Well looks like I’m done. Brix dropped to 1.3, bad nitre. Just wasting firewood at this point. Weird thing is sap has no buddy taste, (or sugar taste either). Good, clear water! Usually sap goes buddy when brix this low, but no sign of bud swelling.
Anybody ever had brix come back up after cold snap? Not going to pull taps in case by some miracle trees still fine for next week’s cool down. Only made 1/4 of what we hoped to get.
Good luck to all those still boiling!
2024 200 taps & a rebuilt arch and 2x8 raised flu evaporator
2020-23 85-167 taps shared with a neighbour
2019 41 taps on 3/16 line, 2x6 oil tank evaporator
2018 10 buckets, neighbour's homemade 2x3 arch
Oh IDK about that....I went out at 1am last night, brought in 23l sap, another 14 at 11 am, prob last sap collection of the day at 6 or so.Originally Posted by Vandy
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
Yesterday turned out surprisingly well with a strong NW wind blowing through our bush. It was running strong again this morning at by 8:30 in calm sunshine as soon as the lines thawed out. Today being our best sap flow of the season.
Sugaring since 1981
235 taps on 3/16-5/16 gravity tubing
2x6 Henway wood fired arch
Phaneuf/Evaporateurs PJ pans
So the same barrels that were reading 1.3 brix on Monday afternoon were 1.6 on Tues morning and yesterday’s sap is 1.7
Only reason I can think of is that my smaller trees that are dropping in sugar started running earlier and the bigger sweeter ones didn’t start until later and ran into the night raising the brix?? What a weird year. Great run yesterday here. So I’m still boiling after all. I sure wish I had power and could use an RO though.
2024 200 taps & a rebuilt arch and 2x8 raised flu evaporator
2020-23 85-167 taps shared with a neighbour
2019 41 taps on 3/16 line, 2x6 oil tank evaporator
2018 10 buckets, neighbour's homemade 2x3 arch
Had our best run of the season yesterday. Storage tank is almost full (~300gal) and all our 6 gal pails are full. And it's still running at 1pm today. That's the good news...
The bad ? My evaporator is down until tomorrow. I sure hope the new gaskets, insulation and scrubbing increase its performance otherwise I'll be boiling until the may long.
Went looking for the right brush to clean the underside of the sap pan, something that'd work well between the flues. Ended up buying a toilet brush... Not to worry, it's food grade.
Yet everyone! Guess what I did! Finally popped my 'never scorched a pan' claim to fame! After 16 yrs I thought I had this magick down to a T. But nope...apparently I'm dumb enough to think that distilled H2O is used for fixing syrup finishing. Nope!
Had I been smart enough to dump in distilled last night, then I wouldn't be wasting time alternating between a couple of mild abrasives and vinegar to undo the damage. I kid you not...the pan, though not even at 200, scorched up as I was emptying it. Where sap/nearup had been literally seconds before was now a lovely sheet of amber scorch.
Sooooo yeah definite learning experience and I now have a half gallon of distilled in Shack Whacky to help prevent further disasters. I knew my sugar content is really good but I didn't think it was that good!
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
Sugar content will go up after an extended freeze. When the sap is running very well it spends very little time in the stem of the tree - hence low sugar content. A cold snap means the sap is in contact with the starches in the tree for longer and absorbs more sugar. If it's not buddy you're not done!
4,600 Taps on vacuum
9,400 gallons storage
3 tower CDL RO
3.5'x14' Lapierre Force 5
Twitter & Instagram: @ennismaple
www.ennismaple.com
Ahh that explains things. Thank you! Crossing my fingers and hoping my trees can hold on for a couple more days until next week's colder temperatures.
Galena, I'm sorry you've joined us, but welcome to the club!
2024 200 taps & a rebuilt arch and 2x8 raised flu evaporator
2020-23 85-167 taps shared with a neighbour
2019 41 taps on 3/16 line, 2x6 oil tank evaporator
2018 10 buckets, neighbour's homemade 2x3 arch
You're sorry I've joined? Lol only been here since forever! Hehe....yeah I caved and finally did choose to tap. Amazed at the low amounts of nitre.
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
No I mean sorry you've joined the burnt pan club!I joined it in my 1st year.
You've been a great source of information on here for me! Glad you decided to boil this year after all.
2024 200 taps & a rebuilt arch and 2x8 raised flu evaporator
2020-23 85-167 taps shared with a neighbour
2019 41 taps on 3/16 line, 2x6 oil tank evaporator
2018 10 buckets, neighbour's homemade 2x3 arch
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