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Hello, im new to the forum and a newbe to sugaring. I tapped 4 maples and two box elders the first of this month. My kids and i are having a good time with it. I've made a couple quarts of box elder and a couple guarts of maple. Im located in northern calhoun co. I'm suprised how many folks here seem suprised when i tell them were making syrup. I'm sure it was pretty common back years ago. Looking forward to connecting with others out there.
Hi louis
sounds like you and the family have some great fun ahead. I tried box elder syrup once. A guy in deep soutnern Illinois made a point of making it once a year. A little bit different in the taste but still just as sweet. I'm in norther Schyuler Co. so not too far from you. I have run into a lot of people that can't imagine that syrup can be made here. But I've meet alot of folks that remember their relatives making it years ago.
Its been a good week of running sap but now it looks as if we will get a week off after Monday. Time to get caught up on other things.
Sapster
Nice set up as well.
Hi flatlander, Thanks for responding to my post. I remember my great uncle tapping maples when i was a kid. I was pretty amazed at the whole process as a child. I've noticed the sap flow is slowing down compared to last week. I've got 20gal of sap in the freezer. I would like to try and make some maple cream/butter if i can find a good recipe. I can see where this hobby can get addicting. Nice chating with you and good luck.
Guys it is amazing all the people that are surprised we sugar in Illinois. My great grandfather sugared just North of Freeport back in the day. We still have about 40 of his hand carved sumac taps.
The other night we had a tour come through the sugar house and one of the questions was what type of maples do you tap. I explained and said believe it or not box elders are even maples, you should have seen the funny looks I got! Loius does it really taste much different?
Sounds like we all have a similar story, a hobby turned quickly into an addiction.
Hi mounder, When i tapped the box elders i thought about combining the sap with my hard maple sap.I'm glad i didn't because i would have never known the difference. The box elder is somewhat different. Its a little fruity or butterscotch. It's good but i think maple is king.
Well i just finished up a gallon of syrup tonight. Its time consuming but worth it. Really cooled back down sap not running to much here.
We had a box elder but lost it in a storm so we never got a chance to tap it.
We finished and bottled the first of this season last night, roughly 2 1/2 Gals. We had a lot of fine sugar sand though, even after filtering. I have been over on the other site tonight trying to find a solution to filtering. Have you guys been running into any filtering issue this season?
The batch i cooked tonight had alot of fine sugar sand in it. I filtered it through a large coffee filter it seemed to work but it was really time consuming
Hey Mounder and Louis
I bottled yesterday as well. We bottled up about 15 gallons but still have about five gallons to bottle today. It started out very clear but even after two filters it still is a little cloudy. I need to invest in a filter press. I think the longest most time consuming process that we have is filtering and if we don't don't get it right then the product looks poor. Color is better than last year though so that is a good thing. A nice amber color.
Sap should start running again today and run real well tomorrow.
Well it sounds like you guys are having a similar problem with filtering. I think we are going to order some filter aid tomorrow and hopefully can scrape the money up for a hand press by Daryl soon.
Not sure that the trees will run today but tomorrow it is suppose to be in the mid 40’s so they should. End of the week is looking interesting, weather man is saying a “big possibility for a significant snow event”. One of the NOAA models has is in a belt of 18 to 24”’s of snow.