Northern Ontario 2022

Getting closer to the sap really flowing. It is getting real.

Finished making all 24 pail frames, and did a few other things to get ready. More stuff planned for Monday and especially Tuesday, when I get the evaporator ready and do the first flush on the RO.

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Simple things left, like getting the intake hose of the RO to sit at the bottom of the sap barrel. I will buy a small piece of pvc pipe and zip tie the hose to it.

My Daughter and I brought the pails and storage barrel to the shack today to get ready. Going in the woods with my drill on Tuesday. Luckily it's March break I will have 2 helpers with me to tap.

Swingpure, I have enjoyed reading your posts as you get ready for the first season. All I can say is that I know you will really enjoy it, and it will be different than what you were expecting. Or not. So much depends on Mother Nature. There is a ton of good info on here. This week looks good. Right now you are waiting, hoping, willing that sap to flow. In the not to distant future you will be wishing it would stop, and then, just as suddenly, you will wish it wasn’t over. She is a fickle beast.

The good news is there is always something to improve on next season, better gear, more buckets, cutting trails, splitting your wood smaller, better gear, more buckets, reading, research, better gear, more buckets.......

Good luck and enjoy it all.

Full buckets!

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Originally Posted by Willen

Swingpure, I have enjoyed reading your posts as you get ready for the first season. All I can say is that I know you will really enjoy it, and it will be different than what you were expecting. Or not. So much depends on Mother Nature. There is a ton of good info on here. This week looks good. Right now you are waiting, hoping, willing that sap to flow. In the not to distant future you will be wishing it would stop, and then, just as suddenly, you will wish it wasn’t over. She is a fickle beast.

The good news is there is always something to improve on next season, better gear, more buckets, cutting trails, splitting your wood smaller, better gear, more buckets, reading, research, better gear, more buckets.......

Good luck and enjoy it all.

Full buckets!

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Thanks for the good wishes and advice.

I am very excited for the season to really start, excited for the first boil, first finish and the first bottle of grade A syrup. I do have a little ominous feeling of too much sap all at once, but I do have storage for 350 gallons.

There are still the unanswered questions of how much concentrate my RO will produce an hour and how many gallons an hour my evaporator will actually boil, but I will adjust my plan for whatever they are. And there is the little thing about the art of finishing the sap into syrup.

I do plan on enjoying the journey, I had a giant smile on my face when the first drops of sap flowed down the lines.

I have prepared myself the best I could, now experience and failure and success will help me learn more.

My big improvement for next year will be a modest, but functional, permanent sugar shack. We will see if I desire a bigger pan. I think there are some advantages to the steam pans, but that will be a lesson I learn.

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Originally Posted by aamyotte

My Daughter and I brought the pails and storage barrel to the shack today to get ready. Going in the woods with my drill on Tuesday. Luckily it's March break I will have 2 helpers with me to tap.

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That’s special having your daughter with you and having the two helpers. Good luck tapping Tuesday. You should get flows on Wednesday!

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Originally Posted by Swingpure

Thanks for the good wishes and advice.

I am very excited for the season to really start, excited for the first boil, first finish and the first bottle of grade A syrup. I do have a little ominous feeling of too much sap all at once, but I do have storage for 350 gallons.

There are still the unanswered questions of how much concentrate my RO will produce an hour and how many gallons an hour my evaporator will actually boil, but I will adjust my plan for whatever they are. And there is the little thing about the art of finishing the sap into syrup.

I do plan on enjoying the journey, I had a giant smile on my face when the first drops of sap flowed down the lines.

I have prepared myself the best I could, now experience and failure and success will help me learn more.

My big improvement for next year will be a modest, but functional, permanent sugar shack. We will see if I desire a bigger pan. I think there are some advantages to the steam pans, but that will be a lesson I learn.

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7F above the boiling point of water is a pretty good rule. Boil a pot of water each day and adjust your target, as it will change with atmospheric pressure changes.

