Eastern Ontario 2024

[ProBoot]

I'm in Lanark County, boasting being the Maple Syrup capital of Ontario.

Haven't tapped yet but have smelled someone boiling in near my place.

Only doing 50 buckets this year and expect hobby output of under 20l syrup.

[Maplelane1]

In Peterborough County here. Still too early. Quite a bit of snow on the ground, no sun and just barely above 0 during the day. Keeping an eye on the forecast tho !

Installing solar sureflo vacuum system this weekend for 130 taps - probably 20 buckets (for show). Lines are already in as is tank. Just need to get the vacuum system in !

Had gravity last year but little topography so while I think we did ok I'm hoping with the vacuum system we increase yield. We'll see !

[Hkb82]

I have no doubt your gonna enjoy the added preference from the shut flo

[Maplelane1]

That's what everyone tells me, Hkb ! Really looking forward to see an improvement in yield..

[Pdiamond]

Good luck to you Maplelane. My grandma was born and raised in your neck of the woods, Lakefield.

[jungmaria]

Looking at the 10 day forecast is making me think I might tap some this weekend. Seems too early but I did a bit of an experiment last year where I tapped some of my lines when we had that thaw in early Feb and didn’t tap the rest until March. In the end the sap production of my early tapped lines exceeded the late which never had a chance to ‘catch up’ before the trees budded out. Anyone else getting the itch?

[Galena]

I know I say this each year, but this year I really doubt that I will tap. The temps are great but I am afraid of early budding and a hard cold snap which we always get in Feb.

Also already have enough projects lined up in addition to my usual juggling act of running a business and looking after my house and property.

Guess I'll be buying a few gallons from peeps at season's end!

Meantime if anyone wants any advice I'm always glad to share my opinon lol ;-)

Have fun all!

[Maplelane1]

We are precisely 7 minute drive from Lakefield, Pdiamond. Have lived here for 8 years, lovely area and fantastic people. Lived in PTBO for 11 years prior - nice city but it’s a city. ;)

Jungmaria - this year has been quite unique in terms of temps and weather in general but I’m thinking - right or wrong I don’t know - that we’re due for another big freeze AND dumping of snow. That said we’re getting everything ready. Spent the day today cleaning up the shack and clearing snow. What a great day. Sunny, music playing, dogs playing and beer was cold 😉

Here’s hoping for a great year ! Good luck all !

[Pdiamond]

Maplelane, Just outside of Lakefield there used to be a cheese factory/store. Just wondering if it is still there. If it is could ypu provide me with the name I want to try and order some cheese. Back when we use to go there you could only get either 5lb or 10lb blocks of mild or sharp. That was all they sold. It was the best cheese I have ever had.

[Maplelane1]

Ahhh. The cheese factory on Stoney lake road…sadly they closed many years ago. So no 🧀 !

[ProBoot]

I'm so not prepared, Evaporator isn't installed yet, sugar shack filled with junk, buckets all stacked and unwashed, missing some equipment, so not ready to tap.....:-(

This working full time 60 hrs a week is cutting my hobby time too much.

[Bricklayer]

You still have a couple weeks till you have to worry about tapping.
But now is the time to get all the other stuff ready while the weather is somewhat nice and snow levels arnt too bad.
Can almost walk right on top of the snow now it’s so hard.

[Maplelane1]

Yeah, bricklayer, I’m with you on that. Been going full speed since Saturday to get everything ready thinking I would tap but have thought otherwise. Little warm spell here but it’s forecast to turn cold again next week - not surprising it’s barely February. Neighbour down the way put his buckets out late last week but haven’t seen any sap in them.

Curious though - has anyone tapped yet and how’s it been ?

[Bricklayer]

Last thing you want is all your lines in the bush full of sap and a cold spell of -20’s for a week.
That’s pretty hard on fittings and valves. Never mind tanks and everything else that’s out in the woods. I’ve had taps freeze up so solid after a sap run that I had to go hammer them back in the tree. Every one was leaking due to ice pushing them out.
If you have sap you have to boil. So the evaporator is full , the permeate tanks are full.
I’ve learned my lesson that a little bit of early sap is not worth the damage done by frozen solid equipment. There will be freeze ups during the season. But usually not for extended periods of time like what we can get in early mid February.

[paulslund]

Just for fun I put out two taps in late December when we had a slight thaw. My expectations were NIL, and I got a maybe half a liter between the two buckets. They are still on trees and I might now have about 3, maybe 4 L between the two. Based on this week's temps I'm thinking I'll be boiling on the stove this weekend. My goal for the season is 1L as I'm only doing the two buckets for fun as I'm prepping the house to list for sale this spring.. so no time to set up the regular operation.

[Coatesy]

Glad to see ya back Galena. I'm super busy this year also but going to go at er again this year. Had a great year last year.


I know I say this each year, but this year I really doubt that I will tap. The temps are great but I am afraid of early budding and a hard cold snap which we always get in Feb.

Also already have enough projects lined up in addition to my usual juggling act of running a business and looking after my house and property.

Guess I'll be buying a few gallons from peeps at season's end!

Meantime if anyone wants any advice I'm always glad to share my opinon lol ;-)

Have fun all!

[Coatesy]

Prep time down here probably could tapped this week but cold snap next week again.
I'll probably get mine in end couple weeks. Need to replace my chimney this year as she's rotted out. Thinking of changing over to taps and lines instead of buckets this year. 🤔

[Galena]

Glad to see ya back Galena. I'm super busy this year also but going to go at er again this year. Had a great year last year.

Lol fill yer boots Coatesy! Good you had a great year last year, mine was also pretty good.

Of course things may change and I will be able to tap, but as it stands right now, I pretty much have to be able to leave on short notice. Life can get complicated very quickly.

Bye for now all, don't tap too early! Be nice to your bush.

[jungmaria]

Curious though - has anyone tapped yet and how’s it been ?[/QUOTE/

Tapped a couple lines Sat. Running so hard there was a steady stream of sap coming out by the time I got to the bottom of the line. Ran it out to flush lines. Collected about 30 gal from 38 taps on Sun, haven’t checked since but should’ve run yesterday and today too. Was hoping to get enough for a bit of a test boil before cold snap but doubt I will.

[Vandy]

Wheelers had to boil over the weekend, earliest ever... If I had been tapped, I'm sure I would have as well. I am not tapping for a few weeks...

[Maplelane1]

Up in our neck of the woods, Staples, was boiling too. I imagine that for larger producers you have to make hay when the sun shines, so to speak.

So was Sandy Flats....

[Maplelane1]

Well I pulled the trigger and tapped all lines today but did not connect them to vacuum. They’re running, slowly but they’re running ! Getting ready for next week…forecast looks promising.

[Vandy]

I am still waiting, but prolly should have tapped yesterday.. 14C tomorrow:o

[limestone]

We tapped our bush yesterday and had a decent run today. It got to +7 with full sunshine thisaft a great day to start the ‘24 season.

