Maple Tappers part 2 !
Contributors to this thread:Massachusetts
From: xi
14-Feb-18
It isn't much but it's ours. Boiled our first 5 gallons of sap and got this 1/2 pt. Tasted great, it just got serious with this syrup thing, thanks Will !
From: huntskifishcook
14-Feb-18
Nice! Boiling my first batch of the season tomorrow.
In other news. I was in Whole Foods the other day and they are selling canned maple sap as a beverage! You could sell just about anything there as long as you put the word "artisan" in the title. It does make a great drink. I put it in smoothies every morning for the next month and half, but I'm certainly not paying 5 bucks a can for the stuff.
From: Jebediah
14-Feb-18
Looks good!
From: Will
14-Feb-18
Awesome! We dont have enough yet to boil... hoping a few more days. Enjoy it man!
From: xi
15-Feb-18
Bought another 12 taps today, going to put them out now with the kids. It's addicting !
From: Will
15-Feb-18
Ok, so I have one 5 gallon bucket about 2/3 full... and two about a quarter full each (all we have access to yet - though the other neighbor just cleared us to tap a tree there too)...
Should I start the boil down in a day or two, or collect a bit more, then go for it? I'm thinking with our current volume the boil down would yield like a quarter cup :) ha ha ha... But, it's what we have to work with... And it's fun.
From: xi
15-Feb-18
Will, local maple guy says boil it immediately to kill any bacteria before you store it, just bring it to a boil for a few minutes then let it cool. I boiled 5 gallons to get a 1/2 pt.
From: huntskifishcook
15-Feb-18
I was told the same thing, xi, and it makes sense. But I think I'd destroy my fridge if I put 10+ gallons of hot sap into it after decontamination, so if I store it at all its not more than a day, two at the most and I haven't had an issue.....yet.
From: xi
15-Feb-18
I put mine in the non heated garage on a sturdy shelf. Gonna boil it tomorrow
From: huntskifishcook
15-Feb-18
Makes sense. Apartment living has serious limitations. Like having to cook all our sap on our stove, it's like a damn sauna in here!
From: xi
15-Feb-18
Was gonna ask that, what about a Turkey frier outside. That's my boiler, black porcelain stock pot though
From: Will
15-Feb-18
Good to know. Sounds like Ill be doing some boiling tomorrow while the tatters are at school.
From: Jebediah
15-Feb-18
Xi 5 gal down to half pint is 80X, right? That’s probably like 200-proof syrup, I bet it’s good!
From: xi
15-Feb-18
Jeb, don't have a clue how I did it, but it was crazy good. Here's the official conversion chart I had my son make, part of his math homework on Monday night.
From: Dthfrmabove
15-Feb-18
Xi. I am sure it's 40-1 not 50-1. As long as his math is right it doesn't matter for homework though.
From: Dthfrmabove
15-Feb-18
This is what is left of the first batch and will be boiling down this weekend. I have 8 more gallons to do. The little one is actually having friends over for the last part of the boil down on the stove. She brought the syrup into school for a show and tell of outdoor activities and all her friends thought it was cool. At least I am the fun dad with one of the kids. Lol
From: Jebediah
15-Feb-18
Hey if the syrup is good, the math is right. Syrup beats math.
From: Jebediah
15-Feb-18
You might find it interesting to look at YouTube videos, easy to find, about these massive (like well over 100,000 taps) syrup operations, largely in Canada as I recall. These guys will make something like 100 gallons of syrup per hour, or some outrageous amount. Their tubing systems convey sap for several miles, and it converges into something like a six-inch pipe. I am half forgetting these details, but it’s pretty amazing.
From: huntskifishcook
15-Feb-18
Jeb, I've seen those videos. The point where all the sap meets in a storage tank looks like a fire hose is turned on when the sap starts running in the morning. Incredible.
From: xi
16-Feb-18
This isn't my picture, WTF
This isn't my picture, WTF
I didn't post this picture !!!!!!!!
From: Will
16-Feb-18
Xi that is hysterical. Ha!
From: xi
16-Feb-18
Today's boil
Today's boil
Here's mine
From: xi
16-Feb-18
Appx 7-8 gallons of sap produces a pt. Right on the hydrometer.
From: Jebediah
16-Feb-18
Looking good Xi. Jars is how I store mine also. Enormous sap haul tonight, long fire-babysitting session this weekend.
From: xi
16-Feb-18
Jeb, what zone you in ?
