Summary of My Season, 2016

[TooManyIrons...]

2016 Summary

This was my fourth year.
Season 1 (2013): Produced 3 gallons of syrup using a shielded fire pit.
Season 2 (2014): Produced 13 gallons of syrup using my custom built arch.
Season 3 (2015): Failure. Only got enough sap to produce 2 gallons of syrup. The first run gallon was the best syrup I have ever made, the second run gallon from later sap ended up being the worst tasting syrup I have ever made and I threw it away.


Season 4 Details:

Timeline:
02/20/16 Installed 6 Test Taps
02/24/16 Installed All Taps
02/28/16 First Production Run 17 Hrs.
02/29/16 - 03/04/16 Cold weather shut down sap flow.
03/07/16 Second Production Run 15 Hrs.
03/09/16 Third Production Run (Split Run, Day One) 8 Hrs.
03/10/16 Fourth Production Run (Split Run, Day Two) 10 Hrs. Heavy sap flow.
03/11/16 Fifth Production Run 15 Hrs. Heavy sap flow.
03/12/16 Sixth (Final) Production Run 12 Hrs. Sap flow ceased, pulled all taps. First day the trees were in bloom.


Statistics:
19 Silver Maple Trees
42 Taps
22 Collecting Buckets

Total Sap Collected and Processed: 300 Gallons
Average Sap Collected Per Tree: 15.78 Gallons
Average Sap Collected Per Tap: 7.14 Gallons

Total Sap Collected, Most Productive Tree: 50 Gallons From 4 Taps, 12.5 Gallons Per Tap (48" Diameter Tree, Yard)
Total Sap Collected, Least Productive Tree: 2 Gallons From 2 Taps, 1 Gallon Per Tap (48" Diameter Tree, Woods)

Total Syrup Yield: 10 Gallons (Actual 10 Gallons 1.5 Pints, rounded down for ease of figuring.)
Niter Amount: 5 Pints (This quantity is not included in the total syrup yield.)
Average Syrup Yield Per Tree: .53 Gallon (Approx. 2 Quarts)
Average Syrup Yield Per Tap: .24 Gallon (Approx. 1 Quart)

Sap/Syrup Ratio: 30:1

Total Processing Days: 6 (Includes one two-day split processing run.)
Total Processing Runs: 5
Average Syrup Yield Per Processing Day: 1.67 Gallons
Average Syrup Yield Per Processing Run: 2 Gallons

Total Processing Hours: 77 (Includes daily prep and cleanup.)
Average Syrup Yield Per Processing Hour: 1 Pint/Hr.

Arch Preheat Capacity: 6 Gallons
Arch Main Capacity 12 Gallons
Maximum Evaporation Rate: 5 GPH
Approximate Total Firewood Usage: 3/4 Cord


Notes:
Jar Size/Quantity Breakdown
Qty. 07 - 1/2 Pint
Qty. 30 - 1 Pint
Qty. 20 - 1 Quart
Qty. 02 - 2 Quart

Each processing day is a batch run from a fresh start to finished syrup. I prefer doing it this way, I think it makes better product. A split processing run is when I simply shut down the operation at quitting time and start up and continue the batch the next day and finish it that day. I do not like doing split runs. It reduces efficiency by screwing up my methods, and it screws up my stats, so it only happens if there is some kind of unavoidable scheduling conflict.

I am in the process of switching from 5 gallon sap collecting buckets to using plastic 5 gallon water carboys. The carboys work great for a small operation - they are food grade, they are tinted but a person can still see at a glance how full they are, the tinting helps delay spoilage, they are easy to fill up and top off with a filter funnel, tight necks and caps keep bugs and debris out of the sap, new ones have a built-in carry handle, they are easy to reseal which eliminates splashing and spillage during handling and transport.

The sap flow shut down for one week due to cold temperatures. Started again slowly and inconsistently, last two days of sap run were the heaviest production days (03/10 & 03/11). Sap was good quality and usable right up to the last day it ran (03/11). The next day (03/12) the trees were in bloom and everything shut off, so I pulled the taps.