[Maplelane1]

It ran a bit yesterday... But this morning our taps that are on tubing/vacuum are flowing quite well. Tested some sap on Sunday and was seeing 2.5%. Not bad ! Cold snap coming wed through friday. May have enough after tomorrow for first boil.

[Coatesy]

Letting a few trees chill this year. Put in 21 taps yesterday pulled 39L sap this morning ing and buckets almost 3/4 full again today.

[Bricklayer]

Finished tapping yesterday. Spent hours today chasing down leaks and more deer chews. Problems with an electric releaser. Etc.
This is the first time I’ve ever ran my vac pumps all day and all night in February . Just came back from checking on them and sap is still comming in strong.
Beautifull night to be walking in the bush.
Looking forward to Thursday’s cold snap so I can get caught up with other maple related stuff. Been such a crazy quick start to the season.

[Maplelane1]

Well here you go, Bricklayer, the cold snap is here and boy did it roar in like a lion. Temps here dropped from +11 at 2pm to -1 by 3pm. And the winds ! We were frantically pumping sap from our holding into head tank yesterday - sap was freezing, a tree fell not more than 30 meters from me but, we got er done. Set up the evap later today and hopefully boil tomorrow. Weather is looking good for another run over the weekend...

Crazy season for sure.

[Vandy]

I am 60% tapped between Tuesday and Wednesday. Some buckets tapped Tuesday were full last night. Making ICE today and will use for sap storage over the weekend.

[Big_Eddy]

We tapped last Friday. 160 buckets +/-.
Sap was streaming down the trees before we could get the spiles in. Saturday was frigid so we went hiking. Collected a 100 gallon tank full of ice blocks Sunday, then another 100 gallons or so sap between Monday and Tuesday.
Today’s goal is to get to Sugar house cleared out and the evaporator pans connected together and start boiling.
Today should be a good sap day. The forecast going forward is too warm though, and without any snow in the woods, there is no chilling effect to help. Of course the forecast changes daily, so there is hope.

[Maplelane1]

The 'hope' piece is where I'm at, eddy.

I wonder how long the maples can handle these extended warm spells followed by a cold spell (and repeat) before they bud out.

Some of my large maples look like they are starting buds (looking through binoculars so not 100% sure), smaller ones not yet. My basswoods have little red buds.

[Coatesy]

Boiled about 20G today. Trees not running after that cold snap. Not liking the looks of the weather. Hoping we'll get another week or two of runs, I fear early buds coming.

[Big_Eddy]

We tapped last Friday. 160 buckets +/-.
Sap was streaming down the trees before we could get the spiles in. Saturday was frigid so we went hiking. Collected a 100 gallon tank full of ice blocks Sunday, then another 100 gallons or so sap between Monday and Tuesday.
Today’s goal is to get to Sugar house cleared out and the evaporator pans connected together and start boiling.
Today should be a good sap day. The forecast going forward is too warm though, and without any snow in the woods, there is no chilling effect to help. Of course the forecast changes daily, so there is hope.

Well, I got the 60 gallons of liquid sap I had boiled and the pans are sweetened. Unfortunately the other 100 gals I have is one big solid lump. We collected half our trees tonight and brought back another 30 gals or so. I’ll need to park my one trailer in the sun until it thaws enough I can pump it out, otherwise it’ll be forever thawing.

[Big_Eddy]

Managed to pump 60 gals of sap slush out of the one tank, and collected another 70 today. Only boiled 30 so I’m getting behind already.

[Galena]

Managed to pump 60 gals of sap slush out of the one tank, and collected another 70 today. Only boiled 30 so I’m getting behind already.

Good to see you back, Big_Eddy! Missed you last season!

Well like always I thought I might not tap this year...but the itch is just too strong. So, after lining up a contingency plan, I am going to tap. But only a light tap. Just 10 taps this year as opposed to 18. I'm pulling #6 off the line as it hasn't been healing after previous years, and #9 had surgery, so I'd like it to have the season off. So just the three bush maples (4 spiles) and only 2 spiles in trees #5, #2, and #1.

Just finished getting everything out of storage, now waiting for my drill's battery to charge. This sugaring thing is a sickness, I tell ya!

[jungmaria]

Finally got enough boiled to finish the first big batch. Bought a new to me 16x16 filler canner with a bain marie and the flat filter tray in the top. Hoped it’d make life easier than doing it through the cone filters. Used new Orlon and 4 pre filters damped with hot sap. Had water bath at 190. Syrup I poured was at 205, filtered through nicely and stayed at 190 while I bottled. Perfect! So much easier than before. But then I saw it. Cloudy syrup. Not terrible but not clear. And nearly no sediment in the prefilters. Had always made clear syrup, even when sand was heavy. First time using flat filters. Am I doing anything wrong? Appreciate any tips you might have.

[Bricklayer]

Couple things can go wrong with the way you are doing it.

#1 - I assume it’s a steam bottler with the water tray under the bottling tank.
Not a good idea to have it up to temp and them filter syrup into it.
What I used to do with mine when I used a similar one is filter the syrup into it while it’s off the heat.
You can get the steam going but just not with an empty bottling tank on top.
Once there is some syrup in it I would put it back on and then keep filtering.

2. Your filters and prefilters need to be way oversized for the grate your putting them on. Syrup will just flow over them and go straight into the bottling tank unfiltered.

3. Using hot sap to wet your filters is not good either. Not really a common practice.
I never really even wet mine. Sometimes I would hang them over the back pan to dampen them. But not always. Used them dry most of the time. Worked just fine.
If you’re going to dampen them do it with steam from your boil or use distilled water or filtered water. Even a kettle boiling will work to moisten them.

4. Orlon filters should be used the same way every time. My opinion anyways.
This keeps the chance of anything left on the side you poured the syrup on from comming out in the next batch.

[jungmaria]

Thanks Bricklayer. Appreciate the advice! Yes it’s a steam bottler on propane.
Did another batch and it came out clear. Not really sure what I changed, maybe I got the syrup into the pan faster or something the 2nd time? What’s that saying? Even a clock that’s stopped is right twice a day?


Couple things can go wrong with the way you are doing it.

#1 - I assume it’s a steam bottler with the water tray under the bottling tank.
Not a good idea to have it up to temp and them filter syrup into it.
What I used to do with mine when I used a similar one is filter the syrup into it while it’s off the heat.
You can get the steam going but just not with an empty bottling tank on top.
Once there is some syrup in it I would put it back on and then keep filtering.

2. Your filters and prefilters need to be way oversized for the grate your putting them on. Syrup will just flow over them and go straight into the bottling tank unfiltered.

3. Using hot sap to wet your filters is not good either. Not really a common practice.
I never really even wet mine. Sometimes I would hang them over the back pan to dampen them. But not always. Used them dry most of the time. Worked just fine.
If you’re going to dampen them do it with steam from your boil or use distilled water or filtered water. Even a kettle boiling will work to moisten them.

