sugaring in iowa

[iowathumper]

I bought a digital thermometer yesterday morning and checked the temp of the syrup and to my surprise it read 39F still looks good, and no smell.

So decided to try a batch using a turkey fryer. (Man this is slow) It took me about 5-1/2 hrs to build down 9-10 gallons of sap before losing light outside and finishing inside.
I boiled water in a seperate pan to check the boiling temperature at boiling it was 210.5F With that information I added 7 degrees for a finished product of 217.5F

I can not beleive how good this turned out... Waffles for breakfest this morning...

I think I will try my 2nd batch today! I'm hooked, and willing to go bigger next year.

Thanks for everyone input...

[upmep]

It looks like you are getting pulled in like the rest of us Iowa thumper. Pretty soon you too will be buying bigger pans, more taps, etc. I pulled my taps yesterday. I went from 20 gallons of sap per day at the beginning of the week to about 4 gallons yesterday, and it is supposed to get in the upper 70s today and tomorrow. If you guys left your taps in it will be interesting to see how well you do. I may have pulled them to quick. This weather has really been different.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Iowa Thumper welcome to the addiction!!!

Well we had a very slow weekend for sap collection- we also had the silvers break open there buds yesterday on Sunday. We are going to try and continue to collect on the hard Blacks yet until they open up. We are to get down to 28 on Tuesday so hopeful that will help get us some more sap. We are right at half of what we did last year for syrup. Need better temps going forward.

Good Luck all Bill

[IowaSap]

Thumper. I'm up by Eldora, not to far away. If you want to go bigger I have my old evap. And a 2x3 stainless pan I should get rid of. Nothing special but around 7-8 gal an hour. I wouldn't need much for it.

[iowathumper]

I really had a lot of fun with this except for the long cook down. I spent total of about 14 hrs between two days for about 40 Oz of syrup.
I would be interest in learning more about your operation...
Send me some pictures to my e-mail address tom.fitzgerald@lennoxind.com

[tbear]

Iowasap, holy cats! An actual evaporator? If Iowathumper isn't interested I very well might be! If I didn't use it I'm sure my grandson would love it! What am I saying, of course I'd put it to use. The rickety old cinder block widow maker I'm using now? Of course I'd be interested! Let me know.

Some of my trees are budding out so I'm going to move those taps down to the north side of the creek. I hope to get at least 2 more boils in. Maybe, maybe not. As of now I've got 4.5 gallons on the shelf. I hope this coming cool down helps. Good luck everyone! Have fun! Ted

[upmep]

Well I ended up with about 1.5 gallons of syrup on 48 taps in about a week. The silver maple in my yard has quit. Has anyone else had much luck in the last few days? I got less than last year, and last year wasn't great. It was quick this year.

[tbear]

I've got about 30 gallons of sap to boil tomorrow. I'm hoping the sap will run with the warmer temps tomorrow. But then I usually hope for the best. I think I ended last year with 8 to 10 gallons of syrup. This year kinda bites. Good luck and have fun! Ted

I was at HyVee the other day and checked their maple syrup prices. HyVee brand pure maple syrup was$5.99 for an 8 ounce jar! What do those of you who sell syrup get for it? Looking on line for Iowa syrup HyVee's price seems close. Ted

[IowaSap]

I've boiled a whopping 120 gal on 107 taps. (That's all the bags I had). Looks like another hundred hanging now. If it will run through the weekend it might save the season for me. This is as rough as I've seen.
T-bear when I sell its 8 a pint 15 a quart. But probably not this year!

[tbear]

I've got the beginnings of at least a small run starting. I'll check buckets this evening and let you know how it turns out. Good luck and have fun! Ted