1st Time Tapper, some questions

[gaust024]

I'm a first time tapper near Stillwater, new to the forum. Lots of great info on maple tapping here. After cutting down some trees last weekend I noticed that they were dripping sap, so I did some more research and looked around the yard for some maples. Turns out that we have some red/silver maples on our property, and I started setting up 10 taps yesterday. I don't expect to get much, and the season is pretty much over, but it has been a really fun learning experience, and it's something that I would love to do more seriously next year. It's getting up to 40 today so I think I'll be able to get a little bit of sap. When I tapped yesterday the maples were dripping pretty good. Weather isn't looking too favorable for the rest of the week, however. Do you guys think it is worthwhile to continue collecting to the end of the week and boiling whatever I have this weekend? I know that it will be raining later this week so that won't be good for sap production. Just wanted to hear some people's thoughts. Thanks!

[Trapper2]

Keep them in, what have you to loose. Maybe just boiling down 10-20 gallons will give you a feel for what you need to do for next year. Experience is the best teacher, especially when it comes to sugaring.

[gaust024]

Trapper2, you're right, even if I don't get a lot at least I will have learned a thing or two. I'll keep them in until Sunday and then spend the day evaporating. Do you have any tips/suggestions for a quick, low-cost evaporator setup that would be good for a small batch?

[Trapper2]

Trapper2, you're right, even if I don't get a lot at least I will have learned a thing or two. I'll keep them in until Sunday and then spend the day evaporating. Do you have any tips/suggestions for a quick, low-cost evaporator setup that would be good for a small batch?

Depending on how many gallons you have to cook down. For somebody that only has 10 gallons or so a turkey fryer is hard to beat,

[maple flats]

If holding the sap to boil later, try to keep it cold. Sap spoils fast when it gets warm. If you can store it at just above freezing it will last longer.

[gaust024]

Thanks for the advice, I'm planning on checking my taps and waterproofing them when I get home tonight. I'll also fill up some containers to put in the fridge so they stay cold, since the lows for the next few days will be in the upper 30s/low 40s. Could you store sap in the freezer? Or is that not recommended?

[Snappyssweets]

If you have room to freeze it you will be able to save yourself some boiling time too.

My daughter uses the ice we get in out storage tanks to make "her own special syrup" which means she boils about fifty gallons of ice to get a quart of syrup but it gives her something to do.

Anyhow what happens is the water in the sap will freeze, the sugar for the most part will not. So you chip a hole in the ice pour the liquid out to boil and toss the ice outside. Or if you want to let the kids have fun let them boil it and learn too.

either way freezing and ice is your friend with maple :)

have fun and enjoy although you should be warned this is a highly addictive pass time.

[SognSyrup]

Good for you! Exactly how I started. I did my first boil(s) in a buffet pan on a turkey fryer. Good luck.

(and keep digging in on these forums! There are so many people willing to share valuable info)

[Sugarmaker]

Keep gathering, keep the sap cool. Rain is not a bad thing and may cause a run too. Have fun!
Regards,
Chris

[gaust024]

I appreciate all of the advice from everyone! I'm planning on collecting the sap today from my taps (around 5 gallons), putting it in gallon water jugs, and then putting them in the freezer so it stays fresh. Cloudy with a high of 39 today, so the sap should be fine, but I'll freeze it just to be safe. I'll probably pull the taps on Saturday and spend the day boiling everything down in the turkey fryer pot.

[Run Forest Run!]

If you do decide to freeze the sap today, make sure you take the jugs out of the freezer Friday night. Otherwise they'll still be solid blocks that you can't pour out of the jugs when you want to boil on Saturday. Have fun!!!! :D

[gaust024]

Thanks for the tip! I was wondering how long the thaw cycle would be. Can I just toss out all of the ice? From my research the ice is pretty much all water, and the sugar is on the bottom. And it would be more convenient to boil the more concentrated sap instead of all of it!

[Run Forest Run!]

There will always be sugar stuck in the ice. The more solid the ice, the more sugar is stuck in it. The best scenario is when you've got shards of ice versus solid chunks. The shards have the least amount of sugar in them. When I have chunks of ice I set them in a separate container and then use the melt-off until the remaining ice is slushy in texture. That's when most of the sugar has been released.