4. Orlon filters should be used the same way every time. My opinion anyways.
This keeps the chance of anything left on the side you poured the syrup on from comming out in the next batch.

[Big_Eddy]

Well, didn’t boil anything today and collected another 130 gallons of sap. I foresee 3-4 days of hard boiling ahead. Fortunately I still have lots of ice blocks from last week to keep sap cold

[Maplelane1]

We boiled Saturday, around 200 gal. Pans are sweetened. Not running all that well…. Collected around 100 gal since. Most buckets we put out aren’t running at all. Fingers crossed for later in the week. Good luck all !

[ProBoot]

Tapped only on Friday, slow drop on most buckets(50 total) and only 3 that produced about a Gallon overnight. Weather isn't looking good overall for good flow(not that I would really know), but it's my first year and I wasn't even planning on tapping at all.

Hoping it flows all week as I was only able to collect about 20Gallons so far in 24 hrs.

[limestone]

It’s been on here since it warmed up Saturday morning. Good run Sat ,excellent run Sunday and good runs Monday - today.
Which is strange since we haven’t had anywhere near a nighttime freeze. No filtering issues so far which is nice.
What little frost penetration we had this winter is pretty much gone so not sure if that speed up an early end to the year.
Hope not!

[Vandy]

Get ready for sap tsunami today!

[Maplelane1]

You got that right, Vandy.

Buckets aren't doing all that great, barely 1/2 gallon each today, but vacuum is pulling lots of sap. This is our first year with lines on vacuum and I am impressed by the increase in volume from previous year on gravity.

I think there'll be some boiling going on in Eastern Ontario tomorrow ! ;)

[Coatesy]

Good to see you back, Big_Eddy! Missed you last season!

Well like always I thought I might not tap this year...but the itch is just too strong. So, after lining up a contingency plan, I am going to tap. But only a light tap. Just 10 taps this year as opposed to 18. I'm pulling #6 off the line as it hasn't been healing after previous years, and #9 had surgery, so I'd like it to have the season off. So just the three bush maples (4 spiles) and only 2 spiles in trees #5, #2, and #1.

Just finished getting everything out of storage, now waiting for my drill's battery to charge. This sugaring thing is a sickness, I tell ya!

Glad to hear you're sapping this year. You're right it is a sickness 🤣

[Bricklayer]

I always tell my wife there are worse things I could be addicted to.

[Galena]

Yep I got suckered back into it as I looked at the dwindling syrup supply from last year. Can't have that!

I got a really nice couple litres of light Amber from Batch #4, but unfortunately overcooked it a little and so it's full of sugar sparklies. Dang. So breaking out the distilled water to fix it. Straight up vanilla and marshmallow like always.

Boiled down about 41l to around 3 this morning, nice start for Batch #2!

[Big_Eddy]

We didn’t collect Wednesday or Thursday and by Friday afternoon I finally got to the bottom of the sap we had collected earlier. Friday was a surprisingly light day with only 35 gallons from 160 taps, so am essentially caught up now. Once this rain let’s up, will have to see what the buckets hold today.

[Galena]

Hey all, OMG so excited for batch #2...definite delicious smell of chocolate off of this batch! Can't wait to see if the flavour reflects this brand-new note! Ratio is also incredible....approx 27.5:1 :-)

Pleasantly surprised too by the minute amounts of nitre. Almost none, in fact.

Off to get more firewood!

[Asthepotthickens]

Hey Ya'll been a weird year, only made 5 gallons and already dealing with maple mud

[Bricklayer]

The nitre is very fine this year.
I drained my front pans today expecting to have to let them soak a day or two to get the nitre off. But it just hosed right out.
Just a fine silt on the bottom. I’ll take it. Way easier then dealing with the baked on nitre like every other year. Even had time to drain the flue pan amd wash it out as well. Usually do them on separate days.

[Maplelane1]

Boiled all day Saturday and today…. Kinda exhausted really. But all caught up and weather is shaping up to deliver another run tomorrow and Tuesday.

Have a problem though…. We have a Lapierre 2*6 Vision with deluxe pans - this is our 4th year with it and have loved it. Performance is way down though this year. Typically average 20+ gph but this year we’re getting only 12 gph when running optimally. Have a tough time maintaining a good boil in sap pan today and noticed a lot of creosote buildup under the pans. Did some research and I’m thinking I need to replace gaskets, insulation in key spots and will inspect the chimney (I have not done any of this since I installed it, new). And I noticed this year some ‘gaps’ in pan and door gaskets.

Wood is dry. Split to wrist diameter. Load at regular intervals and do so quickly .

Am I on the right track with gasket replacement etc ?

Thanks.

[Bricklayer]

All those things are great improvements and will help with your boil.
Does your evaporator have forced draft ?

This is my first year with our new 2.5 x 10 Venturi and after 3 boils I installed a digital stack thermometer. What a difference when you know what’s going on.
I was able to know what temp the flue pan stops boiling at and keep that my lowest point I never want to get to. Then watch the temp and set a goal of 900 degrees. Once it started trending down from that number of found the sweet spot that allowed me to open door throw wood in and close door before getting down to the kill boil number.
Before we had this it was just a guessing game and we fired every 7 minutes.

[Maplelane1]

Thanks.

No forced air, natural draft. That said the fire would torch quite easily first few years, telling me it was very air tight. Not so anymore.

And yes, I will add a stack thermo for the good reasons you say.

Thanks again.

[Bricklayer]

Couple other factors that effect boil other then the things mentioned.
Cleaning the underside of your syrup pans in the off-season. I used to do the flue pan too but can’t do that anymore. So I bought a flue brush the other day and it’s not easy to get in there but it made a difference for sure.
Also I’ve noticed that boiling on a gloomy rainy day is not as efficient as boiling on a nice day. Seem to be able to get a better boil rate on nicer days. Barometric pressure must have something to do with it.
Cleaning the nitre out of your syrup pans in between boils helps as well. Once it gets baked on it will affect your boil rate.

[Super Sapper]

Make sure you do not have ash buildup under your flue pan or under the stack base. It sounds as if you have restricted draft as you are not getting enough air.

[Maplelane1]

Thank you or sharing your ideas all.

Started draining pans. Once I have them off will check all - chimney, stack base etc.

Had to order the gasket for bottom of pans. Absolutely no insulation to be found, that white stuff. Completely sold out and CDL told me they likely won't get any until after the season. BUT ! I was able to find a piece that was left over from install and that will go across bottom of sap pan to direct heat within arch into the flue's (raised flue).

Did not turn vacuum on today. Will do so tomorrow - looks promising.

Anyone getting a good run today ?

[Vandy]

A few drops today. Too windy..

Friday was ok. almost 90Gal from 77 taps. didn't run over night, nothing sat/sun.

[Bricklayer]

I turned my pumps on at 12:30 today and sap was comming in good. Sun is strong today.
Usually wait around for the first couple releaser dumps after a good freeze up. Sometimes there is a surge of ice and the releaser Dosnt like that.

