Hello! Newbie from SW Michigan.

[elitts]

Hello folks. My name is Erik and I'm just introducing myself. This year is my first attempt at syrup making. I tapped 9 trees (Though 2 have produced no sap) just over a week ago because it was a nice sunny day, and I had 3 and 5 year old little girls (nieces) making enough noise to chase me out of the house. I did my first boil on Sunday, and finished it up last night. Turned about 11-12 gallons of sap into about 40oz of syrup.

Everything has been sort of cobbled together so far, and I wasn't very efficient at boiling for the first couple of hours, but I had gotten the hang of it by the time it was dark and time to stop.

Pictures:

My cobbled together arch: http://i65.tinypic.com/34sqvwl.jpg

First fruits: http://i67.tinypic.com/20adu6e.jpg

Better view for color: http://i66.tinypic.com/2nuqat5.jpg

I've still got 15 gallons to boil, plus whatever sap flows this week. Since this weekend is supposed to hit 50 and stay above freezing at night, I expect this will be it. Plus, buds have been out for a couple days, even though the sap is still clear and tastes good.

[prairietapper]

Congrats on your first boil!

[Woodsrover]

Nothin' wrong with that! Welcome!

[Jolly Acres Farm]

Elitts,
Welcome to Maple trader. Congrats on your first boil, just a friendly fair warning, its additive. In all seriousness enjoy and have fun.

[Run Forest Run!]

Your syrup looks fantastic Erik. Welcome to sugaring and MapleTrader.

P.S. I think I heard your nieces all the way up here. :lol:

[maple flats]

Nice looking syrup. As to the buds, the sap will be ok until the buds start to show a little green. As the season progresses, if you are not sure, do a test boil. Buddy sap will smell like old gym socks as it boils. Until a test boil smells like that, you can continue making syrup. Don't test it with some good concentrate in the pan, start a fresh batch to test.

[elitts]

Thanks for the warning about the buds. That makes me happy, I was getting nervous seeing bud clusters everywhere wondering if I was going to get a batch through 3-4 hours of boiling only to have the taste be my first warning that the sap was bad.

I broke down and borrowed my scout troop's 3 burner propane stove to finish up the last 12 gallons of 5 older sap (6-8 days, but mostly <32). It boiled up fine and tastes good, but I didn't get quite as much syrup out of it as I'd hoped. I'll go back to wood this weekend when I have more time, cause I used 2/3rds of a tank (at $18.00) to get that much done and that gets pricey.

I also decided to reboil my first batch a little more. My thermometer ended up reading more like 8-8.5 degrees over the water boiling temp, but the consistency seems much more in line with what I can see in youtube videos. It's also MUCH sweeter tasting, and having added in the propane boiled stuff tamed the smokey flavor a bunch.