Maple sap buckets hung but the snow is deep | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Maple sap buckets hung but the snow is deep

hdsomeday said:
I am intrigued...never done this before

Questions....

I have an approx 16" Crimson maple in the back yard. Another approx 12" in the front. I only am looking for a quart or so of syrup (couple or three bottles?). Will I get enough sap from one tree or do I need to tap both?

Do I have to boil it as each bucket fills or do I collect it all into a larger container and boil it all at once?
How long can I collect before having to boil?
Where do I keep it? As in outside? I dont have a large freezer or fidge.
I cant have a fire pit, can I use a propane stove or bbq (since I will probably have only one or two containers I am assuming) ?

Any other suggestions or is it a waste of time?
Click to expand...

I had to go goggle the crimson maple

The 1st hit was a guy who started a blog. He said the syrup was good but that the volume of sap from the crimson maple was far less than a sugar maple gives.

To give you an idea I have over 50 trees tapped to get 3 to 5 gals of syrup.

You could store it in 5 gallon pails. Covered. Protected from animals. But cool as sap will spoil.

The propane would work.

We do 90% on the open fire. We then finish it on gas or electric as the point of good syrup going to sugar is a very fine point.

I believe in adventures but it's often easier to try something new with someone with the knowin.
 
hdsomeday said:
I am intrigued...never done this before

Questions....

I have an approx 16" Crimson maple in the back yard. Another approx 12" in the front. I only am looking for a quart or so of syrup (couple or three bottles?). Will I get enough sap from one tree or do I need to tap both?

Do I have to boil it as each bucket fills or do I collect it all into a larger container and boil it all at once?
How long can I collect before having to boil?
Where do I keep it? As in outside? I dont have a large freezer or fidge.
I cant have a fire pit, can I use a propane stove or bbq (since I will probably have only one or two containers I am assuming) ?

Any other suggestions or is it a waste of time?
Click to expand...
Let's say you can collect a gallon of sap (4 L) you would after boiling down, end up with a half a cup of syrup. It sounds like a fun project with little commitment. A litre would give you a taste, a couple of spoonfuls. Boil away in a pot on a hot plate outside to avoid steaming up the kitchen. Since the trees aren't sugar maple the taste will be different, maybe nasty, maybe tolerable.

I have no idea where and how deep to place the taps or when the time is right.

Does erroneous tapping damage the tree? I see taphole maple for sale as a specialty wood for the artistic sorts.

You can also tap birch trees but I think the ratio is 80:1 to get something that tastes like molasses.

I just found an old bottle of maple wine from a winery near St. Thomas. Finally a wine that pairs with pancakes.
 
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bakaboy said:
I had to go goggle the crimson maple

The 1st hit was a guy who started a blog. He said the syrup was good but that the volume of sap from the crimson maple was far less than a sugar maple gives.

To give you an idea I have over 50 trees tapped to get 3 to 5 gals of syrup.

You could store it in 5 gallon pails. Covered. Protected from animals. But cool as sap will spoil.

The propane would work.

We do 90% on the open fire. We then finish it on gas or electric as the point of good syrup going to sugar is a very fine point.

I believe in adventures but it's often easier to try something new with someone with the knowin.
Click to expand...
Are you using a refractometer or the knowin' to set your end point?
 
I'm thinking you are right. Maybe another year, after I scope out the neighbor's maples. :)

Thanks
 
nobbie48 said:
Let's say you can collect a gallon of sap (4 L) you would after boiling down, end up with a half a cup of syrup. It sounds like a fun project with little commitment. A litre would give you a taste, a couple of spoonfuls. Boil away in a pot on a hot plate outside to avoid steaming up the kitchen. Since the trees aren't sugar maple the taste will be different, maybe nasty, maybe tolerable.

I have no idea where and how deep to place the taps or when the time is right.

Does erroneous tapping damage the tree? I see taphole maple for sale as a specialty wood for the artistic sorts.

