My wife grew up producing syrup with her family in the backyard. I grew up thinking syrup bottles had a picture of a log cabin, carmel coloring, and were made from corn syrup. Since moving to Maine, I have tried to produce syrup every year. We recently built a house on my wife's family property- and have been slowly increasing our production. We are still collecting with buckets, tapping with an old bit brace, and boiling on a combination of a half pint evaporator on a barrel stove and boiling inside (ran out of gas in the middle of a boil last year). We are looking at increasing production, but going slow as money comes available. I have been reading this board for years, and am happy to finally be a member.

I do have a question however, I have seen people make cinder block arches, and I am curious if their ability to hold in heat would make it more efficient than a barrel stove. Does anyone have opinions on this?