My initial goals turned out to be very unrealistic due to my making estimates based on an unusually good season two years ago. I consider this year's season to be more in the line of average, one which I had yet to experience due to my lack of long-term experience. Two years ago the season was exceptional to the good. Last year's season was exceptional to the bad. This year was right in the middle, and therefore will be a much better guide for my future planning and estimating. I am satisfied with the results, my goal for the foreseeable future will always be a syrup yield in the 10-14 gallon range with the ideal goal of 12 gallons. I feel this is in the maximum range I can handle physically.

I plan on increasing my tap count to 50, and will be ordering pre-made combo tap/lines soon. A few will be set aside as spares for emergency use. I have enough trees on site to use that many taps but I will have to tap a couple of box elder trees. I have a few neighbors that have silver maple trees I can tap but in the near-term I have no interest in dealing with the hassles of collecting sap off-site and transporting.

Injuries: Minor. A few slightly scalded fingers, one finger burned while stoking the fire. Dropped the splitting wedge on my toes once, that was a really enjoyable experience. Mild sunburn.

Total Investment for Season: Approximately $55 (One new candy thermometer, three new stainless steel stock pots, canning lids.) This equates to approximately $5.50 per gallon of syrup yielded, or 4 cents per ounce. Note zero fuel costs for processing (!), but some electricity cost for use of electric range during final finishing and for the canning process that is not quantified here (but could realistically double the cost per ounce).

Syrup consistently turned out very dark. Very good flavor. Average to somewhat heavy amounts of sugar sand/niter.

Still have final cleanup to do...

Later this week I will pull the remaining syrup stock from last year off the storage shelves and match that quantity with new syrup. Those 3 to 4 gallons of syrup will be processed into maple sugar. :)

Just like that, another season is over. It is all a blur to me...

[SDdave]

Well you got close to average on the syrup with about a quart per tap! Doesn't surprise me about the sap quantity from woody areas to open yard areas. It may have been a short season but at least you got to make some syrup.

Hope your sunburn heals!!:cool:

SDdave

[SilverLeaf]

Your trees are better than mine, TooManyIrons! That's all I gotta say. :-)

I haven't finished off my last batch yet so I don't know my final tally but this year, though not a disaster, is solidly going in the "below average" category. Like maybe around 1/2 of an average crop.

[TooManyIrons...]

SDdave:

"Well you got close to average on the syrup with about a quart per tap!" - That is good to hear, reinforces my belief that this season's numbers will be more accurate for my future planning and estimating.

"Doesn't surprise me about the sap quantity from woody areas to open yard areas." - This issue bothers me somewhat. Three quarters of my available trees for tapping are in the woods, yet I get far better sap yields from trees in the yard/open areas. I am conflicted about this issue - it would almost be better to tap neighbors' trees that are in their yards/open areas and cut back on the trees I tap that are in my own woods. But then I have to drive in order to check/collect sap and I have to transport the collected sap back home. Will have to do some thinking about this. Next year I might just try tapping one or two of my closest neighbor's large yard trees and see how it goes.

The good thing about having the mix of trees in open areas and woods that I do have is that I do not get inundated with sap all at once. The yard trees run first and run heavy, and I am usually well into processing this sap when the woodland trees finally start to run. When all are running during peak then I am forced to start putting sap in storage, but as long as I am processing concurrently with collecting then I can keep things under control.


SilverLeaf:

"I haven't finished off my last batch yet so I don't know my final tally but this year, though not a disaster, is solidly going in the "below average" category. Like maybe around 1/2 of an average crop." - That is disappointing to hear. Any thoughts as to why?


To both of you (and any others who want to chime in): I am curious, what ratio of trees do you tap that are in the woods versus out in the open? If given the choice, would everyone prefer to tap yard/open area trees rather than woodland trees because of the better sap yield, or are there other considerations that make woodland trees more desirable?