From: Moons22
16-Feb-18
Jeb is in zone suburbia. 10. I gotta start doing this whole maple syrup thing. We hunt with this guy from colebrook Nh who owned*** a farm up there. Divorced and now the ex wife owns everything. The syrup he used to bring down was the absolute best ever. Poor bastard
From: Jebediah
17-Feb-18
Well, Moons, like most people on here, myself included, you’re probably well-suited for it. If you can sit and watch squirrels for hours, you’ll be pretty good at watching sap boil.
From: xi
17-Feb-18
X2 Jeb !
From: huntskifishcook
17-Feb-18
Don't be silly Jeb, we all know Moon's actually sees deer at his little petting zoo;)
Anyone hauling or boiling sap today? My buddy and I lugged out about 10 gallons that collected just since Thursday. It was running hard today and might be even harder tomorrow.
From: xi
17-Feb-18
Hunt, not a drip for me today. I'm in zone 4S. Temp maxed out at 33°. Did catch a bunch of fish though.
From: huntskifishcook
17-Feb-18
I'm jealous xi, our ice has gone to crap out near the coast. Supposed to warm up quite a bit. I bet you're trees will be running again in the next day or two.
From: Will
19-Feb-18
My massive tap "army" of 3 :) had minimal dripping Saturday, but we got a nice run yesterday afternoon and today Ill be collecting.
From: Jebediah
19-Feb-18
Good luck! Boiling today. A lot colder earlier this morning than expected. Thought it was going to be in the 40’s, so wore my hunting speedo.
From: Will
19-Feb-18
Jeb = hot. I mean, when boiling, its hot near the fire. :) ha ha ha!
From: Will
19-Feb-18
Commencing boil. Once this is down, i have to add more sap... have another 2.5 gal waiting...
From: huntskifishcook
19-Feb-18
Good work guys! We finished our second boil of the season last night, giving us a little over 40 ounces of the good stuff so far. I like to date each boil. It's interesting to see the change in color and flavor profile differences as the season progresses. The light colored syrup is just sugar maples and the darker colored syrup is a combination of sugar and red maple sap. Turns out my tree identification wasn't up to par, what I thought were silver maples the last couple years were actually red maples. Still learning.
From: Jebediah
19-Feb-18
Looks good! Started boiling 5 this morning, still going.
From: Will
19-Feb-18
Experts... why would it come out tasting awesome but cloudy... looking more like old honey? Tastes good at least!
From: Jebediah
19-Feb-18
That is niter (sugar sand). If you let it sit a couple days it will settle. Unless you have something very different than the sugar sand I’ve been eating for years, it is harmless.
From: Jebediah
19-Feb-18
I’m not an expert, though, still on the learning curve.
From: Will
19-Feb-18
Interesting Jeb. Got the rest in the pot boiling now. Tastes awesome.
From: huntskifishcook
19-Feb-18
I'm far from a maple expert, but I'd probably qualify as a reduction expert, mostly of the animal bone variety. Both animal stocks and maple reduction seem to require a lot of skimming. I didn't know what the stuff was until Jeb's post, but it's not too difficult to get rid of the majority of it. If you slide your pot a little off of your burner you'll create this circulation effect where it's only boiling on one side of the pot, the scum will collect on the side of the pot that isn't boiling and you can skim it every 15 minutes or so. It'll work best with a gas burner, but if you're using an electric stove you should still get a similar effect. I got lazy with one batch last year and it was so thick with that crap, while the others that I did skim were crystal clear.
From: muzzy
19-Feb-18
You need to filter it. Filtering is the most important part of the process.
That's sugar sand, basically dirt. Dirt doesn't taste very good.
Bascommaple.com. They are located in New Hampshire and that's where I order my supplies from, order in the morning get it next day.
Filters are cheap, I use the cone type inside a large cone strainer. They sell sheets or cone style.
All of them are reusable, just wash with clean water. One time purchase is all you need to make.
I'm nuts about filtering and there's nothing like clean, clear syrup. You can tell the difference, trust me.
From: muzzy
19-Feb-18
They also sell defoamer in a 4oz bottle for $5.00.
If your having a hard time with foam and foam building up on the side of your pot, one SMALL drop of vegetable oil will stop the foaming. Don't use a lot or it will affect the taste, the defoamer is a wise investment and that small bottle will last for years.
From: Will
19-Feb-18
Muzzy - thanks! The kit of taps, tubes and book that i got, came with two filters. I'd mistakenly thought I was supposed to filter from bucket to pot, to reduce chance of any goo getting in there from the tree or what not. Ooph. I should have read more of the book than just "how to tap a tree" :) ha ha ha!
