Central Ohio tapping

[Maplefarmall]

Thinking I'm going to tap Sunday looking at the weather Outlook. Anyone else?

[buckeye gold]

I tapped the rest of mine last Saturday (Jan 26th) just to be ready. I had a small run Monday, but I didn't cook it. I thought I'd let it freeze into a block and it'd keep the new sap cool. It's been an odd year so far. I put out 38 early taps the day after Christmas and only boiled 3 times and made close to a gallon of syrup. Normally those early taps make me 3-5 gallons. I suspect when it runs next week it will gush sap. I'm ready to rock and roll. It will take 2-3 days of warm before they run after this arctic freeze, but they will pour when they do.

[Maplefarmall]

Yea I figured tap Sunday gives me a day or so to get some other stuff done and ready to go

[bmbmkr]

I'm down south about 15 miles from the Ohio River. We put in 225 taps last week and weekend, had a little bit of sap that we let flush the lines. Pumped 175 gallon from the collection tank to the sugarhouse Monday afternoon about 1, had 200 more in the tank yesterday mornin. Puttin in another 225 taps tomorrow.

[bowhunter]

I'm going to tap this week-end. That 2-3 days at 50F after this bitter cold might be good. The long range February forecast looks much better than it did a week ago. I'm sure there won't be much sap in February but I guess it never hurts to be optimistic.

[walnutsyruper]

I tap both walnut and maple trees and my goal is to get them all in this weekend...why not take advantage of the warm temps! Looking forward to getting out and starting the fun again this year!

[Maplefarmall]

We're you at in Delaware?

[GSCampChris]

We put taps in a week or so ago and worked on line leaks during the last couple of thaw days. We are ready for the weather that’s headed our way!


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[jdircksen]

I'm tapping tomorrow. Hope to get a boil or 2 in next week when it stays above freezing for 5 days.

[Maplefarmall]

Tapped 170 today had to get new pump station hooked up and running going to hammer down tapping tomorrow after work

[bmbmkr]

19354 Went through 650 gallon last night

[buckeye gold]

The last two days have been pretty good runs. I boiled off 140 gallons yesterday and today. My sugar content is a little better than last year, but still not great at 1.5%. Tree almost quit today with this warm spell. We need a reset. I will have to drain my sweet and refrigerate.

[bowhunter]

I tapped a couple of test bucket on Sunday. They ran pretty good Sunday evening but were done by Monday midmorning. Based on the current weather forecast, I'm not planning to tap until late February.

[Maplefarmall]

Looks like this weekend and next week we should get some runs

[buckeye gold]

Next week looks like a very good week down here in the flooded south. To my surprise I had a small run yesterday, but the trees quit by afternoon. I cooked down what I had and this morning drained my sweet and put it in refrigeration (I have an old refrigerator I took the racks out of and I can stack buckets in it. we are forecast for a cold snap that will reset our trees for a couple days. Then it looks like prime weather. I am way behind from most years so I am hoping for big runs and high sugar or my production will be down. Most years my fall taps foretell my regular season. This year fall taps were two runs and done, it was a bust. I hope that does not translate to now.

[bowhunter]

I tapped yesterday. Sap was running heavy by evening. The weather forecast looks good through mid-March, but who knows.

[buckeye gold]

Just an update from the south, The fall did not predict the spring. I have had big runs for 5 straight days and sugar is good at 1.8%. making syrup like crazy

[Maplefarmall]

Last 2 runs got 2300 gallon run it all threw the ro, and almost done, got 300 more to go. First year for a ro holy crap this is awesome

[bowhunter]

Had a good run on Thursday afternoon and overnight. Got about 2 gal per tap on buckets. Sugar was around 1.5%. Boiled on Saturday.

[Maplefarmall]

It's running tonight, got about 300 gallon so far

[bowhunter]

Sap's running really well here too. I've gotten 1 gallon per tap for the last two days. Unfortunately I got a bad case of the dumb a** this morning and blew an end cap off the RO membrane housing. Had lots of spare o-rings but didn't have any spare snap rings. Thought about cooking without RO but decided to wait. I will have the snap rings by Tuesday and the sap will not run much more til Thursday.

[GSCampChris]

We are having a great season so far in Columbus. Our 900 gallon tank has been full at least 3 times- and i suspect it will be close to full for a long boil today. We have made about 65 gals of syrup on about 400 taps. I changed the outlet fittings on our gathering tank this year and have near decided that it leaked all last year because we never saw sap amounts like this!


