The n00biest n00b. Hope it goes well

[RileySugarbush]

It is often said the best plan is to boil it the day it runs, but we can rarely do that, especially early in the season. As mentioned before, when we were starting out we had to store sap for a long time before we could boil and often had slightly cloudy sap. I still recall that as some of the most delicious dark syrup I ever tasted.

Today we have some sap that was in the bags for a week, frozen several times, and now collected and in the tank, on the north side of our sugarhouse. But not enough to sweeten our bigger evaporator. Other sap is still in the bags, and we will fire up for the first time on Sunday, so several days old, but still clear. Using these methods we have won multiple awards for our syrup. It may be best to boil right out of the tree if you want the lightest syrup possible, but I like darker syrup too!

If your sap isn't smelly you will be fine, just do your best to kept cold and give it a try!

[rolosrevenge]

So I'm starting to boil down today (sweeten the pans?) Got 2 stainless steel hotel pans. 5 gallons each over an open fire. That first batch of sap I was worried about was still crystal clear (lots of ice in the bucket I just threw out) and smelled fine. Boiled down to the finishing phase and the "maple juice?" tasted yummy. Looking forward to the finished product!

[Cedar Eater]

You'll boil faster and boost your efficiency if you don't keep your pans at full depth. IIRC, 2 gallons per pan is about 2" and that raises the gph.

[rolosrevenge]

You'll boil faster and boost your efficiency if you don't keep your pans at full depth. IIRC, 2 gallons per pan is about 2" and that raises the gph.

Yeah, I wish I'd read this comment before I started. Oh well. Boiled down 35 gallons of sap. The sap was really sweet it seems we'll be getting a gallon of syrup out of it. To make sure I was getting the right consistency, in addition to the candy thermometer, we checked the texture against some Costco pure maple syrup. I never knew silver maples could have such high sugar content.