You can use rockwool ( mineral fibre insulation ) if you are in a pinch. The 1.5” stuff from Home Depot works great.
I used it in our old arch for years and had no problems at all. Lasts forever and does just as good of job as the blanket. And it’s cheaper.

[Maplelane1]

Good to know about that rockwool. I was at HD today and that's all they had and didn't buy it... but like I said I found some that'll do the trick.

Buckets - maybe a couple - are slowly running the others are dry. Just now I turned on the vacuum pump and was running really good... But that could just be sap in the lines, I'll check later to see how it's really doing. Windy and feels cooler than it is, but sunny.

Jeez ! I have to own this one, not doing proper maintenance on the arch etc. What I'm doing now will hopefully solve the problem but complete go over is on the list of things to do after the season.

[jungmaria]

Well looks like I’m done. Brix dropped to 1.3, bad nitre. Just wasting firewood at this point. Weird thing is sap has no buddy taste, (or sugar taste either). Good, clear water! Usually sap goes buddy when brix this low, but no sign of bud swelling.
Anybody ever had brix come back up after cold snap? Not going to pull taps in case by some miracle trees still fine for next week’s cool down. Only made 1/4 of what we hoped to get.
Good luck to all those still boiling!

[Galena]

A few drops today. Too windy..

Friday was ok. almost 90Gal from 77 taps. didn't run over night, nothing sat/sun.

Oh IDK about that....I went out at 1am last night, brought in 23l sap, another 14 at 11 am, prob last sap collection of the day at 6 or so.

[limestone]

Yesterday turned out surprisingly well with a strong NW wind blowing through our bush. It was running strong again this morning at by 8:30 in calm sunshine as soon as the lines thawed out. Today being our best sap flow of the season.

[jungmaria]

Well looks like I’m done. Brix dropped to 1.3, bad nitre. Just wasting firewood at this point.

So the same barrels that were reading 1.3 brix on Monday afternoon were 1.6 on Tues morning and yesterday’s sap is 1.7
Only reason I can think of is that my smaller trees that are dropping in sugar started running earlier and the bigger sweeter ones didn’t start until later and ran into the night raising the brix?? What a weird year. Great run yesterday here. So I’m still boiling after all. I sure wish I had power and could use an RO though.

[Maplelane1]

Had our best run of the season yesterday. Storage tank is almost full (~300gal) and all our 6 gal pails are full. And it's still running at 1pm today. That's the good news...

The bad ? My evaporator is down until tomorrow. I sure hope the new gaskets, insulation and scrubbing increase its performance otherwise I'll be boiling until the may long.

Went looking for the right brush to clean the underside of the sap pan, something that'd work well between the flues. Ended up buying a toilet brush... Not to worry, it's food grade. ;)

[Galena]

Yet everyone! Guess what I did! Finally popped my 'never scorched a pan' claim to fame! After 16 yrs I thought I had this magick down to a T. But nope...apparently I'm dumb enough to think that distilled H2O is used for fixing syrup finishing. Nope!

Had I been smart enough to dump in distilled last night, then I wouldn't be wasting time alternating between a couple of mild abrasives and vinegar to undo the damage. I kid you not...the pan, though not even at 200, scorched up as I was emptying it. Where sap/nearup had been literally seconds before was now a lovely sheet of amber scorch.

Sooooo yeah definite learning experience and I now have a half gallon of distilled in Shack Whacky to help prevent further disasters. I knew my sugar content is really good but I didn't think it was that good!

[ennismaple]

Well looks like I’m done. Brix dropped to 1.3, bad nitre. Just wasting firewood at this point. Weird thing is sap has no buddy taste, (or sugar taste either). Good, clear water! Usually sap goes buddy when brix this low, but no sign of bud swelling.
Anybody ever had brix come back up after cold snap? Not going to pull taps in case by some miracle trees still fine for next week’s cool down. Only made 1/4 of what we hoped to get.
Good luck to all those still boiling! Sugar content will go up after an extended freeze. When the sap is running very well it spends very little time in the stem of the tree - hence low sugar content. A cold snap means the sap is in contact with the starches in the tree for longer and absorbs more sugar. If it's not buddy you're not done!

[jungmaria]

Sugar content will go up after an extended freeze. When the sap is running very well it spends very little time in the stem of the tree - hence low sugar content. A cold snap means the sap is in contact with the starches in the tree for longer and absorbs more sugar. If it's not buddy you're not done!

Ahh that explains things. Thank you! Crossing my fingers and hoping my trees can hold on for a couple more days until next week's colder temperatures.

Galena, I'm sorry you've joined us, but welcome to the club!

[Galena]

You're sorry I've joined? Lol only been here since forever! Hehe....yeah I caved and finally did choose to tap. Amazed at the low amounts of nitre.

[jungmaria]

You're sorry I've joined? Lol only been here since forever! Hehe....yeah I caved and finally did choose to tap. Amazed at the low amounts of nitre.

No I mean sorry you've joined the burnt pan club! :lol: I joined it in my 1st year.
You've been a great source of information on here for me! Glad you decided to boil this year after all.

[Galena]

No I mean sorry you've joined the burnt pan club! :lol: I joined it in my 1st year.
You've been a great source of information on here for me! Glad you decided to boil this year after all.

Ah ok lol yeah!!! The burnt pan club needs its own logo...maybe a smoking blackened syrup pan :-) Amazed that it took long to reach this milestone!

And thanks for the kudos, nice to know someone listens to my thought dumps :-)

[ennismaple]

There's two types of sugarmakers: Those who've burnt a pan and new producers!

[Galena]

There's two types of sugarmakers: Those who've burnt a pan and new producers!

Haha yeah I was wondering what was wrong with me esp as I ain't a new producer!

[Maplelane1]

There's two types of sugarmakers: Those who've burnt a pan and new producers!

Oh no ! 😬.

Sorry hear galena. Please post info on how to clean…cause I’m due apparently…

Haha…. We used to have a similar saying for motorbike riders…. Those that have crashed, and those that will.

[Maplelane1]

And just a quick update on my evap…

Changed gaskets, replaced and cleaned insulation and some fire board…. Started boiling today at noon and the unit is running like new and 27 gph !

Sincere thanks to those who provided helpful advice and suggestions…. I followed up on each and every one.

[Galena]

Hi Maplelane, I use plain white vinegar to soak off the worst of the scorch. Leave overnight. I used Barkeeps friend with the rough side of a sponge and gently scour the area mostly in a circular motion. Dont want to make grooves in the stainless, just remove the crud. I also use a product from my days as a house cleaner called Scour-off by Shaklee. Dont know if they sell to the public.i like it cause it's a mild abrasive made from ground up cherry pits.
Oh and you also need elbow grease and patience. And make sure you rinse out the pans really well to eliminate all and any residue. I also use clean microfiber cloths to wipe them out, but they might leave lint so best to do a final rinse then let the pan air dry. Hope this helps! And for the outside of the pans just running water and a nylon scrub brush oughta do it.