I have the filter still, so when I'm done boiling down in a couple hours, Ill filter it all and go from there. Cool!
The skimming makes sense too... I didnt realize how valuable that was, and only did it a couple times at best.
From: muzzy
19-Feb-18
Will, wet the filter with hot water and gently squeeze out the water. Don't twist it hard!
Filtering is time consuming, don't let the syrup cool off but don't bring it to boil again. Just keep it hot enough to filter.
Good luck.
From: huntskifishcook
19-Feb-18
The proof is in the picture, Muzzy. That's some clear syrup you've got! I'm a wicked cheap skate, which is why I've been skimming and filtering through cheesecloth.
From: xi
20-Feb-18
Doing the boil today when I get home from work this morning, at least no ice to deal with at 8am. I've been doing all my filtering with coffee filters and a funnel. To say filtering is a pain is an understatement, but worth every second of it. Thanks for all the tips guy's !
From: xi
23-Feb-18
From: Jebediah
23-Feb-18
Tons of sap, another dark-to-dark boil tomorrow I think. This is where it starts to get ugly—that sap sat in the buckets for those two 70-degree days.
From: huntskifishcook
23-Feb-18
Jeb, do you think that sap collected before the real warm days? Trying to figure out if I can put off collecting until Sunday. The last time I collected was the first very warm day, which was Tuesday. The taps were dry, but the buckets were over flowing from the run on Sunday and Monday. But I bet they were running well today.
From: Jebediah
23-Feb-18
I don’t know, I think I have two runs in the buckets right now. More generally—every year I tell myself I’m not going to be a slave to these buckets, yet every year the buckets still wind up running the show. The goal would be to exclusively collect on Fridays, and boil only on Saturdays, for example. But the trees almost inevitably end up dictating the schedule. So I guess I just need more discipline.
From: alittletolate
23-Feb-18
You guyz storing sap....Store it in a cool place and try not too use it , if it turns cloudy(milky white) .... although i have before..
From: Jebediah
24-Feb-18
Here’s a tip that I’ve heard about, but never tried: fill up some clean milk jugs (I assume only 3/4 of the way) with sap, and freeze them. Then later as the weather warms up, you can put these jugs in your storage tank as needed, to keep stored sap cool.
From: xi
24-Feb-18
You guys are killing me, collected sap yesterday all buckets were pretty frozen. This morning got about a gallon of sap from 24 taps. I should've never got involved in this, driving me nuts !
From: alittletolate
24-Feb-18
LMAO ^^^^^
From: Jebediah
24-Feb-18
Been there, at least once every year. Frozen in buckets is a major pain.
From: mboudreau
24-Feb-18
What do you think, Jeb, mid March rally? Or is global warming a fact...
From: Jebediah
24-Feb-18
My guess, this is just about it. A little nervous about what’s boiling now.
From: xi
25-Feb-18
Boiled everything from Fri, Sat, and today. I pasteurized boiled Fri and Sat collection. I think waiting and watching the final boil to get it perfect on the hydrometer is more exciting than waiting for a deer to turn for the shot !
From: huntskifishcook
25-Feb-18
Collected about 10 gallons today. Very cloudy. I didn't get sap this cloudy last year until late March.
From: HWM
25-Feb-18
I thought the old timers used butter as a defoamer, that doesnt affect the taste
From: xi
26-Feb-18
Hunt, how many taps you running. Was that in 1 day ? My sap is still clear, just seems slow.
From: Jebediah
26-Feb-18
Yes mine is looking nasty too. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll make bad syrup though.
From: Jebediah
26-Feb-18
Yes mine is looking nasty too. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll make bad syrup though.
From: huntskifishcook
26-Feb-18
Xi, that post was probably a little misleading. I meant I lugged 10 gallons out of the woods yesterday. It collected over the course of a few days. And I've got 10 taps running.
Jeb, my favorite syrup of the season last year was from cloudy sap. The final product was really dark and complex. I am worried that it has turned cloudy so much earlier this season. We'll see what happens.
From: Jebediah
26-Feb-18
HFC over the years hauling sap out of the woods, I’ve slowly come to understand why you see a lot of trees tapped close to the road.
From: xi
26-Feb-18
OK, I thought you had a bunch of taps. I'm getting so bad that all I'm looking for is maple trees on the side of the road for next year.
