every year I gather first run sap and put 5 gallons of it in a 6 gallon stainless stock pot on my wood stove in our kitchen we use for heat. I always have a cast iron kettle with water on it for adding moisture to the dry air during winter so I figured why not use sap when available. The sap never boils, just simmers and I keep adding sap for about 48 hrs. until it gets close to syrup... I then fire the stove up and bring it to a hard boil to finish..about 30 or 40 minutes. the syrup looks like watered down lemonade...very mild with just enough flavor to tell it's maple syrup. Some may like it but I prefer something stronger.
17" x 32" syrup, 17" X 60" raised flue, Phaneauf.
110 taps, all buckets,