[Big_Eddy]

I’m on day 3 of steady boiling with at least 100 gallons still to go. Was happy the buckets were dry last night. Tonight’s freeze should bring more sap tomorrow

[Coatesy]

Getting my boiling caught up. Trees haven't produced for a few days.
Maybe get one more run this week with the colder nights, how is everyone else doing lately?

[Lanark]

I've bottled 34 litres so far from 2 sessions of boiling ( I clean my flat pan and storage drums between sessions). I collected 46 gallons of sap this morning, still sitting at 2% sugar and have started my 3rd session of boiling. Probably won't have any more sap until later next week or even the weekend.

I only put up 50 buckets this year and tried drop lines into 10 x 6 gallon pails. I didn't find that the pails collected any more sap that my buckets but it kept the gypsy moths out. I also waited to March to tap.

[Coatesy]

Wow that a good return on 50 taps.
Where abouts are you? I'm hoping my taps will start running again this week its been double digit weather here all week amd warm nights so no sap.

[Lanark]

I'm about 10 km's from the village Lanark and just down the road from Temple's sugar bush and pancake house.

[Coatesy]

I'm about 10 km's from the village Lanark and just down the road from Temple's sugar bush and pancake house. got ya a bit north west of me. Weather probably been the same, not sure why my taps stopped flowing this week. Been weird weather.

[Lanark]

Very weird weather, the silver maple in the front yard has almost leafed out but there's no sign of buds on the maples in the bush. I was looking at my old tap holes today and they're about a 1.5 foot higher than where I tapped this year. There was barely any snow on the ground when I started tapping and now there's none.

[Galena]

My own trees are making their preferences known. The colder days leave the bigger trees going 'meh'....they like warm sunny weather. The three bush maples are pretty consistent, but Surprise 2 had me guessing a few times. Started strong then almost dried during that nice warm spell. But when we had all that rain it gave me about a gallon. Now it's had a day or two off since the downpour, and been quiet, but last night was cool, so there's another gallon or so today. So long as it's happy, I'm not complaining!

[Maplelane1]

All caught up now - boiling and did some bottling over the weekend. Some real nice amber...But that's all we ever get is amber. Not a lot of sugar sand this year.

Sap ran a bit yesterday and no sign of budding out so these next few days of cold may recharge everything for a late week run. We'll see.

[Galena]

Annndd.....it's winter again! lol

[ennismaple]

Annndd.....it's winter again! lol Thankfully! We made half a normal season's crop in the 10 days from the 8th to 17th. Thank goodness for RO!

Sugar has been down - been between 1.8 and 2.1 Brix for the last 5 boils. It should come up when we warm up later next week. Might be a long Easter Weekend in the sugar camp!

[limestone]

Surprisingly we had good runs yesterday and today. I checked our tanks at the bottom of our collection runs this morning after a heads up from another producer in the Odessa area. Turned out we had an unexpected run late yesterday and overnight. With the clouds , high NW wind and driven snowstorm yesterday afternoon it was surprise.
A strong run again today in cloudy windy +5 that felt more like 0 in the bush.
That’s the ‘24 season…unpredictable.

[ir3333]

Hello all...how have your totals been this year? I haven't seen a window longer than 3 or 4 days and still haven't tapped.
The way the drips and dribbles have gone through this spring weather I'm thinking maybe i should just skip this year?

[Galena]

Hello all...how have your totals been this year? I haven't seen a window longer than 3 or 4 days and still haven't tapped.
The way the drips and dribbles have gone through this spring weather I'm thinking maybe i should just skip this year?

Seems a little late to start, but you can try if you like.

[ir3333]

i remember the first year i ever tapped was in early April which does seem late compared to recent years. Anyway i have lots to
do so i think i will skip this year. All the best for you guys hangin' in there. This week holds some promise!

[Big_Eddy]

It’s been quiet here since I finished up the last of my sap last Wednesday. A few cold days have hopefully given the trees time to reset a bit. I’m expecting that the sap will start to flow well again today and should continue for a few days at least. I’m seeing warm days and freezing days for the next week or more. And no buds on the sugars yet.

[ir3333]

Couldn't understand why my test taps weren't running today. I pulled them and re-tapped and they are running great! I'm not
making syrup this year but it's looking like there may still be enough time to start. I do know some others have had to re tap
because their early taps had also healed over. But still i'm hearing reports of lo sugar this year. Last summer and autumn was dry
and cool in my area so maybe that's why sugar is lo in some trees?

[Maplelane1]

Trees are waking up today. A few on buckets produced over a gallon each while some just started to flow about an hour ago. Similar with those on vacuum… started slow this morning but increasing as day goes on. Maples are no where near budding out here too so anticipating a boil this week. We’ll see !

[Willen]

Ir333, when you say re-tap, are you drilling a new hole, or just reaming out the same hole drilled earlier this season?

[ir3333]

I have friends who tapped late Jan. and early Feb. They had some of their taps start to heal over and drilled new taps for better flow.
I did the same and the newly drilled taps ran strong right away!The old holes did drip slowly but did not run. I checked last night at 10:30
and the new taps were still running and again at 7:00 this morning and they are still running great!

[Maplelane1]

All buckets full this morning and collection tank 3/4 full, and still running. No time to check sugar content but will later today. Looking at long range forecast and if the trees don't bud out (no where near that yet) my season so far may be just a preview of what's to come.

[Lanark]

I collected 64 gallons yesterday at 2% sugar, today I collected 78 gallons still at 2% sugar. I didn't think it would drip last night. I tried to make myself a homemade RO but still haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong yet, so it'll be another busy day boiling.

[Big_Eddy]

Monday sap survey didn’t indicate a need to collect, so passed. Collected 90 gallons Tuesday, so making steam again today. It was hit and miss yesterday. Some pails empty, and others full.

[ir3333]

Eddy..How long ago did you tap?

[Big_Eddy]

Feb 23.
A couple of trees have given up. Most are still going. Forecast looks like we will get through the weekend and then that’s it.

[Galena]

Feb 23.
A couple of trees have given up. Most are still going. Forecast looks like we will get through the weekend and then that’s it.

I've had a tree tap out too, just one of the 1-spile bush maples. Another spile on a big tree is starting to call it a day. But the forecast in my area still conducive through next week, so will keep going til they call it a day. T
hree good trees are still giving me double digits of perfect sap.

[ir3333]

that was my point... I was warned years ago by veteran Sugarmen about getting excited and tapping too early. Taps can
start to heal over after as little as 4 weeks. Their flow won't stop but will be reduced when the best runs happen. We see
early tapping in Jan. and Feb. every year and now reports say syrup production is down. When i removed and re-tapped
some early taps that were slow, they immediately ran strong and still are today. I always tap mid to late March when i see
at least a 10 day window and have never had a bad year. Next year do your own test with late and early taps on the same
tree. Maybe it won't work in your sugar bush....and maybe i have just been lucky?

