Ragged View, check this one out. https://nh.craigslist.org/bfs/d/mirr...112267157.html
Also, if you are on Facebook check out the marketplace, because there is quite a few in the $12-1800 range.
Ragged View, check this one out. https://nh.craigslist.org/bfs/d/mirr...112267157.html
Also, if you are on Facebook check out the marketplace, because there is quite a few in the $12-1800 range.
Sugaring for 45+ years
New Sugarhouse 14'x32'
New to Me Algier 2'x8' wood fired evaporator
2022 added a used RB25 RO Bucket
250 mostly Sugar Maples, 15% Soft Maples. Currently,(110on 3/16" and 125 on Shurflo 4008 vacuum, 15 gravity), (16,000 before being disabled)
1947 Farmall H and Wagon with gathering tank
2012 Kubota with forks to move wood around
Thanks, will do
Mark Cowdrey
Ragged View Farm
111 Bradley Lake Road
Andover, NH
In the Spring of '15, after boiling with Eric Johnson of Tucker Mountain Maple for 10 years, we began boiling the sap from our 3-400 taps here. I bought my rig from Eric, a 2-1/2 X 8 raised flue on a custom air-injected wood-fired arch. We put our syrup up in glass and sell til we run out. We are not using vacuum, an RO or filter press.
www.raggedviewfarm.com
No it should not take that long.
About 5 minutes to the point the steam burst happens then made 15 minutes of stiring to cool down and done. Of course depends on the batch size.
Regards,
Chris
Casbohm Maple and Honey
625 roadside taps + Neighbors bring some sap too!
3x10 King, WRU, AOF and AUF
12" SIRO Filter Press.
2015 Ford F250 PSD sap hauler
One Golden named Maggie, Norwegian Forest Cat named Lucy
Too many Cub Cadets
Ford Jubilee and several Allis WD's, and IH tractors
1932 Ford AAB ton and a half, dump truck
www.mapleandhoney.com
I made some Maple Sugar with a pint of dark just to see if I could. It only took a total of 30 minutes cooking and stirring so not sure why yours went so long. Ended up with about 11 ounces sugar and another few ounces chunks/nuggets.
I made up some chocolate chip walnut cookies replacing the regular white sugar but not the brown sugar. Couldn't really taste the maple so next time I'll try replacing both. The chunks were fantastic as an ice cream topping - reminded me of the peanut butter crunch toppings you get on soft serve.
Funny this thread popped up as I just made my "worst" batch of sugar today. Like you, Mark, I used a Very Dark, not scorched though. I've gradually tried out darker and darker grades and I think I finally hit the limit. It took 25+ minutes of stirring and it came out like a very thick cookie dough.
I put it through the food mill to get it to smaller (still very wet) pieces and put it in the oven drying setting at 190 deg. It took about 4 hours and two more trips through the food mill, but I was able to save it. It's good sugar! I'm not using this syrup again, though. It's back to the Dark. I wanted to see if I could save this batch and I'm glad I did, but I don't want to do that again.
Mark, I use the Kitchen Aid 600 Series with the bowl lift. It handles 1-quart batches well (although today I worked it over). That's about the smallest mixer you can go with. If you can afford to go bigger, then do that.
For sieve/sifting the sugar I use this food mill. I'm VERY happy with it. I use the largest disc size which is just about 1/8".
Sean
Woodville Maples
www.woodvillemaples.com
www.facebook.com/woodvillemaples
Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
Mix of natural and mechanical vac, S3 Controller from Mountain Maple
2x6 W.F. Mason with Phaneuf pans
Deer Run 250 RO
Ford F350
6+ hives of bees (if they make it through the winters)
Keeping the day job until I can start living the dream.