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[bowhunter]

The thing I've noticed this year is that when the sap runs every tap is much more consistent than in the past. If I average about a gallon a tap then 70% of the taps will be very close to that amount. I have very few..maybe 1-2% that run almost nothing. Most years I will have a wide range from tap to tap. I may quit the first week in March. I only make it for fun and to give away. I don't need more than 20 gallons for that.

[jdircksen]

This has been a great year. I’m up to 7.5 gallons, almost double last year. My silver maples are flowering so the end is near, but I’m hoping for another run this week. My syrup is darker than last year, but maybe that’s due to making larger batches. My real problem is filtering the finished syrup. I can’t get clear syrup like last year and I’m doing the same process — 3 prefilters inside of a synthetic cone filter. Seems like everything goes through except the foam.

[bowhunter]

I haven't filtered anything yet so I'll see how my filtering process goes. My syrup also seems to be a little dark but I haven't looked at it through glass yet.

[buckeye gold]

jdircksen, I'm going to give you some advice you probably won't like, but it will help you with your filtering. If you have a lot of foam then I'd guess your sap is breaking down and fermenting to some extent, probably not much but some. Are you boiling fresh? Also are you using defoamer? I actually filter my syrup three times. First off the evaporator through a cone pre-filter and I draw at 215-217 degrees. I then finish on propane and once I get it get it to bounce between217 and 218 I run it through one pre-filter and one final filter. This usually gets a ton of sugar sand out. I put it back on propane and finish to final density. I pull it straight off the heat and run it through 2 pre-filters and one final fliter. This usually shoots through very fast and is clear. If it starts to still have some sugar sand I add a little filter aid before final filtering. Most people fret over the lost syrup in the extra filtering, but you have to decide if you want clear or more. I doubt you lose that much actually. I do take that last set of filters and rinse them out in my flue section, that saves a lot of it. I used to struggle with the same things, but I have been much happier with my final product after I bit the bullet and started extra filtering. It's just the way life is for us small hobby guys. The other option is a filter press.

Since your on a cook top your building up your nitre and running it through your final filter. Try filtering through a pre-filter once when you hit 215 and you'll be surprised how much nitre you get out. It will finish faster then too as you have eliminated the nitre that is robbing heat.

[jdircksen]

I haven't filtered anything yet so I'll see how my filtering process goes. My syrup also seems to be a little dark but I haven't looked at it through glass yet.

So do you store it for a while and bottle a bunch at once? What do you store it in and do you have to keep it refrigerated?

[jdircksen]

jdircksen, I'm going to give you some advice you probably won't like, but it will help you with your filtering. If you have a lot of foam then I'd guess your sap is breaking down and fermenting to some extent, probably not much but some. Are you boiling fresh? Also are you using defoamer? I actually filter my syrup three times. First off the evaporator through a cone pre-filter and I draw at 215-217 degrees. I then finish on propane and once I get it get it to bounce between217 and 218 I run it through one pre-filter and one final filter. This usually gets a ton of sugar sand out. I put it back on propane and finish to final density. I pull it straight off the heat and run it through 2 pre-filters and one final fliter. This usually shoots through very fast and is clear. If it starts to still have some sugar sand I add a little filter aid before final filtering. Most people fret over the lost syrup in the extra filtering, but you have to decide if you want clear or more. I doubt you lose that much actually. I do take that last set of filters and rinse them out in my flue section, that saves a lot of it. I used to struggle with the same things, but I have been much happier with my final product after I bit the bullet and started extra filtering. It's just the way life is for us small hobby guys. The other option is a filter press.

Since your on a cook top your building up your nitre and running it through your final filter. Try filtering through a pre-filter once when you hit 215 and you'll be surprised how much nitre you get out. It will finish faster then too as you have eliminated the nitre that is robbing heat.

Thank you for the info. I'm wondering if my pre-filters are not doing their job. I rinse them out and use them several times. Just seems like the niter is going right through them. Yesterday I did add a step where I filtered around 216* and the prefilter was hardly dirty.
My final filter step is done at 219*. I read that niter forms when boiling above 200*, so am I supposed to let the syrup cool to 200* before I put it through the final filter?

to answer some questions -
yes I'm boiling fresh - usually within 1-2 days and the sap is stored in my cellar around 45*
I do not use defoamer or filter aid
the foam I scrape off isn't much. I just go around the edge of the pan every 30 minutes and get some white bubbles off.