[SDdave]

So currently I got two farms that I tap. The first is all open with large crown trees. The second would be considered open to most but the trees are about 10 to 15 feet apart and they are more upright tight crowns. I believe that I've seen on here or the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual (good read by the way) that the larger the crowns (more leafs) the tendency for more sap and higher sugar %. If it were up to me, and in my area it's not a problem, I would tap all yard trees. Mostly due to the previous reason but also my season tends to be a bit shorter with soft maples and faster warming in spring (dam you Buffalo Ridge). Woodland trees are a great way to really boost your tap count as they are closer together and can be used with tubing to aid in collection. But that is my $0.02 I am sure others would have there own opinion.

It's best to have fun and enjoy what you're doing.

SDdave

[Sinzibuckwud]

At home I tap around 50/50 yard to wood's tree's. I agree the yard runs first and the woods finish strong. Help keeps things consistent at the SH volume wise IMO. Guess I prefer the woods tree's for no other reason other than I like to walk in the woods. lol
of property I tap only yard or field/road edge tree's to get the most sap in the least amount of gathering time, and always add a few extra to offset the payment for tapping them.

[SilverLeaf]

I don't have any "true" woods but about 2/3 of my taps are buried in a farm grove so are packed in more like a forest. The rest are either yard trees or placed in a single file so still very open. I too have noticed yard trees stronger at the beginning with grove trees revving up more later. Aside from the nice effect of balancing the flow a little though I think I would take yard trees over woods trees. They definitely average more sap and higher sugar. It's all averages though - some big beautiful yard trees don't do so well and some stuck in the middle of others do just fine.

[SilverLeaf]

One more thing TooManyIrons - the main reason for the lower crop is because the season was so short. In a " normal " year in this part of the state we'd get two weeks of light to moderate flow and one week where the taps let loose real good a time or two before the trees bud out and we call it quits. This year I got a few days of light trickle, one really strong run that lasted 2+ days and then one more light run. But not enough to pump out a "normal" amt. At all.

I haven't seen your trees so I don't know this but I highly suspect this year was actually below average for you too. I think you have pretty solid trees. If I took my top 10% trees I'm sure I got a quart of syrup per tap off those this year. But in a normal year those same trees would give me 1/3 to 1/2 Gallon Per Tap. Your mileage may vary but that is my hunch based upon my experience.

Its hard to plan for "normal" though because no year is normal! Everything seems to vary widely.

[TooManyIrons...]

Thanks everyone for the responses, it is a very interesting subject that I just want to understand a little more than I currently do, and the insight from more experienced people is very helpful. Maybe I take things a little too far but the way I see it, me wanting to learn and understand the biology and processes of the maple tree is no different than a dairy farmer wanting to understand the biology and processes of the dairy cow.

The tree canopy size issue never occurred to me and explains a lot. I knew there had to be a logical explanation. I have been focusing on possible below-ground reasons such as root competition and competition for soil moisture, never thought to compare canopies and the requirements to feed those canopies as well as what those canopies produce for the trees.

SDdave: "It's best to have fun and enjoy what you're doing." - I agree. I guess I come off as a bit frustrated at times in my posts but I hope I have not made the wrong impression. My enjoyment in the hobby comes from figuring out the "hows" and "whys" of the processes, systems, and methods of making maple syrup and sugar, and increasing efficiency where I can without going overboard or investing a lot of money. Personal knowledge is my primary goal, not maple syrup. Truth be told I do not even care for maple syrup all that much (heresy, I know), but I love making the stuff. I know I am in a tiny minority among my family and friends, most of whom are quite happy to take the syrup off my hands.

The same thing applies to sorghum syruping, a similar hobby that I am getting into for the same reasons. When I get that hobby mostly figured out and working smoothly then I will find another challenge. It is all fun stuff to learn how to do. :)

[TooManyIrons...]

Finished Product. Photo makes syrup appear darker than it really is, but it is a dark amber.

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x366/tak001966/Syrup1mod2_zpsbojlwodt.jpg (http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x366/tak001966/Syrup1mod2_zpsbojlwodt.jpg)

Anyone know how to delete the following attached thumbnail? I am not given the option to delete when I go into edit post mode.