You can also tap birch trees but I think the ratio is 80:1 to get something that tastes like molasses.

I just found an old bottle of maple wine from a vinery near St. Thomas. Finally a wine that pairs with pancakes.
Click to expand...

Proper tapping is a learned skill but we do live in the world of youtube
 
hdsomeday said:
I am intrigued...never done this before

Questions....

I have an approx 16" Crimson maple in the back yard. Another approx 12" in the front. I only am looking for a quart or so of syrup (couple or three bottles?). Will I get enough sap from one tree or do I need to tap both?

Do I have to boil it as each bucket fills or do I collect it all into a larger container and boil it all at once?
How long can I collect before having to boil?
Where do I keep it? As in outside? I dont have a large freezer or fidge.
I cant have a fire pit, can I use a propane stove or bbq (since I will probably have only one or two containers I am assuming) ?

Any other suggestions or is it a waste of time?
Click to expand...

Honestly if it was me I’d do it for fun even if you just get a few spoonfuls. Home made food is always fun.
 
jc100 said:
Honestly if it was me I’d do it for fun even if you just get a few spoonfuls. Home made food is always fun.
Click to expand...
If you are only going to get a tiny bit, if it was me, I would keep boiling it past syrup. Maybe half again? hope for one more fresh snow, pour your sweet nectar onto the snow and roll it onto a stick. Heaven.
 
Have not done this in years , and only did it for the sake of tradition with my kids, my Dad had run a sugar bush for years as part of the farm operation. Went from buckets on trees to plastic tubing and eventually gravity piping to 45 gal barrels with vaccuum pumps. The last evaporator pan was 4ft x8ft and propane fired, when the temp and viscosity was perfect you dumped a valve and it ran through a chiller line to stop the cooking process before bottling.
For anybody that has done fiberglass work its similar, you go from runny , runny, to almost ready, to awe F'it , it takes hours and the last 5 mins are critical.

You can get sap from any maple tree , sugar maple will be sweeter and often better qaulity , but the natives actually made birch syrup , which is not very pleasant and you can make a birch beer, also not pleasant.

I did it with the kids in traditional buckets , straining through cheesecloth , boiling in the backyard on a leftover wood stove. buying at $35 L , the stuff is cheap!
 
bakaboy said:
I usually boil 200 gallons of sap down in 2 long days

My IG will likely have more updates. If you are smart you can likely find it.
Click to expand...
I have 2 very large trees that get full sun, the drop 20-40l of sap/day each. I get about 30l of syrup season off those 2 trees.

I have found city trees with lots of sun wildly outperform sugar bush trees. The 2 I noted above are in the wide open, I have another 4 that are 16-20” caliper, they produce 2-8l/day, they don’t get as much full sun on their trunks.
 
hdsomeday said:
I am intrigued...never done this before

Questions....

I have an approx 16" Crimson maple in the back yard. Another approx 12" in the front. I only am looking for a quart or so of syrup (couple or three bottles?). Will I get enough sap from one tree or do I need to tap both?

Do I have to boil it as each bucket fills or do I collect it all into a larger container and boil it all at once?
How long can I collect before having to boil?
Where do I keep it? As in outside? I dont have a large freezer or fidge.
I cant have a fire pit, can I use a propane stove or bbq (since I will probably have only one or two containers I am assuming) ?

Any other suggestions or is it a waste of time?
Click to expand...
Crimsons are perfect, they are high sugar producers. The 16” caliper will take 2 taps, staggered by 18” diagonal and one in the 12” Taps facing SW.

Together you should get 20l/day when running full, 100-150 for the season.

crimsons will give you 1l of amber medium for every 38l of sap. 1:40 for dark.

You need a lot of heat and time. I boil off in a 30l kettle sitting on the burners of my gas bbq. I can boil off about 5 l / hr. After boiling 80l down to about 3l, I take it inside and finish on the stove.