Five seasons ago I purchased a brix refractometer for $30 off ebay. That has taken all of the guesswork out of my ice/sugar content dilemmas. I highly recommend adding this inexpensive tool to your sugaring toolbox.

[gaust024]

Great tips, I will definitely consider adding a refractometer for next year's sap run. I collected all of the sap from the past 48 hours, and I estimate that I have about 9 gallons from my 10 taps. They're now in the fridge and freezer. I noticed that the sap freezes to shards first, and like you said, I tasted some of the shards, and they were almost all water, with no sweetness at all!

I've got a few questions, however... I noticed that my sap has a woody smell/taste to it. I figured that this is normal, as the sap itself is really clear. Is this pretty typical late in the season?

Also, I'll be using a turkey pot and fryer to boil my sap, with a propane tank. Does anyone have any insight as to how long it will take and how much fuel will be required to boil around 10-12 gallons of sap? I just want to get an idea of how much propane will be needed. But everything aside, so far so good!!

[Run Forest Run!]

My sap always seems to have a grassy, slightly woody, smell and taste to it. That's normal. So you're good!

As for boiling with propane, that's what I do. It takes me one 20lb propane tank to make a half gallon of syrup. If you've got 10-12 gallons of sap, expect to be boiling for about 6 hours and you'll go through a half tank of propane to make it.

[gaust024]

Perfect! Thanks for all the tips :)

[Run Forest Run!]

Another tip I was given when I started....

If you can set your propane tank in a plastic tote and then put some water in the tote, that will help to keep the propane tank from freezing up on the outside. You'll be able to keep a better boil going. Once your boiling session is done, take the tank out of the water.

[gaust024]

It's above freezing here so that shouldn't be an issue, but thanks! How high should I fill up the 30 quart pot? Right now I'm filled up about halfway. Got a good boil going and lots of steam, but it sure is taking a looooong time!!

[4010]

Yes it takes a long time. One think to watch for is when it gets closer to syrup it can boil over, you will need to turn down the heat. I start boiling 3 inchs deep and refill at about 2 inches.

Mike

[Run Forest Run!]

It's above freezing here so that shouldn't be an issue, but thanks! How high should I fill up the 30 quart pot? Right now I'm filled up about halfway. Got a good boil going and lots of steam, but it sure is taking a looooong time!!

The propane tanks will still frost up on the outside even if the air temperature is above freezing. It can do that in the summer.

It takes a while for your pot to get ripping. Once it does, and the sugar content of the liquid gets higher and higher, the whole process will really start to take off.

[gaust024]

Yes, I noticed that it started to freeze up, so I took your advice and it went great. Boiled for about 6 hours on the turkey fryer, and now I'm doing the finish boil on the stove. It's been at 213 degrees for about 15 mins, and from what I've researched I should pull it off and be done boiling when it hits 219. Just wondering how long it will take because it doesn't seem that a lot of water is evaporating. Also, I've got the fan on so I'm not worried about the walls getting all sticky.

[Run Forest Run!]

How long it will take to finish on the stove depends on a lot of things, namely how close to syrup you were when you brought your 'nearup' inside. Be patient, and very observant. This is when a day's worth of work can boil up all over your stovetop.

Also, did you check your thermometer to see the exact temperature that water rapidly boils at your house today? It's not always 212*F. You need to be 7*F over that number.

[gaust024]

Everything went well, I was constantly checking the temp on the stove and pulled it off when it got a little over 219. However, I wasn't able to filter out some of the sediment... I tried quickly filtering it through a cheesecloth but it wouldn't seep through. I decided not to filter because it was a little difficult. I've canned and sealed the syrup in 12oz glass jars, but should I redo the filtering process? Is it necessary to bring everything back up to 219 and then try the filtering again? I'll upload a pic of the finished product so people can see the color and clarity. It sure does taste good, though!

[Run Forest Run!]

Since you are making small amounts, I'd suggest that you don't bother filtering and just pour your finished syrup into wide mouth mason jars. Let the niter settle and fall to the bottom of the jars. (This can take a few days or a few weeks) Once the top syrup is clear, decant that into jars for storage. To save yourself a lot of hassle in reheating, store the decanted syrup in the freezer and it will stay fresh indefinitely. (If you've made syrup of the proper density it won't freeze and will have the consistency of roofing tar.)

I bet your syrup tastes wonderful. Congratulations on your batch!