[4010]

This years syrup totals in quarts so far

2/28. 5
3/6. 2
3/7. 7
3/8. 2
3/12. 13
3/13. 15
3/16. 2
3/18. 1
3/19. 4
3/20. 4
Total of 55 quarts


We also started in 2013 made 5 gallons of syrup 2014 14 gallons 2015 also 14 gallons but about 5 gallons was after trees flowered the syrup does not have much maple flavor more like honey it is a lighter color and this year is the same after trees flowered the flavor started to change on March 13 I have about 12 quarts of the honey type syrup so far it does make good caramel and hard candy not sure how much more I will make the sap has been flowing good the last few days with the cooler temps with the sap still flowing I am going to do some testing of my home built ro on higher pressures and sap temp.

[TooManyIrons...]

That is a great harvest, 4010! Glad to hear of your successful season so far, thanks for posting. I know a couple of others around here who left their taps in. They all got bad yellow sap after the bloom and had to dump and rinse their buckets, but they are hoping for better sap now after this cool down. It will be interesting to see what happens, another learning experience.

I am processing maple sugar now. I am halfway to my goal of 25-30 pounds, should be able to finish up this project today.

[SilverLeaf]

I think it would need to get a lot colder than the forecast is showing (like lows below 15 degrees) to "re-set" the trees to give good sap again, although anything is possible.

I pulled my last 50 taps on Sunday, and boy were they dripping good! If I had left all my taps out it would have been the biggest collection this year. Sap looked clear too. I'm going to boil it down and see what i get but I don't trust it - its too reminiscent of last year when most of my sap came long after the trees flowered and unlike 4010 I didn't get honey from it I got unusable, ropey crud. :( The batch I finished last week (with sap collected after buds started opening) still tasted ok but had the first little signs of ropey-ness, so I'm not holding out any big expectations for this batch.

[4010]

The sap really flows when you get the right weather have made more of what I am going to call citrus honey type syrup, sweet but not the greatest. Took some of last years syrup that had the citrus flavor and made sugar with it is an orange color and tastes like brown sugar. I am going to try and make some sugar with this years citrus honey syrup. Too many irons what is your process for making sugar what temp do you take the syrup up too. Also tried to let sap sit longer to see if it would get darker not to sure it is going to work after I put it threw the ro it has a strong fermenting smell.

[TooManyIrons...]

Finished the maple sugar project last evening. Processed 18 quarts (4.5 gallons) of syrup into 23 quarts of sugar, 40 pounds dry weight. Used up all my remaining syrup inventory from previous years, 1 gallon was from this year's harvest.

Quart jar on far left contains what I call maple "dots" which are 3/32" round sugar particles that are screened out of the hard sugar rocks that remain from the sifting process. I put them in a shaker so they can be used as maple sprinkles on my morning oatmeal or other foods. Quart jar on far right contains various sizes of larger sugar rocks, what remained at the end of the entire process. The hard rocks could be crushed down further and more usable sugar sifted out but I lost interest. I will give them away as maple candy to my neighbors' children.

Everything is cleaned up, all the jars of syrup and sugar are now safely in storage. My 2016 maple syrup season is finished.

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x366/tak001966/MapleSugar2016R1_zps3aqxpzob.jpg (http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x366/tak001966/MapleSugar2016R1_zps3aqxpzob.jpg)

[Run Forest Run!]

That is such a great picture! I've never seen so much maple sugar in one place at one time. Very nice TooManyIrons!

[TooManyIrons...]

The sap really flows when you get the right weather have made more of what I am going to call citrus honey type syrup, sweet but not the greatest. Took some of last years syrup that had the citrus flavor and made sugar with it is an orange color and tastes like brown sugar. I am going to try and make some sugar with this years citrus honey syrup. Too many irons what is your process for making sugar what temp do you take the syrup up to. Also tried to let sap sit longer to see if it would get darker not to sure it is going to work after I put it threw the ro it has a strong fermenting smell.