[Big_Eddy]

LR3333
I have tapped date, first and last sap, first and last boil, gallons of sap, litres of syrup plus more data for our bush going back close to 30 year.

In the last 12 years, my earliest tap date was Feb 19, and the latest March 19. Our shortest season was 13 days and the longest 53. We made the most syrup per tap in the longest year, and the least in the shortest.

We are 12 mins from Stirling, so comparable. Most Bucket taps still run well 6 weeks after tapping. Tubing longer. Health Spiles on a tight vacuum system longer still. The big guys start tapping at the start of December. Of course they make more syrup in a day than I collect sap in a year.

[ir3333]

Sounds like you have all the data on your bush and take your syrup very serious. Well done!
I experiment and try to learn something every year but i don't make a lot syrup.
I try to nail the perfect 2-3 week run in March and get the "most for the least" amount of time/work.

[ir3333]

Ed... I noticed your arch specs. Like you, i built my own arch. 20" x 66" with a rear dropped flue sap pan.
That is some coincidence! How many GPH do you boil at?

[Galena]

that was my point... I was warned years ago by veteran Sugarmen about getting excited and tapping too early. Taps can
start to heal over after as little as 4 weeks. Their flow won't stop but will be reduced when the best runs happen. We see
early tapping in Jan. and Feb. every year and now reports say syrup production is down. When i removed and re-tapped
some early taps that were slow, they immediately ran strong and still are today. I always tap mid to late March when i see
at least a 10 day window and have never had a bad year. Next year do your own test with late and early taps on the same
tree. Maybe it won't work in your sugar bush....and maybe i have just been lucky?

Glad you were told to not tap too early, those old sugarers learned the hard way! I tapped March 3rd, so things are slowing as they should, of their own accord. A couple of spiles are now producing cloudy sap, which I make sure to taste before adding it to the batch. A couple of times in the past a hole dried early so I did re-tap on another side, but it's kinda unfair. I am happy with what I get.

[ir3333]

We think alike Galena...your records show you are super efficient and outperform most "sugarers" Is that a word?
I only tap the biggest trees and never care about how much syrup I make either. I only tap 25 large trees with huge
crowns and no neighbouring competition.

[Big_Eddy]

Ed... I noticed your arch specs. Like you, i built my own arch. 20" x 66" with a rear dropped flue sap pan.
That is some coincidence! How many GPH do you boil at?

It really depends. Last couple of years I have moved my home office to the sugar house during the season and I boil as I work. While working, I don’t try to be super aggressive, and I find I average 12-15 gph over a working day. That is fIring every ten minutes or so, 2-3 forearm size limbs. Float at 1 1/4”.

A few years ago, I tried to see just how fast I could boil, and I was able to average just above 24gph over 4 hours. That was firing with bone dry cedar, every 6 minutes, with the float set at 3/4”. You did not look away, never mind step outside.

[Galena]

We think alike Galena...your records show you are super efficient and outperform most "sugarers" Is that a word?
I only tap the biggest trees and never care about how much syrup I make either. I only tap 25 large trees with huge
crowns and no neighbouring competition.

Thanks for the nice words :-) Yeah sugarers is a word, or sucriers if you wanna be all fancy lol!!

IDK about super efficient, I just tap conservatively and have only 8 trees max. I gave a couple this season off, one may be permanently retired. Try to be nice to them, limb off dead and clearly dying branches,. give them nutrients like wood ash(!), alpaca pooh tea and so forth, keep nearby saplings and creeping vines from crowding/strangling them.

Actually my big trees are starting to dry up now, it's a bush maple doing the heavy lifting. And it does seem to be in its own little sweet spot, as it were. It is uncrowded by other trees and has a great crown.

So long as I have enough syrup to sweeten my daily cup of coffee, and enough left over for competition, I'm happy :-)

[Lanark]

I collected 41 gallons at 2% yesterday and 21 gallons today still at 2%. I'm done for the season, I'll take down the buckets today so that I can wash everything tomorrow while it's still nice out.

[ir3333]

I am 9 - 11 gph but i am lazy. I fire with fairly big hardwood about every 20 -25 minutes.This slows my rate but
it frees me up to work in the shop or do other things.When i built my arch i looked at a lot of evaporators and copied
the Smoky Lake"Dauntless" firebox. I think it has the perfect grate and vent system.

[Maplelane1]

Interesting discussion and perspectives.

We’ve been sugaring for only 8 years. Started with chaffing pans on cinder blocks and then during COVID we built a shack and purchased an evaporator, installed tubing (gravity) then went to vacuum this year - homemade sure Flo system. We’re still learning a tonne.

I spent a lot of time on forums like this one and probably watched dozens of hours of YouTube vids. I learned the basics and some general rules of thumb but ‘doing’ is real learning, for me anyways. What I have concluded from all this research, and talking with other sugar makers and the old timers is that what’s most important is to learn your bush.

Case in point…. We’ve been using buckets since we started sapping. Started at around 20 then got as high as 75. Now we put out 15 buckets the last two years and we only tap the ones that have consistently produced in volume, clarity and sugar content. And they do every year - in fact 6 of them are still producing over 2 gallons a day the last few days, and prior.

We installed tubing 3 years ago. 6 runs with 20 taps per. Runs range in length from 300 to over 600. Four of the six produce better than the other two (I checked for leaks and it’s tight). And one run, the one that’s over 600, flows really good later than the other 5 and will run long after the others have really slowed/stopped.

Anyhow…I’m rambling, sorry.

All caught up on boiling after yesterday. Boiled 4 days in a row. Looking out my window now and I can see some buckets are half full already and I expect the collection tank will gain around 100 gallons today. Weather forecast here is still somewhat promising but we’ll see. Sap is a little cloudy but smells and tastes wonderful so we will boil-on.

Happy Easter everyone.

[jungmaria]

We’ll that’s it for me for the year, batch boiled the sweet today. This year was a tough slog. Tapped the early bush at the beginning of Feb and the late one at the beginning of March. Makes for a long season, but with whacky weather and changing climates I think there’ll be more of that in the future. And never really got a good solid run this year either, just bits here and there and mostly low brix sap. In the end got about 130 l, all dark, from 200 taps. Certainly nothing to write home about but a heck of a lot better than I thought it was going to be a couple of weeks ago. Good luck to everyone who’s still boiling.

[ennismaple]

Still going strong north of 7! We had a BIG boil Thursday, cut firewood Friday, got the vacuum tight and did a good boil Saturday, cleaned the evaporator Sunday and another good boil yesterday. Still making very good tasting Dark Robust but it's starting to have a nearly-end-of-season smell to it when you walk into the sugar camp. We pushed some water through the flue pan at the end of yesterday to get most of the sugar out of the back to hopefully avoid the pan going ropey this week. We'll see what this pending snowstorm and cold weather brings - we may get a couple more boils yet.

