Maple weekend...No Sap!

[Snowmad]

So I'm having a small open house for maple weekend this Sunday. The problem is...I've got not sap! Trees have been frozen for 2 weeks now. Should I boil water? Seems like such a waste of time and wood but people want to see something don't they? Or do I just say "Well, here's the equipment". This weather really sucks! What would you do?

[VTnewguy]

I think you would have to postpone it. We might be in the same boat next weekend.

[Kettle Ridge]

I don't plan to boil on Maple Weekend. If it goes anything like mine, your small open house may turn into a madhouse. Crazy busy, how can you concentrate on boiling? Kids running around wanting to touch the equipment is a huge risk if you are boiling. Not to mention parents trying to lift their kids up over the finishing pan so they can see the boiling sap. I find that visitors are happy just to see the equipment, hear the process explained, learn how maple trees get tapped, and sample the finished product.

[Snowmad]

Sounds good to me! I had a 4-H group last Saturday and I was glad I wasn't boiling! We were last year and it worked OK but like you said, it's hard to pay attention to everything and everyone!

[Wanabe1972]

I had some people over last year and had no sap. I fill the evaporator with permeate and dumped a couple of gallons of syrup from tha canner into the pans and just boiled nice and easy. Im not doing anything this year due to work schedule.

[David Wayne]

If possible I would postpone, seeing idle equipment and hearing about the process is not the same as seeing it happen. All the work that goes into it, the heat,steam, and smell. Crowd control could be someone there to tell about what is taking place and keep them at bay so to speak. But thats just my opinion.

[maple flats]

In NY state, if you are advertised as a stop on the association web site you are expected to boil, water if necessary. I've had to do it in the past. Even if you drain both pans and set it aside and fill your head tank with water or permeate to boil, you will still get the aroma and atmosphere and the pans will get cleaned. Run the fire at less than half or 1/3 force, and it will be fine. When you add wood, only fill it about 1/4 maybe less full and add wood about every 30 minutes.

[Russell Lampron]

People want to see you boil. In 2012 the season ended the week before Maple Weekend and we had a very poor turn out. The people that would be going around to the sugar houses heard that no one was boiling and stayed home or did something else. I was boiling water just to make steam and the few people that did come were happy.

[maple flats]

At least this is better for Maple Weekend when one year we had temps in the mid 70's and into the mid eighties. That was a real tough year to keep the evaporator boiling water, had to open every door and window, but the worst part was that most who might have come to visit were at the beach or working on their yards. That year in 4 days (2 weekends) of open houses we only had 3 visitors. Our best year we had a full sugarhouse all 4 days, with lines waiting outside to get in. We enjoyed record sales that year. But we were boiling sap that year too, not water, but when we have an open house we boil slower, use less wood and space the fuelings out, plus we raise the levels in the pans. We do not push it when visitors are there.

[Road's End]

I would boil water if that happened to me, maybe dump a little syrup in to get the aroma. For Maine maple Sunday I always plan on a very slow boil. Last year I didn't pour off at all in the 5 hours we had the open house on my 2x6.

[Sugarmaker]

We are going to push the syrup that is in the evaporator through with water. After that we will boil just to keep some steam rolling for folks. They like a warm sugarhouse and they like to see you making syrup even in slow motion.
Regards,
Chris

[maple flats]

Actually you will get the aroma just boiling water, as long as the pans are not new. Boiling water will clean out some hardened on remains from previous boils and it has proven to be enough for visitors to smell. I don't tell most that it is just water when that is necessary in an open house. I would not add syrup to the water.
Another thing that helps is if you have the canner (bottler) going, that also adds to the aroma.

[Austin351]

find someone that has sap, replace it when your taps start running again.?

[BCPP]

We have a hobby evaporator that we use for our maple festival which runs weekends in March and week of March Break. Last year it was too cold for sap so we mostly boiled water. This year we've tried to boil most festival days but missed today and probably tomorrow as we don't have enough sap in storage. With 62 taps we seem to be able to boil what the trees can produce on a typical day so far. Visitors seem much more engaged when the evaporator is running rather than just sitting There! Think it's critical to have at least two people there, one to explain and answer questions and the other to run the evaporator. Gets a bit hairy if your finishing pan is foaming up with finished syrop, the evaporating pan is almost foaming over and you're trying to explain process to 20 people!

[Moser's Maple]

If you are an official stop, which I hope you are if you’re going to have an open house during the NYS sponsored maple weekends, then you are not required to boil, but you are asked to do some maple related activity. You should have received an informational packet explaining this. As for our operation we have no sap either since it’s been too cold. We will be boiling water so the public can see steam coming out. We are also going to be heating syrup in the finish pan and running it through the press for people to see. We will be pumping into the canner and offer hot samples and hot bottles for guests to purchase.

[220 maple]

West Virginia Maple Syrup Producers had a split Maple Day this year, first one was on Feb.24 second one today March 17. The reason that was done so producers in our state with our diverse climate could be boiling, well that did not work out, the Feb. date should have been perfect for me, but no we catch a week of warm weather and no sap to boil, now we have had the best syrup weather ever, and the tanks are full, going to start the RO about 6am so we can have the evaporator running by 9am. This is our third year for WV Maple Day and we are going to be producing syrup! Should be interesting

Mark 220 Maple