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Post by Tooln on Mar 22, 2018 20:36:16 GMT -6
126 gallons today tested 2.6. The weather just isn't cooperating. Getting too warm now? No not warm enough during the past few days.
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Post by Tooln on Mar 26, 2018 17:06:00 GMT -6
The wife and I got a workout today. 386 gallons with a 2.4 test. 859 gallons YTD.
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 26, 2018 18:14:04 GMT -6
The wife and I got a workout today. 386 gallons with a 2.4 test. 859 gallons YTD. Awesome!! One of my coworkers finished this past weekend. They made a total of 116 gallons of syrup. He said they got more sap tan ever but, it was under 2.0% so it took more sap to produce the syrup.
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Post by Tooln on Mar 26, 2018 19:06:44 GMT -6
The wife and I got a workout today. 386 gallons with a 2.4 test. 859 gallons YTD. Awesome!! One of my coworkers finished this past weekend. They made a total of 116 gallons of syrup. He said they got more sap tan ever but, it was under 2.0% so it took more sap to produce the syrup. How many trees they tap? Both hard and soft maple? I have both but only tap the hard.
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Post by benmnwi on Mar 26, 2018 19:34:55 GMT -6
I boiled my first batch down starting on Saturday and finished yesterday. I had 60 gallons of sap that yielded 2.5 gallons of finished syrup, which is a 4% rate. I boiled it to 221-222 to get it a little thicker and it tastes great. My kids were circling like vultures with spoons in hand while I was pouring it into the jars. Really light in color though, by far the lightest in 5 years tapping here.
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 26, 2018 20:04:22 GMT -6
Awesome!! One of my coworkers finished this past weekend. They made a total of 116 gallons of syrup. He said they got more sap tan ever but, it was under 2.0% so it took more sap to produce the syrup. How many trees they tap? Both hard and soft maple? I have both but only tap the hard. I'm not sure how many taps but, they use a tubing and a vacuum pump. They also now use a reverse osmosis machine. Seems like they have a lot invested for the amount of syrup they make. I'm pretty sure they only tap hard sugar maples.
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 26, 2018 20:06:09 GMT -6
I boiled my first batch down starting on Saturday and finished yesterday. I had 60 gallons of sap that yielded 2.5 gallons of finished syrup, which is a 4% rate. I boiled it to 221-222 to get it a little thicker and it tastes great. My kids were circling like vultures with spoons in hand while I was pouring it into the jars. Really light in color though, by far the lightest in 5 years tapping here. Nice Ben. How many taps do you have out? How big is your pan? Any photos of your setup?
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Post by sd51555 on Mar 26, 2018 21:19:52 GMT -6
How many trees they tap? Both hard and soft maple? I have both but only tap the hard. I'm not sure how many taps but, they use a tubing and a vacuum pump. They also now use a reverse osmosis machine. Seems like they have a lot invested for the amount of syrup they make. I'm pretty sure they only tap hard sugar maples. I toured a huge operation by Duluth years ago. They'd produce 50-80 gallons of finished syrup per day. They also used an RO to cut their water down so they only had to boil about 7 gallons to 1 gallon syrup. I wanted so badly to drink that seperated water and the dude wouldn't let me. Maybe he did it once and got the shits?
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Post by Tooln on Mar 26, 2018 22:09:17 GMT -6
You'd more than likely have been able to shit through a screen and not hit a wire.
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Post by benmnwi on Mar 27, 2018 12:34:52 GMT -6
I boiled my first batch down starting on Saturday and finished yesterday. I had 60 gallons of sap that yielded 2.5 gallons of finished syrup, which is a 4% rate. I boiled it to 221-222 to get it a little thicker and it tastes great. My kids were circling like vultures with spoons in hand while I was pouring it into the jars. Really light in color though, by far the lightest in 5 years tapping here. Nice Ben. How many taps do you have out? How big is your pan? Any photos of your setup?
I only have 8 taps on the 6 silver maples I have in my yard. My trees aren't too big, I'd guess they were planted by the prior owners when they built the house in the mid 1970's.
I have the least efficient setup you could imagine. I boil the sap in 3 big pots that sit on steel fenceposts that rest on concrete blocks. If it gets too hot I dump some cold sap in the bucket. If its not hot enough I throw another log on the fire. I store my sap in plastic jugs that sit on the glacier that forms on the north side of my house. If I pile the snow up there in the winter it lasts through the sap season most of the time. It's a goofy setup, but it gets us out of the house and gives us a year's supply of syrup.
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Post by sd51555 on Mar 27, 2018 15:14:23 GMT -6
Nice Ben. How many taps do you have out? How big is your pan? Any photos of your setup?
I only have 8 taps on the 6 silver maples I have in my yard. My trees aren't too big, I'd guess they were planted by the prior owners when they built the house in the mid 1970's.
I have the least efficient setup you could imagine. I boil the sap in 3 big pots that sit on steel fenceposts that rest on concrete blocks. If it gets too hot I dump some cold sap in the bucket. If its not hot enough I throw another log on the fire. I store my sap in plastic jugs that sit on the glacier that forms on the north side of my house. If I pile the snow up there in the winter it lasts through the sap season most of the time. It's a goofy setup, but it gets us out of the house and gives us a year's supply of syrup.
I thought the lighter the syrup the higher the grade? I'll take it either way myself. It's all good. Is it still the golden color?
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Post by benmnwi on Mar 27, 2018 15:44:09 GMT -6
Yeah, the lighter the color the higher the grade. I would call last weekend's batch almost a honey color, which is way lighter than normal for me. They all taste really similar, but I always preferred the darker syrup since I thought it was a little more flavorful. I've never been accused of having a refined palate though. I usually boil down a couple of batches and the last batch of the season always seems to be a little darker than the early batches. They all taste awesome though.
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Post by Tooln on Mar 27, 2018 19:02:49 GMT -6
I've got to try boiling some of mine down. I wonder how it would work on the stove top? Or better yet in the smoker?
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Post by benmnwi on Mar 27, 2018 19:48:35 GMT -6
I've got to try boiling some of mine down. I wonder how it would work on the stove top? Or better yet in the smoker? If you did it in the house all the steam might cause issues. Any setup that could boil water for hours would work for sap though, so it is really simple. I've read those deep stainless steel buffet trays work for a low cost evaporator and I've been thinking about buying one to decrease my boil time.
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Post by Reagan on Mar 27, 2018 20:29:00 GMT -6
I think I read in one of these forums that boiling in your house is not good. You will get a syrupy film on things.
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