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Thread: mixing maples

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    davison mi
    Posts
    109

    Default mixing maples

    I met a guy today and we talked maple syrup. He asked if I knew the types of maples I was tapping, to which I inquired no. He suggested to me, that he had silver and sugar maples, but one year mixing the 2 made a off tasting syrup, further silvers together were good, and sugars together were good, not the two together. I have sugar, red, and silver, at the very least and wouldn't know one from the other. does this make any sense? I assume it was something else in his gather, store,cook process.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Acworth, NH
    Posts
    960

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    Tap them all. Mixing sap does not cause off flavor.

  3. #3
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    Mar 2014
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    West Simsbury, CT
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    66

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    Tapped a couple Norways that had great sap flow and mixed them with mostly reds and a sugar. Flavor was nutty. Next season, took out the Norways and nutty flavor was gone.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
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    1,081

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    Blending maple varieties should not have any affect on off flavor. If they are good tasting separate they will be good together.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Sugarhill NH
    Posts
    723

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    This year I am planting 50 Autumn Breeze Maple Trees. They are a cross between a silver and a red. They are supposed to grow 3 feet per year and do not care what type of soil they are in. The ones I bought are about 7-10 feet tall and have a 16 inch root ball. Sugar content is not known as I do not have a refactometer. I currently tap rock, red and white maples.
    30x8 Leader revolution, wood fired blower, steamaway/hood. 903 taps all but 54 on pipeline and 3 vacuum systems. Hauling sap this year with a 99 F350 7.3 diesel dump and of course back up is the Honda 450 and trailer.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Oneida NY
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    11,547

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    The only danger in mixing maples comes after the soft maples open their buds. In early season not an issue but soft maples open bud earlier than sugar maples, this year at my location it was over 3 weeks difference, more often closer to 2 weeks.
    You should get a leaf identification book (or just the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual) and learn to I.D. the maples when in leaf, then also study their bark, they can be identified in any season.
    The white maple is most commonly called a silver maple.
    Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
    Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
    Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
    After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    NE PA (Pocono's)
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    1,426

    Default

    We tap about 50/50 reds and sugars. It certainly does not produce an off flavor but I do think it produces a slightly different flavor than a syrup produced 100% on sugars. Our experience has been that reds will stop producing sap or it becomes very stringy (which is a tell tale sign) before any 'buddy' syrup is made.
    CDL 2x8
    Around 4000 taps
    Polaris ATVs, Ski Doo snowmobiles to get around
    Atlas Copco pumps
    Lapierre two post RO




    http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/j...Sugar%20shack/

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Caledon, Ontario
    Posts
    1,930

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    The fellow had something going wrong with his process. The problem was not in mixing the sap together. I mix and match maple trees every year and the results are always delicious and different. I even added a neighbour's Crimson maple to the mix this year and it was a great success. I am able to measure the sugar content of my various saps and the soft maples are never below 2% and have gone as high as 6%.
    ~ Karen ~

    2012 - 10 taps, 1 turkey fryer - 169.5L sap 4.2 L syrup
    2013 - 23 taps, 2 turkey fryers - 748.5 L sap 17.56 L syrup

    2014 - 22 taps, 509 L sap 12.5 L syrup
    2015 - 28 taps, 1093.75 L sap 25.1 L syrup
    2016 - 25 taps, 1223.5 L sap 28.25 L syrup
    2017 - 21 taps, 518.5 L sap 12.7 L syrup
    2018 - 28 taps, 2 turkey fryers & Denali 3 burner propane stove - 798L sap 16.9 L syrup
    2019 - 28 taps, 1409.5L sap 40.12L syrup

    Sugar, Norway, Manitoba, Silver and Freeman Maples



  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Temperance Mi
    Posts
    411

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    Last year after the mid march warm up, the sap from silvers didn't taste right straight out of the bucket. After boiling it definitely didn't taste right so we turned those and continued on with just straight sugar maples. With 95 percent plus of sugar maples I don't know if that woody flavor would have come thru or not. The few reds we tapped seemed fine but we turned those as well. We normally mix all our sap but at times its nice to know exactly what tree species your tapping.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Caledon, Ontario
    Posts
    1,930

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    I agree with you Ed. Because I gather with buckets I can always take trees out of the mix if they start to bud out. If I were working with lines, I'd be careful to separate the various types of soft maples from the sugar maples so that I could drop them from the mix later in the season if I needed to. This year everything shut down at the same time so it wouldn't have mattered much. It was a weird season - early and short.
    ~ Karen ~

    2012 - 10 taps, 1 turkey fryer - 169.5L sap 4.2 L syrup
    2013 - 23 taps, 2 turkey fryers - 748.5 L sap 17.56 L syrup

    2014 - 22 taps, 509 L sap 12.5 L syrup
    2015 - 28 taps, 1093.75 L sap 25.1 L syrup
    2016 - 25 taps, 1223.5 L sap 28.25 L syrup
    2017 - 21 taps, 518.5 L sap 12.7 L syrup
    2018 - 28 taps, 2 turkey fryers & Denali 3 burner propane stove - 798L sap 16.9 L syrup
    2019 - 28 taps, 1409.5L sap 40.12L syrup

    Sugar, Norway, Manitoba, Silver and Freeman Maples



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