[paulslund]

Still going strong north of 7! We had a BIG boil Thursday, cut firewood Friday, got the vacuum tight and did a good boil Saturday, cleaned the evaporator Sunday and another good boil yesterday. Still making very good tasting Dark Robust but it's starting to have a nearly-end-of-season smell to it when you walk into the sugar camp. We pushed some water through the flue pan at the end of yesterday to get most of the sugar out of the back to hopefully avoid the pan going ropey this week. We'll see what this pending snowstorm and cold weather brings - we may get a couple more boils yet.

Hey Martin. You commented a while ago that you did about 1/2 a normal year's haul in 10 days.. since then, and as we are nearing the end, do you think you'll have done a normal haul for the year?

Based on the weather and what I'm hearing in NY is that production is low.. but it sounds like it might not be the case here? I have 2 taps out for fun this year (too busy to set up the whole operation) and I made approx. 3.3L on those two taps.. that's over 1.5L/tap just on buckets (no vacuum).. This really surprised me as I was expecting to make less than 2L/tap based on the what I was reading..

[ennismaple]

Hey Martin. You commented a while ago that you did about 1/2 a normal year's haul in 10 days.. since then, and as we are nearing the end, do you think you'll have done a normal haul for the year?

Based on the weather and what I'm hearing in NY is that production is low.. but it sounds like it might not be the case here? I have 2 taps out for fun this year (too busy to set up the whole operation) and I made approx. 3.3L on those two taps.. that's over 1.5L/tap just on buckets (no vacuum).. This really surprised me as I was expecting to make less than 2L/tap based on the what I was reading..

We are beyond 100% of a "normal" crop now. Our three boils over the weekend were 0.35L/tap in total with the largest being either the biggest or 2nd biggest single boil in our history. If we get a few more days boiling I have a couple more production goals I'd love to hit (which I'll keep to myself) plus I want to burn every stick of 15+ year old firewood that's in the back corner of the woodshed! Our corner of Lanark County seems to have hit the Goldilocks zone for weather - we've gotten to freezing or just below every night for the last week, whereas areas to the south of 7 haven't. Other producers I've talked to in the area are also doing quite well. Sugar content has been very low for the past few weeks (been at about 45:1 ratio) but that's been more than made up with quantity.

[Galena]

I pulled the taps today, except for two trees, both of which are still chugging out small amounts of slightly cloudy but still good syrup. Pity cause I've already finished off Batch #4, another Dark batch but with a much lighter taste than I am used to - like marshmallow AND molasses! #4 surprised me with a very generous 2.5 l of syrup cooling its heels in the fridge; it and #3 are both awaiting the arrival of a few dozen Mason jar collars, as I am completely out! Meant to arrive tomorrow, then I can hotpack and post final figures.

Overall I only had a season of 28 days with about 9 of those days non-producing. I kept # of taps n trees low this year. May be back up to full steam next year; as I culled tree #6 (slow healer, not been producing well but otherwise healthy) I may have to give all the bush maples 2 taps each. They are big enough, but I've been holding off.

[paulslund]

We are beyond 100% of a "normal" crop now. Our three boils over the weekend were 0.35L/tap in total with the largest being either the biggest or 2nd biggest single boil in our history. If we get a few more days boiling I have a couple more production goals I'd love to hit (which I'll keep to myself) plus I want to burn every stick of 15+ year old firewood that's in the back corner of the woodshed! Our corner of Lanark County seems to have hit the Goldilocks zone for weather - we've gotten to freezing or just below every night for the last week, whereas areas to the south of 7 haven't. Other producers I've talked to in the area are also doing quite well. Sugar content has been very low for the past few weeks (been at about 45:1 ratio) but that's been more than made up with quantity.

Oh wow that's great to hear! So it's not all "doom and gloom" as some articles would have one believe! Sweet! (no pun intended ;))

[Galena]

Oh wow that's great to hear! So it's not all "doom and gloom" as some articles would have one believe! Sweet! (no pun intended ;))

Yeah it's been a weird season!

BTW all I discovered a cool hack for cleaning rust. I repaired the base of my sugar shack's smokestack but there was still a lot of rust around the base of it, from rain running down the chimney and sap occasionally sloshing over. I used a wire brush to get rid of the worst of it, and was looking fort an eco-friendly way to clean the remaining rust off.

That's when I learned of this hack: dish soap and a cut potato! Put a potato, cut side down, into a shallow dish of dish soap and let it sit a few minutes (I went to about 20) so the potato absorbs it. Then put the potato chunk on the rusted areas. Let it sit for about an hour (think I went closer to 90 min). Then rub with the potato....rust comes off!!!! Rinse with water and let air-dry, though I cheated and used a damp rag followed by a dry one.

With the smokestack itself, I didn't even wait to let it sit, just rubbed the areas with the cut soapy potato chunks. Came off immediately.

The reason this works is that potatoes contain oxalic acid. That is a key ingredient in all the nasty chemical rust cleaners, which are usually expensive and not enviro friendly. The oxalic acid and dish soap create a chemical reaction and loosens up rust.

Of course as you're using soap, rinse anything that contains sap or syrup really well so as avoid soapy flavours. Hope this helps!

As always I forgot to take a 'before' pic, but pretty sure I have other rusty items around that I can give the same treatment to.

[ennismaple]

Oh wow that's great to hear! So it's not all "doom and gloom" as some articles would have one believe! Sweet! (no pun intended ;)) I'm pretty sure there's a marketing objective in the "doom and gloom" news articles by the Federation...

[paulslund]

The reason this works is that potatoes contain oxalic acid. That is a key ingredient in all the nasty chemical rust cleaners, which are usually expensive and not enviro friendly. The oxalic acid and dish soap create a chemical reaction and loosens up rust.


Now there is a neat hack! I'll have to remember that one!

[Galena]

I'm pretty sure there's a marketing objective in the "doom and gloom" news articles by the Federation...

What, are the levels of the great Lac Sirop D'erable dropping?

[paulslund]

So I had a small boil last weekend that had a woodsyness to it, so I put it in the fridge with the thought I *might" add it to any batch I get after the snowstorm we had last week (barely a drop in the buckets so I called it yesterday -wasn't really expecting much actually). I decided to finish it on the stove (very small batch.. around 250 ml finished) and I think it's definitely off.. not off by much but off just enough that it's not going on pancakes, and might not even make it into my coffee..

Anyone get one last run after the snowstorm last week?

[jungmaria]

What does everyone use to test the brix of their finished syrup? Been using a hydrotherm for the past 5 years (thanks Big Eddy for the instructions), but there is always that bit of guess work while you wait for it to come up to temp and hope it hasn’t gone too far. Can I get the same result faster with a hydrometer & digital thermometer? Is a refractometer the way to go? Yes a Murphy Cup would be nice but I’m probably not going to spend $200 on something when I can do it pretty well for $25.

