Maple Sugaring Question

Hole in the bottom is correct. The sap is intercepted on its way up the tree when the weather warms up.

bmblank said:

Hole in the bottom is correct.

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X2

What he said

sesro1978 said:

This is my first year sugaring since college and while tapping a few trees yesterday with a buddy of mine, we noticed the hole in the spile (the part that goes into the tree) was on the bottom. Is this correct?

He's sugared before and he couldn't recall seeing a spile of this design. We both were left wondering if we were supposed to punch out the back of the spile with a nail-set or something.

Any help is appreciated!

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Having a hard time picturing what you're talking about - got a pic of it?

Any spile I've used/seen is pretty self evident which way is up - just in looking at the end the sap drips off of.

not meaning to hijack this thread but i have a question for you guy that sugar. how long is the boiling time before it is reduced enough to be syrup.

Until it is the right consistency and taste. I don't think there's any one number as it'll change depending on water content and whatnot.

got a ballpark figure? i know asking this is like asking someone how long do you cook your spaghetti sauce.

I don't. We always cooked it down and added more sap as there was room for it. One the fire was made it generally ran for days before we decided we were done. Not to mention this was probably 10 years ago.

thanks

We start do boil when The 5000 gal. tank is full
the evaporator is 12 long 6 ft wide and 18 in. deep
it is fired with cord wood (4ft long ) (dry maple )
We run until the tank is empty from 3 to 4 days
depending on sugar content and temp . This will produce
between 120 to 150 Gallons of syrup. This is
repeated 5 or 6 times in a good season and we
are a very small operation around here.
After all Lanark county is the Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario

Yeah, ours wasn't that big. We were just a little personal operation. Couple hundred gallons of sap.

Recipe is pretty simple.

Boil the bejeebers out of it until it gets to 219°F.

You'll have to keep adding sap or else it will boil dry - you need to condense it down at a 40:1 ratio.

You could try it when it gets to 217-218 - you might find it a bit thin but it will save a bit of boiling.

johneh said:

We start do boil when The 5000 gal. tank is full
the evaporator is 12 long 6 ft wide and 18 in. deep
it is fired with cord wood (4ft long ) (dry maple )
We run until the tank is empty from 3 to 4 days
depending on sugar content and temp . This will produce
between 120 to 150 Gallons of syrup. This is
repeated 5 or 6 times in a good season and we
are a very small operation around here.
After all Lanark county is the Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario

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I want to see that

I made my first attempt last weekend. I only had 2.5 gallons that I actually boiled. I had more sap, but I spilled some, had a glass container near the fire explode because it was a bit too close to the fire, and ahem, a few other dumb mistakes.

I lost a lot of time with trail and error, despite reading about how to do it. It was really enjoyable and I'd like to it again if i get more . . . i still have another gallon, but ran out of time from all the screwing around. Got about 8-10 ounces from my 2.5. REALLY happy with how it came out.

Since I'll make fewer mistakes and will be more efficient next time, I would guess around a gallon an hour and then a finish boil indoors on my woodstove. This is small scale operation burning really dry pine outdoors in a cinder block stove with a handled turkey aluminum. Three cinder blocks tall, two long, one wide. Used a piece of sheet metal in front for draft control. Worked well. Good luck.

My buddy always did his on his wood stove. He now has a real set up. Gonna try it stove top this year with a few gallons and see how it goes.

Warm_in_NH said:

My buddy always did his on his wood stove. He now has a real set up. Gonna try it stove top this year with a few gallons and see how it goes.

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I wouldn`t boil sap on stove top. The vapour from the boiling will coat all the walls in the kitchen with sugary film. He`ll have a hell of a time cleaning it up afterward. I only do stove top to `finish`` off my syrup. By that, I mean I boil up to 217 like Maple1 said, and then bring it Inside to continue boiling it until the syrup is just right.

Laurent Cyr said:

I wouldn`t boil sap on stove top. The vapour from the boiling will coat all the walls in the kitchen with sugary film. He`ll have a hell of a time cleaning it up afterward. I only do stove top to `finish`` off my syrup. By that, I mean I boil up to 217 like Maple1 said, and then bring it Inside to continue boiling it until the syrup is just right.

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I never was actually in his house we always were in the shop or the yard, not sure what his interior standard of living was like but that doesn't sound like a mess I want to deal with. My walls would be alive with ants come spring!

Guess I'll give it a go in the turkey frier. I've "modified" it so it'll run on very low heat. I use it for making dog food, syrup should work too.

johneh said:

We start do boil when The 5000 gal. tank is full
the evaporator is 12 long 6 ft wide and 18 in. deep
it is fired with cord wood (4ft long ) (dry maple )
We run until the tank is empty from 3 to 4 days
depending on sugar content and temp . This will produce
between 120 to 150 Gallons of syrup. This is
repeated 5 or 6 times in a good season and we
are a very small operation around here.
After all Lanark county is the Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario

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Not to hijack the thread, but I am curious to what evaporator you are running, and if you are running an RO?

We have a 3x14 D+G burning oil and a homemade RO (that I would like to replace in the next few years).