Who Makes Their Own Maple Syrup?

[Todd67]

It's getting close to being that time of year to tap maple trees for sap. But with the first half of March being so cold, the maple sap won't be flowing very well.

I tapped some trees back in 2013 and made some fantastic maple syrup with my wife and son. But it was too much work because we don't have an evaporator, a sugar shack, or a pile of firewood to boil all that sap down to syrup. It was a good experience, but we leave that for the folks who have the right equipment.

For those who don't know, it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. That's using sugar maple trees. Some other maples could take up to 100 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Outside temperatures need to be below freezing at night (mid 20's) and above freezing during the day (upper 30's to low 40's) from the research I did in 2013.

As the thread title asks, who makes their own maple syrup? Has the sap started flowing in your area yet? Do you use taps and buckets, or tubing? How many gallons of syrup do you make each year?

 

[begreen]

There have been some maple syrup making threads in the Inglenook. Moving the thread there to hopefully catch fellow syrup makers attention.

 

[Todd67]

There have been some maple syrup making threads in the Inglenook. Moving the thread there to hopefully catch fellow syrup makers attention.

Thanks! I wasn't sure where to post this.

 

[Knots]

I've helped some others. It's kinda like heating with wood. If you don't enjoy the whole process to some extent, you won't be able to justify it on a money-saved basis only.

Tromping around in the snow on a somewhat warm, sunny day at the end of February; followed by inhaling the maple-infused steam from the boiling is heaven after a long winter.

 

[Todd67]

I've helped some others. It's kinda like heating wood. If you don't enjoy the whole process to some extent, you won't be able to justify it on a money-saved basis only.

Tromping around in the snow on a somewhat warm, sunny day at the end of February; followed by inhaling the maple-infused steam from the boiling is heaven after a long winter.

It truly is a labor of love.

 

[lindnova]

I have done it the past few years as a hobby to eat and give away Christmas presents. The first year I used a turkey fryer over a wood fire (not recommended takes too long) and finished on the stove for about 2 quarts finished from 3 trees in a 2 week season.

The second year I bought a 2x3 stainless steel pan and warmer pan dedicated to evaporating sap with a valve on the side - I set it up on bricks and fired with wood. It worked ok like that. The second and third seasons were all different. I tapped more trees (like 20) and got between 3-6 quarts.

2 years ago I built a steel stand with sheet metal shielding around 3 sides and a 6" stove pipe stack coming out of one end and really got the thing cooking so that I can boil off somewhere around 5 gallons an hour if I have it going good. Tapped more trees and got the same amount of syrup with long and slow seasons until last year.

Last year 2018 was early and long. Tapped over 30 trees planning on getting a larger volume so I could evaporate faster. I got slow run early and finished around 6 quarts, then it really started running and I burned a large batch, but still got a 3rd batch of 8 quarts. Don't EVER walk away from the boiler when it is getting close. I started the fire over cold sap from the previous day, added 4 gallons of sap and went out to retrieve what was on the trees in hopes to be done for the year. 15 minutes later it was boiling over and the pan was blackened. 3 hours of scrubbing and using the angle grinder with a metal wheel I had the pan salvaged, but never the same. I figure I must have had close to 3 gallons lost - it was closer to finished than I thought I guess.

This year 2019 looks to be 'normal'. Historically I wouldn't have expected to start until early March and I figure about 2 weeks hopefully will be ready in southern Minnesota.

I use mostly bags, a few buckets and a couple trees are close together where I can connect hoses to one 5 gallon container. I don't have very many maples and there is some walking involved to get to them all. Hopefully the snow melts some when I am ready to get sap so I can get to them with the atv. Going to be a smaller year for me this year as I still have some syrup left from last year. Plan to tap about 10-15 taps on 8 trees this year and leave the hard to get to ones alone this year. I am not motivated to even tap trees until I know they are running.

There is a mapletrader forum site dedicated to maple syrup that is interesting to check on - lots of large semi-pro sugarers on there. I am more of a lets get some sweet reward and spend time outside burning a fire' kind of hobby. I hate the filtering and finishing process though. Sticky and I usually am burning my fingers when bottling.

 

[Todd67]

Thanks for the thorough reply @lindnova ! Interesting read. If I ever get caught up with my other unfinished work around the house, I might tap some trees again. But it would be just me, doing everything myself, and I haven't found the motivation to commit to making my own maple syrup again. We don't use much maple syrup any more.

 

[KJamesJR]

I started about two years ago and was collecting in anything I could. Recycled water jugs etc. Had about 12 taps and maybe made a couple pints over a fire pit and some steam trays.

Following year i switched to 3/16 tubing for gravity vacuum. Tapped about 50 trees and made about 5 gallons on a brick arch and new stainless evap pan. Had WAY more sap than I could boil. Lost quite a lot of finished product due to spoilage and my 10 gallon barrels over flowing spilling sap onto the ground. Sold some, traded some, gave some away and kept some.

This year I’m not boiling. Wasn’t too happy with my wood stack. Currently burning some of that wood in the stove. It got really tiring burning outside in a three sided “shack” too which is another reason I’m not doing it this year. All the weather gets in and you’re just cold and wet. From what I hear, with the warmer winter, it hasn’t been too great a year anyways for the big producers. Lots of sap, low sugar content. Still good enough for the hobbiest though. Just expect dark syrup.

Next year I’ll be back at it with a proper arch. Welded stainless with larger pans. A nicer sugar shack and closer to the house for electric. Should be magical.

It’s been flowing since February. Usually always does. It will freeze up a couple times and trees won’t provide here and there tapping that early. However catching sap that early in the season make the best, lightest syrup you ever had even if it’s just a gallon or so. Using tubing with the sterile tree saver taps, your holes won’t close up for a while which extends your season anyways. You can tap in late February, get the primo sap and keep collecting/boiling until early to mid April for dark.

In central NH.

 

[SpaceBus]

Maybe when my endless projects around my house are finished, this would be an interesting end of winter hobby. We have a few maples on our land near the house.

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm usually too busy snowmobiling to do the syrupping . . . which is too bad since I have a good friend who has the trees, sugar shack and all the equipment but he is too busy with his job downstate to do much with the tapping.

 

[Knots]

Maybe it's time to combine the two. Can your sled pull a trailer?

 

[Todd67]

Boiling the sap takes entirely too much time, just to do it as a hobby. I did it one year and decided it wasn't for me. I use my firewood supply to heat my house, and that's a big enough job on its own.