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Maple Syrup

kpkot

By kpkot,
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wildcat junkie
wildcat junkie

We're taking our grandchildren to the pancake breakfast in Croghan on Sunday. After the breakfast we go to a sugar bush that is way down in a bottom. No electricity & horse drawn sleds.

wdswtr
wdswtr

Another dismal year and rather discouraging.  So many changes are coming for next year.  I currently boil on a 3x12 evaporator that has a gallon per hour rate of 150.  I will be putting a piggy back/s

Dinsdale
Dinsdale

Boiling weather on Sunday was perfect. Mmmmmmm.....mapley goodness.

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WNYBuckHunter Experienced

WNYBuckHunter

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Damn it, does this mean I lost a customer now lol.

 

LOL, no way, mine isnt up to snuff with yours yet. Next year I will be tapping more, I have 8 or 9 large sugar maples at my dads that I can double or triple tap, plus a few more silver maples at my place that I can tap as well. My trees arent even running this week for some reason. I figured yesterday they would have, but the buckets have been pretty much empty for 2 days.

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BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

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Just curious, what do u guys do with all this syrup? As someone who doesn't eat waffles or pancakes, what else do u guys syrup for? Seems like some of you are making some large amounts

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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Just curious, what do u guys do with all this syrup? As someone who doesn't eat waffles or pancakes, what else do u guys syrup for? Seems like some of you are making some large amounts

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The vast majority of mine goes into 30 gallon stainless drums and gets sold to bulk buyers who repack and put in stores.  I outright retail 50 or 60 gallons and the rest all goes in the drums.

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Culvercreek hunt club Enthusiast

Culvercreek hunt club

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Just curious, what do u guys do with all this syrup? As someone who doesn't eat waffles or pancakes, what else do u guys syrup for? Seems like some of you are making some large amounts

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On Vanilla Ice cream....mmmmmm

 

In tea and a splash in a double whiskey on the rocks  gives it a very nice taste.

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BowWeldingJohn Newbie

BowWeldingJohn

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I guess the western part of the state did not get the depth that the ground froze as we did some of the big syrup producers here are saying the ground froze down as far as 7 feet and it efected the root systems in there trees which have been producing poor this year so far.

Thats crazy! acording to my Calender At my house in Wyoming county only 5 days were 15 or above the rest were 5-0 and every night for almost 3 weeks it was 20-30-.

And I dont think it froze that deep, however the west gets alot more snow so that prolly had somthing todo with it.

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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Yep this week should be good, hope the snow doesnt all melt and extends the season.  I expect to pull at the least 6000 gallons of sap and make 120 gallons this week.  Fingers crossed and hope there is 20000 more gallons of sap right behind it. 

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WNYBuckHunter Experienced

WNYBuckHunter

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Jerry, I did mine for the first time this year too. If you are doing 20 gallons of sap, you want to boil it down outside until you reduce it to about a gallon, then pour it into a smaller pot, like a pot you would use to make spaghetti in. Boil it in your kitchen and keep an eye on it. Once it is getting close to done, you will notice a froth starting on top, like a freshly poured beer. It will be almost done at this point, and can quickly turn to dark cooking syrup and then maple sugar after that. Get a spoon and dip it in the syrup every couple of mins. It will get to the point where it starts to stick on the spoon. Just check it very frequently until it gets to the consistency you like. Remember, its hot, so it will be a bit more runny than when it cools down.

 

Depending on the type of maple trees you are using, 20 gallons should make between a quart and a half to two quarts of syrup.

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Steuben Jerry Proficient

Steuben Jerry

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Thanks WNY!

 

I did most of the boiling outside and exactly as you said, finished inside on the stove.

 

I think I had it there and started to pour some in a jar when I was fooled by the thinner consistency when it was hot. I returned in to the pot to boil some more. Shortly after that I noticed a point where it boiled at a lower temperature as I had to reduce the heat a lot to keep a low boil. I probably was OK with syrup at the first pour, and certainly after the reduction of heat but I kept going a bit!

 

After pouring it into jars, I saw it start to get cloudy after it cooled. I put it in the fridge and by the next morning I had semi-solid maple sugar! It's pretty good if you like sweet stuff, but there's certainly no pouring.

 

Still learning!

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landtracdeerhunter Rising Star

landtracdeerhunter

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Might help ya to pick up a candy thermometer.  Drop it down outside like WNY said, then bring it on a controlled cooktop. The reduced sap will boiling quite a while around 210 F . When it starts to foam up brown, ( I call this brown boil) it's getting closer. It will sit at 215 F for a while then go up rapidly to 219 F or higher quick. Target temp for syrup is 219F. No higher. Reduce the heat when she starts to brown boil, or it will foam all over the stove. I'm surely no expert, by any means, but this has been working for me.

 

Happy Syrup Making!

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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You guys are filtering your syrup before canning it right?  The only way to determine if you have correct density is with a syrup hydrometer or a very expensive refractometer.

What will get you close but not perfect is calibrate a thermometer in a pot of boiling water, look at the temp and record it.   The boiling temp of water will change daily and sometimes several times a day, this is why I say "CLOSE".  Once you have the temp off boiling water when your syrup reaches 7 degrees above the boiling point of water you have syrup.  If your under it will ferment in time, if your over it will crystalize like rock candy in your container.  Now if you go way over you start making all sorts of neat confections with it.  If you go over desired temp you can dilute it with more sap or water.  Also if you have a jar that has turned to sugar you can reheat and add water or sap to get the density right on target.  However the easiest and most accurate way is buy a syrup hydrometer for about 15 dollars. 

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