[JennyW]

I know everyone says the ice doesn't have much sugar. And, honestly, I don't have much experience. But the times I have tried to take out the ice and melt it, it seems just as sweet.

Also, you seem to think you'll pull the taps after just a few days. To each his own, but I wonder why you're planning to do that. The sap will keep flowing and just feed ants. You might as well collect it.

[TooManyIrons...]

Never trust a bulk-manufactured retail thermometer to be accurate, and truth be told it really doesn't matter anyway as long as it is fairly accurate when reading temperature increments. Here is what matters: The finish temperature of syrup is based on a certain number of degrees above the local boiling temperature of water (my target finish temp is 7 degrees above). I calibrate my thermometer every day I process by placing it in boiling water, reading the temperature, and adding the proper number of degrees to that number. Here the local boiling temperature of water, as indicated by my particular candy thermometer whether that thermometer is accurate or not, is usually either 207 or 208 degrees, variation I assume to be caused by change in atmospheric pressure. Now again, that temperature may not be technically accurate but I really don't care as long as the increments of the thermometer are fairly accurate. Based on that reading my target finish temperature using the same thermometer is usually around 214 to 215 degrees.

Finishing to 219 on an accurate thermometer likely means you are getting some really nice thick flavorful syrup at the expense of time, labor, fuel/electricity, and overall syrup yield. If you are over-finishing the syrup it also means you will probably end up with sugar crystalization in the jars during storage. Based on my experience crystallization in the jars is more of a bummer than it sounds.

I don't know that a person really needs a brix refractometer, but a syrup finish hydrometer and cup are rather handy especially for beginners. I use mine once a year, on the first batch, to verify that what I am doing and how I am figuring numbers is correct. Once my methods are verified I never use it again, I just finish to calibrated temp and verify by checking the sheeting on a spatula. Truth be told I regret buying the syrup finish hydrometer, my experience has overridden its value but initially it verified that what I was doing was in fact correct and gave me the confidence that I needed. As a beginner the main issue I had to resolve in my mind and perception was that real maple syrup when finished properly is still runny, not thick and gelatinous like the faux maple flavored HFCS garbage that is sold at the grocery store.

Filtering: The best/cheapest option small batch folks like us have is to decant the finished syrup for a couple days after finishing. I let my finished syrup sit in a covered stainless steel stockpot that is propped up at an angle for three days on the counter before reheating the syrup for the canning process. When canning/bottling I carefully pour off as much clear syrup as possible from the stock pot, the remaining syrup with the settled sediment I pour into a large canning jar with a cover and let the syrup in that jar re-settle for a week, then I pour off the remaining good syrup into my syrup bottle in the fridge for immediate use and dump the remaining small amount of syrup with all the sludge down the drain. I never wanted to waste syrup so I tried many times using different methods to try to filter out the remaining syrup out of that sludge but I found out it was just not worth the hassle and anyway there is much less syrup going to waste than a person might think.

In my opinion the wisest equipment investment you can make is acquiring the proper sediment filters that are specifically made for this hobby/business available at all the supply houses across the nation. I have been screwing around with cloth-type material filtration for five years doing it on the cheap and I am sick and tired of dealing with the hassles. I am done with it, this summer I am ordering the proper filters for next season. I urge you to save yourself some grief...

I wouldn't mess with what you got finished, be proud of your first ever batch of maple syrup that you made yourself, it is a big accomplishment! During the year when you need to go get another jar of syrup out of storage just handle it carefully so the settled sediment does not get agitated. When you open the jar pour off the good stuff into your syrup bottle and dump the sediment down the drain. I think you will find that the sediment looks thick but it actually consists of very fine, whispy particles (if it consists of larger particles then that tells you that you should be doing a better job of random filtering during the bulk boiling-off process). That whispy stuff is very difficult for any small batch hobbyist to get out, not a big deal to most of us folks as we have gotten used to it. Some folks I know just shake the sediment back into suspension in the syrup every time they use the syrup, not unlike how one shakes the ketchup or mustard bottle before use, the sediment doesn't bother them in the least. To each their own.

And by the way, welcome to this wonderful hobby, thanks for joining here and posting! Always fun to know what other people are doing and how they are doing it. Most of what I have learned about this hobby I have learned here on this website from all these nice, helpful people. Lots of good rainy day reading...