Better is a float cup and hydrometer. Put it in slow so you don’t drop it. Keep it clean between tests - I keep a Thermos full of hot clean water to store it in, keeps it clean, hot and safe from breakage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Willen

7F above the boiling point of water is a pretty good rule. Boil a pot of water each day and adjust your target, as it will change with atmospheric pressure changes.

Better is a float cup and hydrometer. Put it in slow so you don’t drop it. Keep it clean between tests - I keep a Thermos full of hot clean water to store it in, keeps it clean, hot and safe from breakage.

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Thanks, the thermos is a good idea I had not thought of.

I have a float cup and a hydrotherm, a refractometer and three different thermometers. The SapTapApp provides the temperature for syrup based on your elevation and the current barometric pressure. Right now it would be: 218.03°. I will just use the thermometers to let me know when I am getting close and will rely on the hydrotherm and refractometer to nail it down. I will be happy with 66.9 or 67 Brix.

(On a side note, I lived in Milton for 13 years and my wife was born and raised there.)

I find it a very slow process trying to get it to the proper or close to exact brix even with hydrometer, refractometer and thermometers. I will make it a point to pick up a hydrotherm at some point.
After all that time boiling I'm very careful and continuously checking, letting the syrup run off my skimmer for curtaining, I try going by the bubbles but not enough experience for those two methods yet.
I looked at last years calender and I started tapping March 8 and did my first real collection of 150 litre to boil on March 22 as the temperatures were a roller coaster last spring from low + teens to minus teens to high teens. I will tap this week, temperatures at this time look promising. Purchased more buckets, taps, tubing and a nice solid 16 quart stainless steel finishing pot on sale this week at CT for 70% off, saved $120, cost me $50 perfect timing on that sale.
Swingpure, I couldn't help but notice how much snow you have in the bush there when looking at your nice pail holders you made, we have about half that amount judging by the picture.

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Originally Posted by Someclown

I find it a very slow process trying to get it to the proper or close to exact brix even with hydrometer, refractometer and thermometers. I will make it a point to pick up a hydrotherm at some point.
After all that time boiling I'm very careful and continuously checking, letting the syrup run off my skimmer for curtaining, I try going by the bubbles but not enough experience for those two methods yet.
I looked at last years calender and I started tapping March 8 and did my first real collection of 150 litre to boil on March 22 as the temperatures were a roller coaster last spring from low + teens to minus teens to high teens. I will tap this week, temperatures at this time look promising. Purchased more buckets, taps, tubing and a nice solid 16 quart stainless steel finishing pot on sale this week at CT for 70% off, saved $120, cost me $50 perfect timing on that sale.
Swingpure, I couldn't help but notice how much snow you have in the bush there when looking at your nice pail holders you made, we have about half that amount judging by the picture.

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Our lake is a headwater for the Sequin Water System and as such we are at a higher elevation than a lot of the surrounding area and I think that is why we get more snow. Often Parry Sound will be bare of snow and we will still have a foot or more still left on the ground. We are getting dumped on again right now. White out conditions.

My hope is to get to the 66.9/67 Brix, but we will see how challenging that will be. I do like the ease of refractometer, but will try and verify with the hydrotherm. Even the hydrotherm though is a bit of guess work, if you want something with greater than 66.0 Brix. The red line has to be above the syrup if you want greater concentration. Nothing really tells you how many bars above the syrup is 66.9 or 67. I will go for five or six bars above.

I saw that pot sale. Having already purchased 3 pots, 3 stock pots and two kettles, I was good. The three pots and one stock pot are good for the induction elements. One stock pot and one kettle got converted into my vacuum filter.

I wasn’t sure if I would have any spare time to bring out and place the pail frames once I got started and the snow had melted a little, so I went out and dug the 24 frames in. Most holes I dug were fairly deep. It was a good thing to do as well, because we received over 20 cms of snow on the weekend.

Today reached +2 and some sap was flowing. The sun was out in the morning when it was colder and it clouded over as it warmed up. Tomorrow will be sunnier and warmer, then Wednesday it should really flow.

Tomorrow I get my evaporator ready and test and flush the RO for the first time.


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