boil, when it came out of the pans, and filtered around 213 to 214 degrees before putting in sterilized mason jars. I'd filter it out once it's brought up to 219 but when I did this the filter I used soaked up so much of the syrup I got extremely disappointed with it. It's as if 12 oz of syrup was soaked up by the flour sack filter and 2 coffee filters. The syrup wouldnt even go through this amount of material.

Boondocker - seem like my flue wasn't tall enough or big enough diameter. I had 4" pipe around so I used what I had. I know there were lots of places where smoke could escape so those would have to be plugged up somehow. This is why I'm leaning towards a metal 55 gallon drum.

Any filtering tips or advise for a Newbie

Ben

[sap seeker]

I appreciate the help. I'm gonna do more research on block pits plus the "barrel evaporator" which is the route I wanna go for next year. Does anyone have advise on filtering. I filtered the sap before putting it in the pans to boil, when it came out of the pans, and filtered around 213 to 214 degrees before putting in sterilized mason jars. I'd filter it out once it's brought up to 219 but when I did this the filter I used soaked up so much of the syrup I got extremely disappointed with it. It's as if 12 oz of syrup was soaked up by the flour sack filter and 2 coffee filters. The syrup wouldnt even go through this amount of material.

Boondocker - seem like my flue wasn't tall enough or big enough diameter. I had 4" pipe around so I used what I had. I know there were lots of places where smoke could escape so those would have to be plugged up somehow. This is why I'm leaning towards a metal 55 gallon drum.

Any filtering tips or advise for a Newbie

Ben

That is always the dillema for us small guys, you work so hard for a little product, you hate to see any waste in the filters. I would suggest getting it to syrup and then just left it sit in your stock pot for a couple days in a cool place. The bulk of the sediment will settle to the bottom of your pan then you can slowly reheat to 180-190 and carefully decant off, leaving the junk. Good luck.

[boondocker]

Do what sap seeker said, warm it back up low and slow and pour off slowly, it will leave the majority of the niter near the bottom. As far as filters go if I were you I would just use 2 synthetic pre filters, you can pick one up usually anywhere Maple supplies are sold.

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

I'm in Buxton and always enjoy answering questions and learning. Stop by if you want I'm boiling tonight


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mitchman]

Also you can try a turkey baster, It's working for me. Keep it up off the niter, and I save all that for my baked beans. I know !! it's more work but the way this season is going we want to save as much as we possible can right ? I am only shooting for 10 gallons, and with 2 turkey fryers, and 78 taps, it's turning out to be a job.

[Lt706]

What are you using to boil with on the turkey fryers?

[Mitchman]

My evaporator pan is 10 gallons, and a pre heater at 5 gallons. I usually just end up boiling them down if they are different colors, and they do as the sap comes from different property's. I have a homemade R.O. system, put together for about $400.00 works real good, but I need at least 30 gallons or more to run it, and I am not getting that in any one period. And I don't like hanging on to the sap, the fresha the betta so boila !!!! We live on top of a sand pit, really, that's what we do for a living, earth work, and we get some nitre !!!! Try the baster, it's a cheap fix, but time consuming. You will still have some, but no where near as much.

[GotSap?]

I appreciate the help. I'm gonna do more research on block pits plus the "barrel evaporator" which is the route I wanna go for next year. Does anyone have advise on filtering. I filtered the sap before putting it in the pans to boil, when it came out of the pans, and filtered around 213 to 214 degrees before putting in sterilized mason jars. I'd filter it out once it's brought up to 219 but when I did this the filter I used soaked up so much of the syrup I got extremely disappointed with it. It's as if 12 oz of syrup was soaked up by the flour sack filter and 2 coffee filters. The syrup wouldnt even go through this amount of material.

Boondocker - seem like my flue wasn't tall enough or big enough diameter. I had 4" pipe around so I used what I had. I know there were lots of places where smoke could escape so those would have to be plugged up somehow. This is why I'm leaning towards a metal 55 gallon drum.

