How do you know when to pull your taps? I don't want to ruin the syrup seasoned in my evaporator. I started to get a little cloudy sap on Tuesday when it hit 70 degrees. The syrup has just changed into A Dark syrup and still tastes good.
How do you know when to pull your taps? I don't want to ruin the syrup seasoned in my evaporator. I started to get a little cloudy sap on Tuesday when it hit 70 degrees. The syrup has just changed into A Dark syrup and still tastes good.
2013 2.5x4 Flat pan, 92 buckets, 22 gravity - rookie season
2x6 Lapierre raised flue with AUF and AOF, Siro filter,
homemade hood and preheater, homemade 4x40 RO
2021 ~300 taps, buckets and 3/16 tubing gravity
Tapping same trees as father and grandfather, sugar shack from 1875
telltale signs are:
cloudy sap
budding trees
tastes metallic, or buddy
you can hear spring peeper frogs by ponds
ropey or snotty sap coming out of tubing into collection tank (bacteria developing quickly)
just do it until theres 5-7 days of above freezing lows ... which is.. about now
i personally dont stop until i have several gallons of B or C since i use that to brew beer (jacks up gravity and makes a good porter or stout). you know when your making that because the taste is bitter. . . great for cooking too, and smoking ribs!
i will try to get 1 or 2 more boils, then im done.
Last edited by WoodButcher; 04-05-2014 at 06:51 AM.
Jeremy
Black Squirrel Lodge Family Sugarbush
Chardon, Ohio
MY MAPLE PAGE
Builds:
16x16 Sugarhouse build
100GPH Portable RO Build
12x16 Sugarhouse Build
1HP Gear Pump Style Cream Machine Build
Jason,
Please don't let the peepers cross the state line for at least a week!
There is not a bud in site on the hard maples. We just had a big rain and cold front come through. Setting things up for a strong ending to a slow start. Maybe those new spouts and drop lines will pay for themselves yet?
Got out and washed all the sap containers yesterday. Cleaning the front pan now. Picked up a new grading kit (the one with the three new grades) So all our dark syrup will now be medium
To date we have hauled in 10700 gallons of sap and made around 220 gallons more or less. Half of that was made in the last week!
Regards,
Chris
Casbohm Maple and Honey
625 roadside taps + Neighbors bring some sap too!
3x10 King, WRU, AOF and AUF
12" SIRO Filter Press.
2015 Ford F250 PSD sap hauler
One Golden named Maggie, Norwegian Forest Cat named Lucy
Too many Cub Cadets
Ford Jubilee and several Allis WD's, and IH tractors
1932 Ford AAB ton and a half, dump truck
www.mapleandhoney.com
Chris way to go! Our sugars show no sign of swelling buds. However some of the silvers are just about in full bloom just today. I didn't tap any this year so no big deal. Hope to have a real good run Sunday, we'll see. My goal is 330 gallons.
1000 taps on vac down to 100+ buckets 99% sugars
2x5 SL Hi-Output Raised Flue Corsair evaporator
SL Short bank press with CDL diaphragm pump
Leader Micro 1 RO for 2024
Constantly changing
2010:36 gal 2011:126 gal 2012:81 gal 2013:248 gal 2014: 329.5 gal 2015:305 gal 2016:316 gal 2017:258 gal 2018:147 gal 2019:91 gal 2020:30 gal 2021:30 gal 2023:50 gal Total since 2010: 2047.5 gal
Tapping the same trees my great, great and great grandfathers tapped.
I just pulled the plug. I was hoping for one more run, but I checked my pans today they were full of slime. It was so thick it wouldn't even go thru my strainer. From what I've read I'm guessing this is "ropey" syrup? That is some nasty stuff. I guess I still have a few things to learn. I finished the season with just over 18 gallons. I was counting on the pans to push me over 20. Not too bad for my second year.
2013 12 taps two turkey fryers and some cinder blocks.
2014 160 taps Smoky Lake 2' x 6' drop V
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