hotdogs?????

[maplekid]

was talking to a sugarmaker the other day and he was telling me stories and he mentioned something about cooking hotdogs in his syrup pan will this affect the flavor? i tried some today with the sap from the back tree that i tapped and it made awful syrup.

[maplehound]

Maplekid, many old timers used alot of difrent things to defoam with. As a way of feeding the help and visitors to the sugarhouse they would often cook Hotdogs, Ham or any other item that would cause a greassy film. They would all leave a taste to the syrup. I had one such person taste my syrup and then gave me a weird look and asked me what I was defaoming with. He said he could ussually tell by the taste of the syrup but couldn't with mine, that was because I us a comercial defoamer. Some of these same fellows also told me that they filtered there syrup by adding cream or heavy milk to the syrup right befor they drew the syrup off. It is fun to talk to some of these guys just to see the difrence in the way they used to do it and the way we try to do it today.

[adk1]

uh, your tapping trees already? What is the deal with that?
In Vermont I went to a sugarhouse (x girlfiends family) and they always dropped hot dogs into the evaporator. they were awesome but never said anything about affectign the sap. My guess is that if you are boiling alot of sap you will not notice anything.
we typically use 1/2 n 1/2

[NH Maplemaker]

maplekid,Yes it will alter the taste!! But more important is the fact that when you sell or Even give maple syrup to someone. They are expecting a pure maple product,Not something laden with fat and/or grease from some foreign ingredient!!
Back yard maple-rs who are making syrup just for fun and themselves may do that,But not if you plan on selling one ounce bulk or retail !! But I Know you know that as I have read most of your posts!!

[maplekid]

thanks guys i kinda thot it would mess with the flavor. adk1- yeah i tapp[ed 1 tree in the backyard. had no syrup and finally said im tapping that tree. a day last week it was warm and it ran like crazy got 2 gallons of cloudy sweet sap. made some nice light syrup

[adk1]

no kidding. never thought that this time of the year it would be flowing although I guess In Ohio it might be much earlier. also, if you got 2 gallons of sap, what did you get, a teaspoon of syrup???????

[maplekid]

id say i made a half of a half pint. really sweet but very cloudy. i was amazed it was running too

[dano2840]

i dont even think about tapping until feb 17
its just my day when if its warm i tap if its not i wait till it is warm, not this year going to disney world for a week, be in Florida until the last day in feb i will tap befor i leave and eather have a local sugarmaker pick up the sap or let it run on the ground and then a few days before i come home i will have my uncle stick the pipe into the tank so i will have a full tank when i get home then i will hook up the vacuum pump and releaser when i get home

[mfchef54]

I tapped on sunday and collected 12 gallons in two days off of 9 taps. about a pint and half. Nothing bad will happen to trees, just means i have to ream sometime around march. Nothing today with the snow and wind. hoping for a jan. thaw.

[WF MASON]

I worked with a Canadian who made syrup with his grandfather, he said each time they would boil,grandpa would mix up a batch of biscuit batter and drop it by the spoonful into the front pan , let it cook for five minutes or so then fish them out on to a plate and eat'um up, he said they were delicious. Sounds to me like slimy sugar dumplins.

[peacemaker]

my friend ever year boils eggs in the back pan ...

[davey]

Long ago, they used to crack and drop an egg in and let it poach. this would collect all of the bugs and other debris. However, this was for when almost all sap was taken all the way down to sugar rather than stopping at syrup. when we make syrup at school we boil it in some big iron kettles and poach the eggs in it the "old fashioned way" pretty tasty, bugs and all.

[mapleman3]

When I first started and was making miniscule amounts just for myself, I would boil my fresh aggs in the pan, cracked just a hair... the sap would flavor them a bit.. a good snack while boiling 10 hours for a half gallon of syrup. ahh those were the days