Birch syrup! Breaking rules but...

[Maple dabbler]

We don't have an RO, so I had to boil it all the way. We have a continuous fed wood fired 2x6 arch. I did it in 2 batches, 100 gallons in the first and 180 in the second. I did this over the course of about 10 days, so some of the sap might have sat out for 2-3 days before getting boiled. It was very slightly cloudy and yeasty by the end, but not bad. Once I got everything into the evaporator, I stopped feeding the fire and put everything in the gas finishing pan, and finished it there. I didn't really have any way of lowering the temperature, so there was definitely some scorching.

As for the quality of the syrup itself, it looks like extra dark robust maple. The taste is very strong, and not exactly pleasant on its own, but it smells very nice. It tastes like dark, slightly acidic molasses, with notes of burnt caramel and sour cherry. I think it will still be great in sauces and marinades, and am excited to try it in recipes.

[Shirefisher]

Well very good thank you for the update. I think I'll go ahead and boil it down as best I can in the evaporator. I think it tastes like a balsamic raspberry syrup. I really like it. I did salsa, soda, salad and enchiladas with it yesterday. It worked well on all for some unusual but great flavoring.

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

I boiled down 98 gallons of birch, just finished it. Ended up with 5 pints plus a little more to taste in a day or two, after the Easter candy clears my tastebuds...... Lol
It boiled nice, I ran my flat pan at 3 inches instead of 2. Finished on propane slowly. It filtered real clean off the evaporator. Filtering at 66 brix, I ended up with 1/4 cup of what looked like wet sand, but the syrup filtered clean, and everything rinsed out of the filters. I think it smelled better than maple till it hit about 50 brix, then it got stronger smelling. It tastes a bit like mollases, and strong of earthy/nutty, hard to describe.
We had a freeze night before last, today I collected 18 gallons of maple, still at 1.4%. We have three nights of freeze, low 20's, I'm hoping to get a little more maple coming out of that. I'm thinking a barrel of maple and two barrels of birch cooked together to try that too. That should just about finish the propane tank for this year.

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[4Walls]

ive made it before a few years and want to do a big run this year. I've only ever done small batches over propane before and learned that it boils off well until the sugar gets up then it darkens quickly at high heat. The key is low and slow for the finish. I am planning on doing both yellow birch and white birch in different batches. Just finished bottling the last of my maple syrup and pulling the taps today. I am in Northern Ontario and we are not even close to budding out on the maples. Was -7c this morning. The sap is still flowing but I have way too much dark syrup left over from last year.

So my plan is to do about 50 white birch on my property on tubes and another 50 yellow birch on a buddies property by bucket. I dont like birch in buckets because I find that there is way WAY more bugs and critters in the sap with the warmer temperatures. I am thinking about collecting twice a day because, in my experience, the birch really flows and goes sour fast. The idea is to collect one type and run it through the RO for the night to increase sugar content to maybe/hopefully 4%. Get all that into the evaporator and boiling down while the other type of tree is collected and run through the RO. Drain the concentrate from the pans and finish low over propane. Repeat and alternate with the other type of tree. This way I can isolate the species of syrup and do a real and live comparison of the two types.

I am going to optimize the main boil of in my evaporator (2x8 D&G) by running a recirc pump from the finishing pan back to the sap entry point. The front of the pan always burns hotter. I figure I can get the same evaporation over the entire pan and keep the front of the pan cooler by taking from the hot side and pushing it to the cold side. I can also control the total heat in the evaporator very easily. I converted from burning wood to being able to burn pressurized used vegetable oil with a spray injector. (another story). That said, I can easily control the heat and go from 6 of 8 feet of pan at a roaring boil to a low simmer in the front pans only with only the turn of a valve. There is also way less heat momentum than traditional coals at the end of the boil. The pan goes from roaring boil to off in a matter of minutes. This should help with not scorching the birch syrup.

I am interested to see the difference in the taste between the two trees and see if I can make a thick but lighter coloured product at the end.

I will also note that my description of the taste of birch syrup is to close your eyes and imagine the taste of the best Root beer or Sarsaparilla drink you've ever had, now imagine stripping the sticky sweet corn syrup taste and remove the carbonation, add a hint of wintergreen and some pepper to it and that is the taste of birch syrup.

[billschi]

Our first batch of birch syrup finished. We are processing 400 gallons per day. We don't cook our sap over 180F. After it gets to about 60%, we waterbathe it at around 160F or less.

Birch syrup 2020.jpg

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

Our first batch of birch syrup finished. We are processing 400 gallons per day. We don't cook our sap over 180F. After it gets to about 60%, we waterbathe it at around 160F or less.

Attachment 21435

Very cool, may I see pictures of the equipment you use to do that?

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[DrTimPerkins]

Attachment 21435

Very attractive looking product -- how's the taste?

[billschi]

Dr Tim, the taste is amazing. I can't even describe it.
We cook it off at about 180F to about 60% sugar. Then we water bathe it at 160F to 67%. This stuff can actually be used on pancakes. It's that good. I believe any flame to the pan when finishing will caramelize it and give it a different taste. Caramelized birch tastes like molasses and balsamic vinegar. We sold 13 gallons of all caramelized last year. People loved it. I think they'll love this too. Last year because it sold real quick at $15 for 5oz and $20 for 8oz, we will up the price to $16 for 5oz and $22 for 8oz.

[billschi]

Duncan, we are using a RO I made. It gives me 60 gallons per hour of permeate. I have a homemade 2x6 flat pan with aerators. The pan and aerators are stainless steel. I use a Buckethead vacuum and adjust airflow with an adjustable fan speed knob to maintain the temperature. The water bath (for now) are just pots that sit on my aerator. We run the syrup through a Smoky Lake filter press at 160F. Yesterday and today we processed 500 and 550 gallons of sap. We have 365 trees tapped.

[lostupnorth]

billschi, what is your evaporation rate at 180f?