who is tapping maple trees?

[Kype]

pretty i remember some members doing it. have you started yet? any tips for a beginner? 

[Roon]

Tapped trees last week pulled 10 gallons so far, once ground warms up a bit and we get those nice warm days and freezing nights the trees will do some heavy running.

I'll check my other phone and add some more

[Kype]

are you using spiles? your second picture looks like just a tube? 

[Kype]

would also like to ask how long does it take to turn the sap into syrup? i assume a lot of boiling to get the moisture out.

[Roon]

Syurp is made at 219°  maple candy is 234° I normally cook till 221° the little extra just thickens a bit.

Get tree saver taps you only need to drill a 5/16" and  you only go in 1.5" into the tree. 

Tree needs to be at least 12" diameter for one tap, trees 24" and bigger can have 2 but they don'trecommend more than that from most of my reading.

Tap south side of tree over large root if you can see it.

I made an evaporator from a 55 gallon drum ive seen a guy selling kits on craigslist. 

You want to keep the smoke away because it WILL flavor your finished product. 

You can do it in a turkey fryer but propane will cost a fortune and if you do it in your house it will strip paint and wall paper from all the evaporation that will take place.

I am by no means a professional at this and leaned from trial and error plus reading and yes YouTube. 

I make 4-5 gallons a year and when we get our quota I move onto Black Walnut which is amazing and uses the same process. 

Depending on how much I'm finishing at once, I switch to turkey fryer or stovetop to finalize,  when temp gets that close doesn't go fast but, could get bad quick.

Any maple tree will maple syrup however each species has a different sugar content. You can make a gallon in as little as 40 gallons or upwards of 100.

Last picture maple on right black walnut on left

Hope that helps 

 

 

 

[Roon]

19 minutes ago, Kype said:

would also like to ask how long does it take to turn the sap into syrup? i assume a lot of boiling to get the moisture out.

Buy a bottle of liquor with a handle lol.

Try to cook once you get 10 to 15 gallons usually the month of march I am out side cooking  3 or 4 days a week until 2 or 3am 

Yes life sucks for few weeks lol.

With my set up I'm reducing about 50 gallons of sapp down to 5 gallons NOT finished just closer over a weekend or very long Saturday

I try to reduce refrigerate till I get 20 to 30 gallons then final cook and jar

Edited March 5, 2021 by Roon

[Roon]

33 minutes ago, B B said:

Walking with the pup the other day I found about 30 trees with these medal things sticking out of them and they had a plastic bag attached underneath.  I wasn't even sure what they were till I looked a little closer and saw the sap running out of the medal pipe stuck in the tree.  Later found out they were kits sold at Tractor Supply.  Might have to try it one day or borrow one of their bags 

How late can the maples be tapped?

Once above freezing temps day and night it's over.

I usually pull taps end of March, once sapp runs cloudy it's time.to call it quits, your dealing more bacteria eating your sugar witch means more boiling and darker syrup.

Honestly the trees also shut off because the bacteria is what will cause the tree to seal up and stop flowing

[Kype]

32 minutes ago, Roon said:

Syurp is made at 219°  maple candy is 234° I normally cook till 221° the little extra just thickens a bit.

Get tree saver taps you only need to drill a 5/16" and  you only go in 1.5" into the tree. 

Tree needs to be at least 12" diameter for one tap, trees 24" and bigger can have 2 but they don'trecommend more than that from most of my reading.

Tap south side of tree over large root if you can see it.

I made an evaporator from a 55 gallon drum ive seen a guy selling kits on craigslist. 

You want to keep the smoke away because it WILL flavor your finished product. 

You can do it in a turkey fryer but propane will cost a fortune and if you do it in your house it will strip paint and wall paper from all the evaporation that will take place.

I am by no means a professional at this and leaned from trial and error plus reading and yes YouTube. 

I make 4-5 gallons a year and when we get our quota I move onto Black Walnut which is amazing and uses the same process. 

Depending on how much I'm finishing at once, I switch to turkey fryer or stovetop to finalize,  when temp gets that close doesn't go fast but, could get bad quick.

Any maple tree will maple syrup however each species has a different sugar content. You can make a gallon in as little as 40 gallons or upwards of 100.

Last picture maple on right black walnut on left

Hope that helps 

 

 

 

why black walnut? i have ALOT of black walnut on my property. but would have to go to my dads for the maple. 

[Roon]

13 minutes ago, Kype said:

why black walnut? i have ALOT of black walnut on my property. but would have to go to my dads for the maple. 

Because black walnut makes a banging syrup, cooks just like maple and taps and runs same also.

Darker not as sweet taste, my 12 year old prefers it over maple, banging on vanilla ice cream also

[Roon]

http://magicalchildhood.com/life/2016/07/02/how-to-tap-black-walnut-trees-for-syrup/#:~:text=That said%2C for syrup making,of year than any other.

[MRMCR]

Thats dog thinks youre cooking something for him.........

[Merkel]

This is my second year tapping maple sap. Last year wasn’t so good with the warmer temperatures but this year is kicking. Have about 10 gallons of sap so far. 

[estimator]

Reading this topic brings back memories of the winter of 1965 at Paul Smiths College. We had a class called SugarBush in which we made maple syrup at the schools own on campus sugar house. It was a wood fired evaporator that required 24/7 monitoring once the process was started. Students took turns with overnight shifts keeping an eye on the temperature of the boil down. That was a fun time. We had guns in our dorm rooms and never had a problem.

[Roon]

Not the best one week pull but enough to fire "Little Sweetie"

Next week is showing 60° for high with freezing at night.

Hopefully a 100 gallon week