[buckeye gold]

I store my syrup and bottle a few days worth at a time. I use 1/2 gallon mason jars. Your filters may be the problem if you have squeezed them out much. I spin mine in the washer and hang to dry. I have seen a couple years where nitre was soo fine I couldn't get it all. I have added diatomaceous earth to the syrup and filtered and it helped. If your not getting a lot , just cloudy syrup you may have to just let it settle. My syrup has filtered beautifully this year, very little nitre, but it going to change as season end is close and it will get hard to filter.

[maple marc]

The early season has been good here in Champaign County. Last week's great runs provided enough sap to make 6.5 gallons of beautiful golden syrup, the lightest in several years. Some of my taps put out 10 gallons of sap in 48 hours! I think it will be a good year for a change.

[jdircksen]

Well there is a big freeze coming next week. If my silver maples don't bud I'm expecting another big run. I doubled my syrup from last year already, I'm at 9.5 gallons. Still have to perfect the filtering step but I'm going to try a little diatomaceous earth and let the syrup cool a little before slowly putting it the filter. I think dumping the boiling syrup causes it to rush through the filters.

[bowhunter]

9 1/2 gallons of syrup on 32 taps is really impressive. I didn't know silver maples had sugar content that high.

[jdircksen]

I just rechecked my numbers. I’ve boiled 500 gallons of sap and bottled 1349oz (10.5 gallons). My sap has been around 2%. I tapped on Feb 2nd and I hope the end is near. I need to sell 40 bottles to fund next years evaporator.

19568

[jdircksen]

Had another boil this weekend and can't believe the numbers. I must have done something wrong last year to only get 4 gallons. or this year is just out of this world.
Totals now...I boiled 609 gallons of sap to make 1662oz / 12.98 gallons of syrup. I got rid of another 86 gallons of sap because I was out of the country for 11 days. Unfortunately the first ~8 gallons had filtering issues, so I will probably re-bottle some of them over the summer. Once the sugar sand is removed (it's not a ton, still in suspension) my finished syrup numbers will decrease.

[bowhunter]

I boiled 240 gallons of sap yesterday and made about 6.5 gallons of syrup. I think that's it for me this season. I only make it for fun and I've got my 16 gallons of syrup for the year. I plan to pull my taps next weekend when it warms up and start the clean up process. I still have to filter and bottle...not looking forward to that. Good luck to everyone.

[maple marc]

Bowhunter, we must be on the same wavelength! Yesterday I also boiled exactly 240 gallons! Set a new daily production record of 8.4 gallons. No RO--some of my syrup was 2.5+%. Beautiful stuff--79 reading on the light scale. Puts me at about 14 gallons and I feel I'm just getting started. Looks like a big big run ahead this weekend. This is like the old days! All that rain last summer created a huge leaf canopy and it's paying off now.

[buckeye gold]

Maple marc, Those are some great numbers. You have some very special trees there. By your numbers you have to be getting in the neighborhood of 3% sugar in your sap. I hope you realize how fortunate you are. My 10 year average is ~1.6%. I have around 100 taps out too and I feel pretty good if I make around 20 gallons of syrup.

[hungryhollow]

I am in Knox county. I put out 46 taps on Feb 14, Pulled them Mar 4. I got over 8 gallons of syrup. Best year ever!:)

[maple marc]

Yes, I am very fortunate. Someone about 75 years ago planted--or let volunteer--some sugar maples in our yard. The 8 trees in the yard, along with some fence row trees, produce a huge amount of my syrup. These trees have very large crowns. In a 24 hours period those trees often produce 10 gallons of high sap. I test the sugar from different trees and I see what a difference a crown makes. Those spear trees in the woods really don't do much for you. That's one advantage of buckets--you see what trees are working for you. Makes you realize how important "releasing" trees in the woods really is. I'm going to do some thinning in the woods this spring so that in a few more years--if I'm still kicking--I'll have more super trees. I've set my limit at 100 buckets for now. Too much else in my life going on. Got be to make every hour count. Wishing a good March to all!

[jdircksen]

Well the sap is flowing again. I collected 36 gallons from 28 taps. Looks clear and registers around 2%. I’m going to boil today to see how it smells. My silver maples have really impressed me this year.