Your sap keeps for a about a week this time of year. As it gets warmer, it will spoil (ferment) once it gets to about 55 degrees in the pail. Collect Tues to Sun, boil on Sunday.

other suggestions: glass containers, I like corked whisky and rum bottles. Mason jars work too. Have a candy thermometer, you need it to finish. Also have a small store bought sample to compare. I’ve see a lot of people guess and fail because they don’t have anything to compare too.

it’s stupid easy if you pay attention during the last few litres.
 
bakaboy said:
I had to go goggle the crimson maple

The 1st hit was a guy who started a blog. He said the syrup was good but that the volume of sap from the crimson maple was far less than a sugar maple gives.

To give you an idea I have over 50 trees tapped to get 3 to 5 gals of syrup.

You could store it in 5 gallon pails. Covered. Protected from animals. But cool as sap will spoil.

The propane would work.

We do 90% on the open fire. We then finish it on gas or electric as the point of good syrup going to sugar is a very fine point.

I believe in adventures but it's often easier to try something new with someone with the knowin.
Click to expand...
Mileage varies. I get 20-30l (4-7gal) / season off just 2 trees, Sat they gave 40l of sap, and another 30 sun-mon. I’ll have plenty of 40-50l days in the next few weeks.

I do some boiling in a Green Egg using maple and applewood. Adds a bit of smokiness to the syrup - not everyone’s cup of tea. I find the later season sap has less flavour, that’s when I add a bit smoke, a tiny bit of brown sugar and sometimes coffee spice up what would be lower grade light syrup.
 
jc100 said:
you learn either way! ?
Click to expand...
I will try just about anything to see what skills are required. Very often I find out that the other person's hobby or job isn't as simple as it first looked. The "Trick" is usually a lot of practice and hard work.

This thread is an interesting example of that. The school trip to sugar bush makes it sound simple. The nuances are fascinating.

I don't have a problem with the taste of birch syrup. IMO it tastes like molasses at many times the price.

If Covid boredom continues I could be tempted to tap a birch tree (if I had one) for a quart of sap to make the tablespoon of molasses I use every month or two. I'm not quite there yet but getting close.

I have a 20" Norway maple in the back yard, the dandelion of the maple family. If it wasn't such a good shade tree I would tap it with an ax. However here in the COTU you can't cut down a healthy tree or do anything to endanger it.
 
nobbie48 said:
I will try just about anything to see what skills are required. Very often I find out that the other person's hobby or job isn't as simple as it first looked. The "Trick" is usually a lot of practice and hard work.

This thread is an interesting example of that. The school trip to sugar bush makes it sound simple. The nuances are fascinating.

I don't have a problem with the taste of birch syrup. IMO it tastes like molasses at many times the price.

If Covid boredom continues I could be tempted to tap a birch tree (if I had one) for a quart of sap to make the tablespoon of molasses I use every month or two. I'm not quite there yet but getting close.

I have a 20" Norway maple in the back yard, the dandelion of the maple family. If it wasn't such a good shade tree I would tap it with an ax. However here in the COTU you can't cut down a healthy tree or do anything to endanger it.
Click to expand...
Silver maples are the worst. Big, messy ant horribly expensive to maintain.
 
I love tapping 30-40 trees as a hobby. Sometimes I can get away with throwing our 65 gallon collection drum on an ATV, but for years like this I use a snowmobile to tow a drum on a sled.

img
 
This weeks haul was about 4l. 97CCDFF2-0E6F-4572-92C3-0A60273E092D.jpeg
Finishing...

Yesterday one tree Big Bertha gave me 20l of sap

Not running today, but the warmup this week should produce a lot.
6314FEC7-2F0A-4D10-9645-15BF20EE4BAC.jpeg
 
Another trick for the impatient is to pull off the frozen sap early in the season. The frozen sap has less sugar content, so boiling off the unfrozen speeds up the process.

save the frozen stuff, it makes equally good syrup, just takes longer to boil down.
 
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