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My first time tapping was this past year. I got a late start, but yielded great results. I’m using a turkey fryer and would like to know if you can add fresh sap to par boiled sap or should you completely separate the batches. Just trying to use less propane. If anyone has suggestions I am welcome to feedback. I have 12 taps on my property and need to make it worth my time and money. Thanks!
You can keep adding sap while boiling or to sweet from a previous boil. The more you do this the darker the syrup will be.
As Super Sapper says, you can add fresh sap to the sweet. It will darken the product. If your fryer is aluminum, I'd suggest transferring it into something different while it is stored. Acid sap/sweet can leach softer metals into the sap/sweet and cause off-flavor. You also want to be sure the sweet doesn't spoil between boils, so keep it as cool as possible, and if the weather is warm, bring it to a boil for a couple of minutes every couple of days.
could you boil and take off near syrup in a 5 gallon pail and add successive take offs on following days until the 5 gallon pail is full and then
store cool until finishing. Then start a new pail and continue...finish all 5 gallon near syrup pails when sap has stopped running?
A lot of producers do it that way. You have to make sure it is kept very cool as you store it. I wouldn't go the whole season before finishing unless kept in a freezer but combining a few to finish would help.
Looking at the forecast it’s so tempting to tap. To do so would be be contrary to the sage advice of Sugar Bear . . .
Just checked the forecast - you are right!!! I am not ready yet - replacing tubing this year and it's not up yet. First, a few trees have to come down, then the tubing can go up. It wont take long. But the highs and lows look perfect!!!
Very tempting indeed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghost
But ... another rule of thumb I have just recently adopted is to avoid tapping before we have had a good prolonged freeze up. Whether I had 4 million taps or 4 taps that would be the case. For an assortment of reasons. But the obvious one would be that if the above rule of thumb were not logical then maple syrup in the united states would be best known as Tennessee Maple Syrup or Virginia Maple Syrup rather then Vermont Maple Syrup.
In my parts so far this year we may have gone 24 hours without getting above 32 degrees, but I don't think we have gone 48 hours and 4 sure not 72 hours.
But if you have more trees then taps, my rule of thumb changes to whenever you think you can make syrup then make it.
Gods Speed and let us know how it goes.
The Bear
"If you have more trees than taps" - lmao!!! I needed that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sugar Bear
The Bear hath spoken, thyne drill shalt rest until a great freeze settles upon us . . .