My plan 2023 - 2024

I had a hair over 3 gallons of sap that I had collected since my last boil. I did not know when my next one was going to be, so I decided I would reduce it down to nearup, but in the end made syrup with it. About 300 ml. What Brix it is, I have no idea.

My daughter and Grandkids are up, so I brought them the hot syrup, and they at first tasted it by the spoonful, then by the shot glass. They all loved it, thought it tasted amazing, and felt it was a nice treat. My wife loved it too.

Boiling small scale has it’s advantages. 😜

That's really cool!
3 gallons of sap is plenty to finish on a tiny scale if one is in the mood. The smallest I ever finished was 1 gallon of sap into 4 oz of syrup... just enough to fill my smaller hydrometer cup (from tapmytrees) although I didn't have a hydrometer or cup at the time.
How is the cone filter working out? I still can't figure out why people have trouble with them, to the point where I wonder if I'm missing something...
Just used mine yesterday because I took the last of my "nearup" from April 2023 from the freezer and made a couple gallons syrup in the kitchen, which went through the filter in one pass with two prefilters. I did end up pouring the remaining syrup from the first prefilter into the second, and later from that into the orlon, but ultimately the syrup all went through and the niter did not.

I have not used the cone filter a lot, but when I have used it, it was easy to use, not too slow and made very clear syrup. Did my old DYI vacuum filter work faster, yes, but for the volumes I am doing, the cone filter works just fine and the final product is just as clear.

I might get a little sap flow on Tuesday. Another degree or two warmer would help. Maybe some on Wednesday.

We are having a green New Year here which is not something I have seen since moving here. The lake was wide open today, but should freeze over sometime this week.

I might try ice fishing and boiling sap next to the tip ups, in March in my fire bowl, just for the fun of it. We will see what the ice is like then.

Today was above freezing and so will tomorrow be above freezing, but not enough for my east facing slope with a north facing slant to it, to thaw and start running.

We have no snow here at all, very strange for January 2nd, but that will change tomorrow and it will start to get cold tomorrow night. I am not sure when the next warm spell will be. Could be as late as March, but I think ther should be some El Nina thaws during the next two months.

It has been fun so far making some syrup and I have been able to experiment with my new small scale operation. The Fire Bowl evaporator with two boiling pans and two warm up pans worked better than I expected and did not use a lot of wood compared to the “beast” last year.

I know what I will get from the two turkey fryers and the two induction stoves. I will try and use the fire bowl as much as possible instead of the turkey fryers to save on propane costs. I have lots of wood.

The cone filter was a nice addition and I can make a good clear product.

So far I have been winging the finishing, using just a thermometer and gut feel. I have no idea what my Brix are, but it is sure tasty. My family loves it. It is a little liberating.

I have no idea if my existing taps will still flow in March and April, like last year, but I have lots of other trees I can tap, if need be.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0c3w...Ga9IoOTGNUk6VQ

We received 60” (150 cms) of snow this week in three days. This coming week, we may have a few days of sap flow. Our ice hut did not make it onto the ice yet because the ice just recently froze over, so it got snow covered, while waiting on land.

I snowshoed up my lines today. It was tough in the deep snow on a steep incline. There were several places where my lines were down in the snow. In almost all of the cases it is because a near by sapling had bent over because of the weight of the snow. I was able to get all of the lines back in place.

I hope the sap does run. I don’t expect a lot, but that suits my smaller operation. I tapped the trees on December 14th.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/01a1...GV5-81-Q4RcWdQ

https://share.icloud.com/photos/060c...03B0OrwMlsfY_Q

I'm curious why you don't want to use a hydrometer to check for the right density. If it's for your own consumption, of course you can do as you please. But if it's just the volume of syrup that is your concern, you only need a tiny amount, maybe a quarter to a half a cup of syrup, to check the density.

GO

Quote:

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Originally Posted by berkshires

I'm curious why you don't want to use a hydrometer to check for the right density. If it's for your own consumption, of course you can do as you please. But if it's just the volume of syrup that is your concern, you only need a tiny amount, maybe a quarter to a half a cup of syrup, to check the density.

GO

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I use a hydrometer to check my density. After checking I pour it back in the pot so I have no loss there.

Hey. Ive got a question about your Christmas miracle syrup. Did it taste like first run stuff? Butter and marshmallow? Or was there a different flavour all together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by berkshires

I'm curious why you don't want to use a hydrometer to check for the right density. If it's for your own consumption, of course you can do as you please. But if it's just the volume of syrup that is your concern, you only need a tiny amount, maybe a quarter to a half a cup of syrup, to check the density.

GO

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I have to admit, I only tried my hydrotherm once when I had it, and I found it very messy and went with my refractometer for all of the rest of my syrup. I have ordered another refractometer which should arrive tomorrow.

No one else around me was using a hydrometer, so I never got to see anyone use it first hand. Perhaps if I saw how to do it properly, I might have tried it again. The refractometer just worked for me really well. I learnt to have a few tests to truly nail down an “accurate” reading. All I know is the syrup tasted great and when I would test it after the fact it would give me my 66.9 Brix reading. I tested other people’s syrup that they shared with me and often their Brix was much lower.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 4Walls

Hey. Ive got a question about your Christmas miracle syrup. Did it taste like first run stuff? Butter and marshmallow? Or was there a different flavour all together.

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It is hard to describe the taste, but my wife and daughter both said it tasted amazing. The last batch I made was golden and lighter, but still had a very sweet, smooth maple taste to it. We have actually consumed the first batch I made before Christmas, but still have not opened the last batch. We consumed the first batch as I did not have my new bottle caps yet, but I got them in time for the second batch.

Hopefully over the next two weeks I will have a lot more.