[ennismaple]

We boiled Friday - had a little better than 1 GPT of sap to process. The first half drum was 23LT and tasted OK, as soon as the syrup started to really lighten up (to 60LT) it got a very definite "bite" to it. Wasn't a hard decision to call it a season. We left the pumps on overnight and had to dump 2500 gallons of sap Saturday afternoon. Put 300 gallons into the flue pan to let it soak for 3 or 4 months and the rest went back into the ground. If there was a market for buddy syrup I would have made a few drums but no sense making what you can't sell. Overall we are very happy with the season.

Jungmaria - we use a hydrotherm. You don't need to get the density perfect coming off the evaporator - take it off slightly thick and adjust down using distillate from your steam hood or distilled water. We aim to take off at 67 Brix but often end up at 68-69 if the temp spikes a bit in the front pan. For smaller batches you may not need to add much water, when we adjust 20 gallons at a time it's not unusual to need 2L of distillate to bring it back to 66.8. We add the hot distillate to the hot, unfiltered syrup, add DE, stir and run through the filter press. We tend to have more variability in density early in the boil when the gradient isn't well established yet. Later in the boil you can be pretty accurate and not need to adjust very much.

[Andy VT]

jungmaria,
I have a murphy cup and have found that under normal circumstances it always gives me the same reading.
On a plain syrup hydrometer there is usually a red line for a 211F sample, at 59 brix.
My murphy cup always tells me 61 brix. This is because I finish on the kitchen stove in a pot and ladle the syrup into the cup. By the time I do all that, the sample is not 211F anymore. But the murphy cup always tells me 61 (whatever that is on the chart in degrees F), as long as I do what I always do.
So.... my suggestion is figure out where you're at with whatever method you use to fill your cup. Use an instant read thermometer and a compensation chart to figure this out.
As long as you keep using the same method to fill your test cup, I would assume the sample is the same temp every time and from then on you can go to the same target on a plain syrup hydrometer.
If my murphy cup ever self destructs somehow this is my plan. I likely won't replace it unless my needs change.

[DrTimPerkins]

The first half drum was 23LT and tasted OK, as soon as the syrup started to really lighten up (to 60LT) it got a very definite "bite" to it. Wasn't a hard decision to call it a season. We left the pumps on overnight and had to dump 2500 gallons of sap Saturday afternoon. Put 300 gallons into the flue pan to let it soak for 3 or 4 months and the rest went back into the ground. If there was a market for buddy syrup I would have made a few drums but no sense making what you can't sell. Overall we are very happy with the season.


Was it sour sap or buddy? Often the transition from darker to really light-colored syrup is due to heavy fermentation in the line, which causes sour-sap off-flavor. This can go away with a solid freeze followed by a decent sap run to flush the lines.

If it was truly buddy there is little chance of it going back to good syrup.

[paulslund]

It turns out that the little 250ml batch I made was in fact more than a bit off.. it was in fact, totally gross! Both my daughters tasted it and confirmed it.. although one could tell by the smell alone (taste and smell were worse once cooled down which was weird..I thought it would have been the opposite). It was reminiscent of my first ever attempt at making syrup.. We had a cold spell at the end of April with a few frozen days so I thought to myself I would try it and borrowed my neighbours buckets and spiles, and cooked down on the bbq. I had no knowledge of buddy syrup, but that stuff was the most vile thing I ever put in my mouth.. :lol:

[Galena]

What does everyone use to test the brix of their finished syrup? Been using a hydrotherm for the past 5 years (thanks Big Eddy for the instructions), but there is always that bit of guess work while you wait for it to come up to temp and hope it hasn’t gone too far. Can I get the same result faster with a hydrometer & digital thermometer? Is a refractometer the way to go? Yes a Murphy Cup would be nice but I’m probably not going to spend $200 on something when I can do it pretty well for $25.

Lol let's put iit this way....I swear BY my Murphy Cup, not at it ;-) And I attribute using it to the # of ribbons I won in 2022, esp at Carp, where you have sizeable entries.

I went the hydrotherm way too, and still have it and its cup, but it's the Murphy that has the final say-so. It has never failed me, at any temp, bc it measures density, not temp.

@ Paulslund.....omg poor you! Did it not smell off when it was boiling, like overcooked vegetation? Or a frog's butt in summertime?

Oh and I have upped my rust removel game. Grate a few raw potatoes into a flat-bottomed container, add dishsoap, mix together. Submerge rusty items in it. Leave for about 40 min. Rise off item and let air dry. It works beautifully!

[jungmaria]

Thanks everyone for your hydrometer/hydrotherm suggestions. Maybe some day I’ll go the Murphy Cup route but not yet. I took my last batch too far it seems, and made some very thick ‘robust’ syrup. I usually take it off over and thin down to 67 brix as well, but somehow didn’t end up where I wanted to be. I might pick up a hydrometer and play around with it to see if it works any better than the hydrotherm for me.

[paulslund]

@ Paulslund.....omg poor you! Did it not smell off when it was boiling, like overcooked vegetation? Or a frog's butt in summertime?



Well, it smelled a bit off while boiling.. but mostly had a woodsy smell like late season sap has.. but maybe because it was a small pot vs my full pan it didn't seem to be as bad as it was.

The smell, and notably the taste, were really gross once the batch cooled down to room temp.

Normally near end of the season, around week 4, I'm testing the collection barrel each day and emptying to my head tank in order to avoid contaminating a whole batch. I think I've been wise to do that in the past as I haven't had bad syrup since then (with the whole operation running I mean.). :-)

[Galena]

Well, it smelled a bit off while boiling.. but mostly had a woodsy smell like late season sap has.. but maybe because it was a small pot vs my full pan it didn't seem to be as bad as it was.

The smell, and notably the taste, were really gross once the batch cooled down to room temp.

Normally near end of the season, around week 4, I'm testing the collection barrel each day and emptying to my head tank in order to avoid contaminating a whole batch. I think I've been wise to do that in the past as I haven't had bad syrup since then (with the whole operation running I mean.). :-)

Woodsy....huh the couple times I boiled bad sap, it smelled like swamp water pretty much right away. Glad you were sensible enough to boil it separately from your other batches.

[Lanark]

Does anyone know of stainless steel welder around Lanark (Balderson, Perth, Carleton Place ) area?

[Robert K]

Mano-Steel , Frankville

[Lanark]

Hi Robert, I think he's moved closer to Kingston. There was an ad on Kijiji last year for someone making syrup pans in Balderson but I never wrote down the contact info.

[ennismaple]

Mano-Steel , Frankville There's a young guy in Fallbrook that was at the summer tour last year that is doing SS laser cutting and welding. I'll have to find his contact info for you.

[Lanark]

That would be awesome, thank you. I did find out that Mano-Steel moved to Brockville but that's still an hour and a half away for me since I live closer to Lanark.

[ennismaple]

That would be awesome, thank you. I did find out that Mano-Steel moved to Brockville but that's still an hour and a half away for me since I live closer to Lanark.
Caleb Bosman, 613-315-8202

[Lanark]

Thank you so much for the info.