Central Ontario Tapping

[Run Forest Run!]

Thanks Karen. Just put one in the freezer

Update us tomorrow on what happened!

[BrutemanAl]

Nice looking syrup c0ps. You can do a test tonight if you like. Put one of those bottles in the freezer and if the syrup freezes hard then it's too thin. If it ends up more like roof tar then it is the proper brix or even heavier. If it's the latter, you might just want to leave them be. It might save you the trip tomorrow and you can pick up a replacement hydrometer when you aren't having to make a special trip. You can also order one online from Home Hardware and have it sent to the Bolton store.

Here is something strange, I always put my syrup in the freezer just to check and see if anything freeze's, I have a refractometer but I still use the freezer just incase. I had 5 mason jars in the freezer in our fridge in the house, they were there for a few weeks, never froze, just got thick like Karen explained it.... roofing tar. I put them in the freezer in our garage... they are froze This threw me for a loop when I opened the freezer door and saw it, never had it do this before.

Do I thaw them out and added them to syrup I am boiling? Or say screw it !!! and give them to the Neighbors lol

[c0ps]

Update us tomorrow on what happened!

So I checked the syrup in the freezer this morning. Didn't freeze at all. Thanks Karen for the tip.

[c0ps]

Here is something strange, I always put my syrup in the freezer just to check and see if anything freeze's, I have a refractometer but I still use the freezer just incase. I had 5 mason jars in the freezer in our fridge in the house, they were there for a few weeks, never froze, just got thick like Karen explained it.... roofing tar. I put them in the freezer in our garage... they are froze This threw me for a loop when I opened the freezer door and saw it, never had it do this before.

Do I thaw them out and added them to syrup I am boiling? Or say screw it !!! and give them to the Neighbors lol

After Karen told me to do this I read up on it...It says if maple sugar is at a brix of 50% a house hold fridge at -18 degree can freeze it solid. At 66 brix you would need a commercial freezer or dry ice to freeze it. So I'm guessing because it didn't freeze in your fridge inside, but did on your fridg outside. Your sitting somewhere between 58 and 64

[cat tech]

Forget about expensive tools, cook until it start to foam and then uses a wood spoon and keep dipping the spoon until the syrup starts to gather on the edge of the spoon.

[BrutemanAl]

Yesterday Morning I pulled everything but 1 tree, I left my best producing tree just in-case I need some more, I dumped everything back into the ground, figure I dumped about 200L. Kids just couldn't understand why I was dumping it, but they will learn. I am almost caught back up with boiling, the sap tsunami came at the wrong time for me, if it had of been a week or 2 earlier I would have been fine, but it caught me off guard a bit, and I just couldn't keep up nor did I have the room to store it. Definitely shouldn't have added more taps a few weeks ago when I was afraid the season was going to suck, that's one reason I just couldn't keep up.
Oh well each year is a learning experience

[Galena]

Tell the kids you're dumping it cause you already have a lot, and the trees are thirsty :-)

[Run Forest Run!]

What a welcome relief with the freezing temperatures. It's such a luxury to be able to catch up on the sap without worrying that it's going to go bad, or that more is filling the buckets while you are boiling. *sigh* It seems we've got several more days of quiet in the forest before the taps thaw again.

[Run Forest Run!]

Finished boiling up batches #5a (propane boiled) #5b (wood boiled) and #6. That added 8.6L in bottles now settling on the counter. I've never boiled that much syrup in so little time. Batch #6 has that unmistakable rich maple flavour that I had never been able to achieve in past years. I hope that means that the sap I'm now collecting will continue to yield more of that great taste.

[c0ps]

Awsome Karen! You think more sap will run this week?