Tapped in Westfield

[Aaron Stack]

Boiled Saturday and Sunday both looong days. I’m getting 10+ gph out of my evaporator this season and definitely approached 15 hours between the two days. Only a gallon and a quarter so in the 1-1.25% range sugar. Numbers are rough (note to self keep better track next year!).

I’ll give a try testing today and see what I get!

Let me restate my boiling! I boiled every night except Thursday and Friday. 197 for the week, but started Saturday with 95 in the tank after collecting 40 in the am and got another 28 Sunday. The 1.25 gallons was Saturday and Sunday results and got another 1.75 from the weeks boils. So overall a productive week! I have 5.5 gallons so far so on track for the seasons estimate.

Just picked up another 27 so I’ll be boiling that - no budding yet!

[bigschuss]

Boiled Saturday and Sunday both looong days. I’m getting 10+ gph out of my evaporator this season and definitely approached 15 hours between the two days. Only a gallon and a quarter so in the 1-1.25% range sugar. Numbers are rough (note to self keep better track next year!).

I’ll give a try testing today and see what I get!

Same here Aaron. I had about 90 three gallon frozen slugs of ice to go through. Made for a long weekend. Sap ran good here in Savoy on Wed. and then everything froze solid Thursday. But, got through almost all of it by Sunday afternoon. Was able to sweeten my pan and draw off a gallon. Boiled 40 more yesterday and made another gallon. Have about 20 more to boil today after work.

[berkshires]

I’m getting 10+ gph out of my evaporator this season

That is really really impressive for a 20x30 flat pan!!! Mine is 2x3, also on a Mason, and I'm very happy I'm getting around 11 1/2 GPH. My pan is nearly 50% bigger than yours, and your evaporation rate is close to mine. That's amazing!

I also had a long day. I boiled on Sunday. Had to do some repairs to the evaporator that took longer than I'd like, and had a complicated collection due to having to swap barrels after my fiasco with a leaky barrel last week. And then my neighbor down the hill (who has two trees I tap) wanted help with something while I was collecting there. All that meant I didn't get started until 11:15. I then put 125 gallons of sap on the evaporator over the next 10 hours. Then after shut down and clean up, a two hour drive to get home. Why do we do this again? LOL

It would not have been so much to boil except that last weekend when I collected everything was solid ice, so I just broke it up and tossed it in all the barrels I could spare, and left it in the sun to melt. So then I collected and boiled a weeks worth of new sap plus what had melted out from the ice blocks all on Sunday. Set myself a new record for sap put on the evaporator in a day, and made 3+ gallons of syrup.

GO

[berkshires]

I bottle in canning jars, what do you guys use and what size? I'm in this for a hobby and something to do with my grandson before golf season starts, so I am ok with making a few gallons to give away.....

I bottle in the fancy 12 ounce jars that I put a custom label on (the picture is of my family cabin in the Berkshires), and in the Massachusetts quart jugs:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TEsz6fDNh9UibDZs9
https://bascommaple.com/products/jsb...41bb039c&_ss=r

Almost everyone prefers the glass bottles, even though they're smaller. They're just more "special".

GO

[berkshires]

Same here Aaron. I had about 90 three gallon frozen slugs of ice to go through. Made for a long weekend. Sap ran good here in Savoy on Wed. and then everything froze solid Thursday. But, got through almost all of it by Sunday afternoon. Was able to sweeten my pan and draw off a gallon. Boiled 40 more yesterday and made another gallon. Have about 20 more to boil today after work.

Congrats on a good start to the season. Glad to hear you're up and running. Dealing with frozen blocks is the worst thing about early season sugaring.

Cheers,

GO

[Aaron Stack]

Ended up with over 3/4 gallons off yesterday’s 27 gallons collected yesterday but so far today not even 2 off the first 7 buckets. Heading to the main site with the remaining 23 so we’ll see what I get. I’ll boil it if I get 10, otherwise it’s rinsing collection buckets in the rain. Update: Only 5 total gallons of not so good looking yellow sap collected so rinsing it was. Putting it in the freezer hoping for a weekend run, or I'll use plan to use it on the propane stove to finish off the sweet at the end of the season.

Gabe I hear you on the long days. Into work for 6, out by 1230, collect, boil, cleanup and a shorter 30 minute drive I’m usually home by 10. It’s only 5-6 weeks and honestly just plain old fun so it’s all worth it.

On bottling, I got a too big electric bottler - it’s good for the dark since that’s what I get the most of, but for the lighter grades I only get about a gallon of each so I use a stainless coffee urn. Between the two they work great.

Keep on boiling everyone!

[Paul01036]

Maple Addict,

Thanks for the information and links. The glass bottles look awesome and I would agree while smaller they add a sense of nostalgia to the packaging especially due to the photo of the cabin. I hope 2024 was a big success for you.

[Aaron Stack]

No budding in site and possibly a short run Sunday to Tuesday so swapping out the field buckets today, holding out hope. Drained the sweet yesterday and took it home for the freezer along with rinsing the truck buckets and tank. Also threw in the light vinegar soak today.

Staying positive but might just be done if the forecast is off. At least I’ll be free to go to visit the bigger operations next weekend for Mass Maple Weekend.