Backyard Syrup Enthusiasts 2021

[woodsy]

1st boil here Sunday , hoping for a gallon of syrup if sap will flow today and tomorrow.
It has been nice being back on the tapline and hanging out at the sugar shack. Our pet Chipmunks are entertaining.

[highlandcattle]

Ron did good for a couple days. His 3 trees did well for a bit. Now stopped. Snow gone from front yard. Real high winds last night. He's made 2 qts. So far. It'23 right now. Winds dying down. Expected to be around 40 later. He was pretty upset about having to wait it out...Will see what today will be....

[maineboiler]

Definitely a slow start. I’ve collected about 200 gallons so far, will be boiling today. Well behind last year. Last night was certainly cold enough but the winds today may cut down on any sap run. Hopefully the trees will wake up Tues-Wed

[Mvhomesteader]

1st boil here Sunday , hoping for a gallon of syrup if sap will flow today and tomorrow.
It has been nice being back on the tapline and hanging out at the sugar shack. Our pet Chipmunks are entertaining.

Good luck with your boil Woodsy. I'm thinking of going for a boil Sunday as well if it's not too windy. The flow was much improved today with 21 gallons. I expect as much tomorrow, again if it's not too windy.

Along the lines of chipmunks, we feed as many gray and red squirrels as birds. Seriously, I'm a sucker for the antics. We have a regular crew at the feeder and back steps daily. There was a gray squirrel this morning who spent 15 minutes practicing his kung fu moves on a hemlock branch. That poor branch. They go crazy in the spring-mating moves I guess. I think a red squirrel mom has set up a next in my wood pile in the shed so hopefully she moves out before I need the wood.

[woodsy]

Thanks, heading down right after breakfast. Came up with 40 gallons this week, might
get another 10 by this afternoon so should be close to a gal of syrup.
I saw you mention somewhere that you don't filter your finished product and I've been thinking
along the same lines here but let the nitre settle out for a few weeks then repackage at 180* without the nitre .
Seems I read that approach on here somewhere. That final filtering has always been a royal pain.
On critters, I watched a red squirrel chewing on a sugar maple tree branch recently, knows how to get a sweet drink and maybe even
the difference between a red and sugar maple..

[Mvhomesteader]

My wife and I gave up the final final filtering last year. We filter the boiled down sap/syrup coming off the pans through a fabric cone "pre-filter" from the hardware store. This gets out ash, small crud, etc before final finishing in the kitchen stove. We're only talking less than 2 gallons. Once in the canning jar after finishing to 220 we just let the nitre settle out on its own and eat it with the rest of the syrup. Slightly gritty but tastes good. And we don't loose any to the filter, especially late in the year when the filter clogs easily. Saves loads of time. No effect on flavor of the syrup.

Second boil today produced a gallon, quart and better part of pint for a ssc of 2.4+%. The sap is coming on better now. I've got 60 gallons in the shed so it won't freeze solid over the next couple of days, then I'll return it to the cold storage snow bank till the next weekend boil.

I think the only thing red squirrels around here know the taste of is black oil sunflower seed.

[Tuckeradams2012]

Didn't collect as much as I thought we would this week. Processed a total of about 125 gallons so far and have drawn off a gallon. Pulling 18" of vaccum off the 3/16 line in one area and it still isn't producing all that well. Good news is the evaporator absolutely tears when I stoke it properly. Easily processing 15 gallons an hour on the 2x4. Finally insulated the door and now I don't have any trouble standing next to it. Looks like a this is going to be a hot week at the end in Norway but dipping down enough at night. Week after does not look promising at all. Hopefully the little bit of snowpack that we have can keep our trees from budding out.

Anyone else have season predictions here in Maine?

[Drop-In-The-Bucket Farm]

Cooked off 91 gallons Saturday for 8+ quarts, all dark amber. Last year's syrup was much lighter, not sure why. Wonder if it's related to last summer's drought and trees under stress, higher mineral content etc?


2019 7 taps < 1 gallon
2020 50 taps 11 gallons
2021 100 taps
2 x 4 WF Mason Evaporator
Sugar maples, with a few reds

[woodsy]

And here we got 40 gals sap reduced to 2 gallons and its now frozen solid in the finishing pot.
Almost zero here this morning. 1st boil went good but used too much boiling soda.

[eustis22]

How can there be "too much" boiling soda? Do you also make "too much" syrup?