Jefferson County - My First Boil Ever

[Ray_Nagle]

Thanks, Karen. If it makes you feel any better, it's been a deep freeze here for the last few weeks, so there's been almost no flow.

[unclejohn]

hi to all mo sapsuckers... this cold snap is hopefully winters last gasp and the sap will flow by next weekend. I thought i might help you identify maples when they have no leaves. i have been told that maples, ash, and dogwood are the only trees in missouri woods that have twigs opposite each other on the minor branches. you can easily identify dogwood- its a smaller tree and has big buds in the winter where the flower will form, and ash has a very identifiable bark, that has ridges that can form an "x" pattern or resemble alligator skin. i hope this helps. john

[RiverSap]

It was a good haul and I used it this weekend on some pancakes. Mmmmmmm tasty. I do use a thermometer when I cook. It is an old fashion mercury one. When I did my calibration water boiled at 212. I bring the last few gallons from the pans on the arch into the kitchen and finish it on the stove. I do watch the thermometer and it rose to around 220 deg F at the time I stopped and filtered it and bottled. But that said what I use to determine when the syrup is done is a hydrometer. The Hydrometer comes with a narrow stainless steel cup that you fill with the hot syrup and float the hydrometer in it. When it floats up to to the red line marked on it that corresponds to finished syrup. At that point I filter and bottle. I will take a picture of what I have and post it when I get time.

[Ray_Nagle]

I actually have a syrup hydrometer. I haven't used it yet because I read that for small batches it's best to just use a thermometer. But I'll give it a try next time.

[RiverSap]

Get everything setup and ready for this weekend. The weather is looking like a good sap run starting on Friday. My problem right now is I have 50 gallons or so of sap frozen in buckets and containers. It all needs to come together for one more good batch of 100 plug gallons of sap.

[Ray_Nagle]

So I'm an idiot. The reason it was taking me so insanely long to boil down sap was because I had lined the bottom of my pans with aluminum foil. I was trying to make cleanup easier, but I guess the foil was insulating the pans. I boiled last night and started having the same problem, decided to try removing the foil, and the sap instantly started boil hard. So lesson learned.

This most recent batch of sap was the highest sugar content yet. I'm guessing I'll do one more boil, but I'm not sure how much longer the trees are going to run since it's not freezing at night anymore.

150312_Maple_Syrup_Boil_1.jpg150312_Maple_Syrup_Boil_2.jpg

[RiverSap]

I would not have thought foil on the bottom would have made that much of a difference. Yes we live and learn. That setup looks good. Yes the season has ended. I would stop collecting sap. Your taps may still run but there will not be any sugar content. After the buds form which if you look up into the tree you will definitely see buds, the sap starts containing only starch and not sugar from what I have read. I cooked up my last batch Sunday. I had about 80 gallons. I still have to do the finishing and bottling in on the stove in the kitchen. That is a task for later this week. I started taking out all of my taps and collecting up the tubing and buckets. I still have lots of year end clean up to do. I have included a few pictures of my setup on the driveway. I took a few side view pics so you can see how I set the concrete blocks on the side so air is pulled in down low. All in all it has been a very enjoyable and productive season for me. I hope you and everyone here in Missouri had a similar experience.

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey Ray. One trick that a fellow Maple Trader taught me is that if you rub a layer of soap on the bottom of your pan before you put it over the fire it really cuts down the clean-up time dramatically. Use a bar of soap, not the liquid kind, and I know you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Ray_Nagle]

Hey Ray. One trick that a fellow Maple Trader taught me is that if you rub a layer of soap on the bottom of your pan before you put it over the fire it really cuts down the clean-up time dramatically. Use a bar of soap, not the liquid kind, and I know you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for the tip, Karen. I'm gonna give it a try. The pictures in your signature are amazing, by the way. That syrup is so pretty.

I would not have thought foil on the bottom would have made that much of a difference. Yes we live and learn. That setup looks good. Yes the season has ended. I would stop collecting sap. Your taps may still run but there will not be any sugar content. After the buds form which if you look up into the tree you will definitely see buds, the sap starts containing only starch and not sugar from what I have read. I cooked up my last batch Sunday. I had about 80 gallons. I still have to do the finishing and bottling in on the stove in the kitchen. That is a task for later this week. I started taking out all of my taps and collecting up the tubing and buckets. I still have lots of year end clean up to do. I have included a few pictures of my setup on the driveway. I took a few side view pics so you can see how I set the concrete blocks on the side so air is pulled in down low. All in all it has been a very enjoyable and productive season for me. I hope you and everyone here in Missouri had a similar experience.

Noted about the sap collection. I'd read that we should keep collecting until the buds break, which I haven't seen yet. (They do have buds, but those formed last fall.) But I hate to collect a bunch of starch water and have it boil down to nothing, so I'll call it quits. Your setup is really nice...I even like the cover so you can boil even if it's raining (would've been helpful last weekend).

[RiverSap]

I still have to clean my pan. I will have to try that soap idea next year. Thanks Karen. Has anyone tried to use a pressure washer to clean off the pans? I am thinking of giving that a try.