Tapped trees on Friday 1/16

[unclejohn]

Due to the forecast for warm days and nights below 32F in central mo, tapped our 112 maple trees west of Jefferson City on 1/16, very early for this area, cooked on our arch which is basically the size of 2 half-pint pans setting on concrete blocks. First harvest on sat 1/17 yielded about 30 gallons sap and finsihed in the kitchen to yield 3.5 qts of beautiful amber syrup. 1/18 harvest was slow with 15 gallons, but today after a night at 27F and afternoon at 57F, we had another 30 gallons and decided to cook. good luck to other show-me state syrup teams!

[RiverSap]

I live up on the bluffs of the Missouri River in Florissant Missouri. This is my third year for making maple syrup. I tapped 35 trees this past weekend and have collected around 10 gallons so far. I do not cook until I have collected around 100 gallons. I have a 3' divider pan that I use on a concrete block arch. This year I bought some fire brick to line it with. I will post pictures of the setup when I put it together. You are definitely off to a good start.

[skinny78]

I am going to tap mine Wednesday. The rest of this week looks good! How was the past two days John? River Sap where did you get your pan?

[RiverSap]

Skinny
I have not collected a single drop the last few days. The trees here have not been running. The daytime temperatures have in the 40s and 50s but it has not dropped below freezing at night. The next few days look better with the night time temperatures forecast to be below freezing.

I purchased my pans from http://www.cottagecraftworks.com. I bought a Maple Syrup Hobby Cooking Pan 24 X 36 http://www.cottagecraftworks.com/map...an-p-1832.html and the Maple Syrup Hobby Warming Pan Tank http://www.cottagecraftworks.com/map...nk-p-1833.html. I am very happy with both of them. I am cooking on a concrete block stove and figured the pan may not be treated all that gently. I liked that the pans are made of 20 gauge 304 stainless as opposed to the 22 gauge I usually see.

[skinny78]

We tapped 118 tonight, some were running right away. Getting the sugar house ready for sap!

[unclejohn]

Matthew- we got another 15 gal sap on Tues Jan 20, 30 gal yesterday jan 22, and we wont boil these batches until after we collect tomorrow, so we should be able to make 2 gal of amber product. Fortunately the sap was good and cold during these nights, even had ice in it. I took your advice on filtering for the first time and we had great results. We couldnt believe how much scum was collected in the wool filter! Seems like although this run is very early, the trees arent yielding as much as last year when we had snow on the ground in feb. next wk forecast not looking very favorable- nights may be too warm. How are you other Missouri syrup teams doing?

[Goggleeye]

Saps been flowing so hard here in SE Missouri we can't keep up! We've had a freeze/thaw every day for the last 9 days. So far we've made 50+ gallons from 460 taps. Best start we've ever seen. Started with a nice light amber, we're almost at a dark now. Need sleep really bad. I teach and drive school bus, come home and collect until 11 pm or so, and do it all over again the next day. Wife starts the day bottling and mans the evap the rest of the day. She's a good woman! I actually might get some time at the evap Sunday afternoon.

[skinny78]

We collected 70 gallons Friday night and another 55 gallons Saturday night. It's a start but not as good as you guys down South. Hopefully this week will be better!

[RiverSap]

Goggleeye to make 50 gallons of syrup you need 2000 gallons of sap. Where do you store that much sap? If the sap keeps flowing like it has for you so far this season you will have a shot at the 200 gallons of syrup. Here in the St Louis area we have had good daytime temperatures hut at night it has not been falling below freezing at night. This past weekend we had a few decent days. Still looking for better conditions. I have not collected enough to cook up a batch yet. I tapped 35 trees this year on a tubing setup mostly.

[Goggleeye]

You're right, I've been keeping track, and I've collected somewhere around 2200 gallons at this point. I have 2 275 gallon totes elevated in the loft of the sugar house for a head tank. However, the most I'll put up there is about 450 gallons - I start getting nervous because the firebox loading area is underneath the loft! We (my wonderful wife) try to run the evaporator daily to try to prevent getting a backlog of sap. Sometimes, though, I have to store sap in an extra tote on the ground during a really heavy run.

Last year, we produced 198 gallons - so close, but the last 8-10 gallons aren't worth eating! Maybe 200 this year!

I can't believe you haven't been getting the cold nights being 100 miles further north. We do, though, live in an area that tends to drop about 5 degrees more than the surrounding areas. Hope you get those better temperatures. It'll hit at one point or another.