Any filtering tips or advise for a Newbie

Ben

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this, but you should be filtering below 200 degrees. As far as waste, after you have used the filters and they are soaked with syrup, boil them in a pot of water, then hang to dry, don't wring the filters. The sap/water left over can be added to the next boil. Also, if you stack a few pre-filters while filtering, you can remove the top filter as it clogs. I also like to hang my filters over the evap so they soak in the steam before using them. This seems to help the syrup flow through better. Filtering is a pain, but once you get your own system, it goes pretty good.

[maplemoonfarm]

Hey Ben,
Just saw your post...we are over in Lebanon, Maine and would be happy to have you stop by. We all started much the same way you are (and had the same issues as well). While we don't boil with a cinderblock arch many of the techniques still apply. Send me a message if you want to swing by...we are having a open house tomorrow from 11-4 and feel free to come by then as well. cheers, Frank
www.maplemoonfarm.com

[abbott]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this, but you should be filtering below 200 degrees. As far as waste, after you have used the filters and they are soaked with syrup, boil them in a pot of water, then hang to dry, don't wring the filters. The sap/water left over can be added to the next boil. Also, if you stack a few pre-filters while filtering, you can remove the top filter as it clogs. I also like to hang my filters over the evap so they soak in the steam before using them. This seems to help the syrup flow through better. Filtering is a pain, but once you get your own system, it goes pretty good.

Filter below 200 degrees? Why? Are you worried about niter forming after filtering? I've never checked the temp of my syrup before filtering but I definitely don't wait to pour it into the filter rack. And a lot of people filter straight off the evaporator.

As for adding the wash water back to the evaporator, wouldn't your technique put the niter back in the pan, too? It would be better to pour hot sap though the filters to flush out the sugar (adding this back to your pan) then wash the filters and just dump that, since its all the sediment you're trying to remove.

Sorry if I'm coming off as being grouchy here... perhaps the bleak sapping forecast is getting to me. I definitely agree that you should experiment and come up with a system that works for you.

[GotSap?]

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I've always been under the belief that niter forms above 200*. If you filter above that temp, niter will continue to form in your filtered syrup and you end up with crystals. As far as niter in the wash water, I'm not sure what the concern is. It will be filtered before finishing.

I didn't come up with these ideas on my own, they were told to me by a professional operation who has been at it for several generations.

No worries about seeming grouchy, not taken that way. I'm definitely not an expert, which is why I'm on this site, too learn from others.

[abbott]

I think if the syrup is in the process of cooling rather than being heated, you're not likely to see any new niter being formed, even above 200*. But I'm not an expert either. As for the niter in the wash water, I see your point. I guess I feel that once I've filtered it out already, I don't want to filter it out again.

[lpakiz]

The best way would be to rinse the filter cone with sap in the same direction the syrup went thru. This will trap the niter in the cone. When it is thoroughly rinsed and all the sweet is out, then invert it and wash it in hot water, niter side out.

[GotSap?]

I think if the syrup is in the process of cooling rather than being heated, you're not likely to see any new niter being formed, even above 200*. But I'm not an expert either. As for the niter in the wash water, I see your point. I guess I feel that once I've filtered it out already, I don't want to filter it out again.

I think you might be right. After I read your last post, I asked my wife why we filter under 200 and she gave me the same answer as I posted here. When I asked her why we thought that, she couldn't remember so we looked back through old notes and books from when we first started. We couldn't find anything. We filtered right off the finisher this weekend and what a difference. No waiting for the syrup to cool, filtered much quicker, used fewer prefilters, and barely had to reheat. Syrup came out of filters at 190-195.

As far as the filter washing, honestly, we only were concerned about the syrup in the filters when we first started and were only making a very little syrup. We do still boil the filters, but don't usually save the wash water any more. If I was only making a gallon or two a year, I would still reuse the wash water though.