It varies, but I shoot for 260 F degrees, which happens to be "Hard Ball" on the candy thermometer. Based on the syrup, I have found that batches can finish, or turn to the consistency of wet sand, at temps anywhere in the range of 255 F to 265 F. Bottom line is at 250 F start paying VERY close attention, and begin to stir continuously at an even, constant but not quick pace. When it starts to turn into a wet grainy mix then turn heat to low and either continue stirring/folding with a heavy duty utensil until it turns into dry granular sugar or dump in the mixer bowl and run the machine at low speed until it turns into dry granular sugar. If you use a mixer beware of sudden releases of steam and be aware that the metal mixing bowl will get hot enough to cause burns. And if you do not have a heavy duty mixer you will eventually burn out the motor from the stresses, guaranteed.

Only two ways to ruin any batch: 1.) By cooking it at too high temperature/burner settings at any time during the process causing it to burn or scorch. 2.) The syrup you are using has too high a percentage of invert sugars causing it to not finish properly. The only way to know this at home, short of buying testing equipment, is to simply do your processing and be aware that if it does not finish properly it might be because of this reason.

I use high burner setting to bring syrup from room temperature to boiling. Once boiling begins I turn burner setting to medium or one setting above medium, where I leave it until 230 F. From then on I have learned to turn burner setting down one notch or so on the even tens starting at 230 F until at 250 F. In the early stages if the mix foams up it means the burner setting is a bit too high. Towards the end of the process the thick gooey foam is normal and continuous stirring must be done to keep the mix down. This is when the mix becomes grainy. Once it becomes heavily grainy it will no longer foam up. Do slow stirs occasionally during the entire process, scrape off sides, until temp reaches 250 F. At 250 F I have the burner on the heat setting that is evenly between low and medium. At 255 F the burner setting is at one above low. I do the finish stirring with burner set to lowest setting, at that point it is very difficult if not impossible for the wet granular sugar to burn. The mix has so much heat in it at that point that it can finish without the batch even being on a burner. All of this is of course my calibration of the process to my stove. You need to figure out how your stove works and calibrate accordingly.

I process 4 pint batches of syrup at a time. The size pan I use is one that is not filled up any more than half way with those 4 pints. This is to allow for unintentional foam-ups but also to allow for the fact that granular sugar expands and takes up more space during final finishing than the original 4 pints of syrup and you need that pan height for stirring the sugar until it is dry, if you finish completely in the pan. If you plan on using a mixer then reduce batch size to 3 pints of syrup because 4 pints equivalent of wet expanding sugar will spill over a standard mixer bowl during the mixing process. It is also very likely that 4 pint batches will quickly overload the mixer motor.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes. I admit I have my doubts of success using that off-syrup, but I am curious to hear how it goes for you.

-Tom

[TooManyIrons...]

That is such a great picture! I've never seen so much maple sugar in one place at one time. Very nice TooManyIrons!

Thank you for the nice compliment!

[4010]

Thank you for the info on making sugar was not able to make sugar with the citrus type syrup must be to much invert sugar. So far I can make hard candy and caramel with this syrup. I also like to take the candy and mix it with hot water or milk like hot chocolate.

Mike

[lpakiz]

I heat a quart of syrup to 265-275, remove from heat, then simply dump it into the Kitchenaid mixer bowl and stir on low. 4-6 minutes later, it's sugar.
When the big steam-up occurs, I keep wiping the underside of the mixer with a paper towel to absorb the excess water, which otherwise will drip back into the sugar and create small, hard rocks.
Sift out the hard stuff, crush it and re-sift. We sell the small rocks (BBs) as sprinkles for ice cream or frosting garnish.
BTW, you need to add about a 1/4 teaspoon of defoamer before you even start heating.

[4010]

Ipakiz
Thank you for advice on defoamer. I did not have defoamer never have used it before. I used olive oil as a defoamer it worked good with some syrup I had left from last year.
Mike

[TooManyIrons...]

I have never had to use a defoamer during sugar processing (although I do use safflower oil to control foaming during syrup processing). As long as I keep an eye on the stove setting I find it is not necessary.