From: Will
26-Feb-18
Xi - ha... Now from about April on you will be peeking into the woods looking for Turkeys and Deer... then from January on you will be looking for maple's :)
I pulled just about 5 gallons this AM. Ill start boiling it later today. Fingers crossed.
If you guys tap a tree and it seems to not be offering any sap... so you assume you picked a bad spot and drill a new hole, or do you decide that tree just is not flowy and move on? Or do you realize it was an oak... KIDDING :)... well, kidding on the last part :)
From: xi
26-Feb-18
Will, funny thing is I moved 2 taps on Saturday. 1 to a new tree, 1 to a new spot on same tree. It seemed to work, funny how 1 tree gives a half gallon and 1 ten feet away gives a half cup.
From: huntskifishcook
26-Feb-18
Xi, it becomes obsessive doesn't it!? We went to an open house yesterday. Everyone else was going right into the house, but before I went in, I went out back to see if there were any maples in the back yard. And I'm really trying to avoid lugging sap out of the woods and half way across town next year, Jeb.
From: Jebediah
27-Feb-18
Here’s some more old folklore: when you hear the spring peepers it’s time to wrap up the syrup for the year. Of course, I don’t know if this is true.
From: Will
27-Feb-18
Yummy! This batch came out better! Yum! Thanks for the info guys, and the nudge!
From: BruceP
27-Feb-18
You guys are killing me. I'm trying to NOT follow this thread. I'm trying to convince myself to NOT try this next year. So far I'm failing on both accounts LOL
From: Will
27-Feb-18
Bruce. Do it. C'mon. Just one try. Couldnt hurt, just once, right? C'mon man... just one try...
:) heh heh heh
From: Moons22
27-Feb-18
Looks good guys!
From: xi
27-Feb-18
Man up Bruce, it doesn't hurt ! Join the insanity, I mean club, really !
From: Moons22
27-Feb-18
I heard if you're good at drinking beer, you're good at maple syrup.. any truth to that?
From: xi
28-Feb-18
Gospel truth, worked back to back double shifts Mon and Tues. Can't wait to get home this morning and boil. Almost like Christmas morning in fact !
From: Will
28-Feb-18
I dont drink, so no idea moons. But it is relaxing...
From: xi
28-Feb-18
No Red Ryder for me, 1 gallon of sap, all buckets with skim ice on them. Relaxing, I get so excited boiling that I start pacing around the yard.
From: Moons22
28-Feb-18
hahaha. Can't wait to watch the boil!!
Question, are you allowed to tap trees on public land? Or do you guys do it on your own land? Permission from neighbors or private hunting spots?
I'm interested in this for next year. My hunting spots don't have many maples that I can think of off the top of my head. I know my yard in Mass has 0, maybe my neighbors have some. I know I could do it at my camp in NH, but I don't think I'll be able to be there all the time...
From: huntskifishcook
28-Feb-18
Public land is is fair game for tapping, Moons. Best part is you don't have to worry about setbacks! I tap in a small town wood lot.
From: Moons22
28-Feb-18
Hahaha you're telling me I can tap a tree within 500 feet of a house!?! No way!
From: huntskifishcook
28-Feb-18
Unless you're using a firearm to create your tap hole, haha.
From: Moons22
28-Feb-18
God forbid I use archery equipment to make the tap hole within 500 ft of a dweling!!
From: Will
01-Mar-18
Boil 3 about to commence.
From: Jebediah
01-Mar-18
Will, what you have there is “Maple Water.” You can sell that to folks of a certain type for about $5 for a juice-box-sized portion. Don’t boil it, you’re just boiling away about $500.
From: mboudreau
01-Mar-18
Looking at 10 day forecast it looks like we might get a reset next week with a couple of cold nights , Ive been shut down for almost 2 weeks now, fingers crossed for one more run....
From: xi
01-Mar-18
Will, how much sap you got there?
From: Jebediah
01-Mar-18
Hoping for one more as well. To be honest, I’m not optimistic. Regardless, we’re leaving everything up for another week or so. Last load wound up tasting a little funny, never a good sign. Finishing one tonight, hoping for the best.
From: huntskifishcook
01-Mar-18
I was hoping the weather change next week would help us out also. I carried out about 8 gallons of pretty cloudy sap tonight. The last batch was pretty cloudy also, but I thought it made the best syrup of the season. Only sugar maples were running, my reds were bone dry.
From: Will
02-Mar-18
Jeb - I've bought it. They market heavily to the endurance sports and fitness crowd. I tried it, it's tasty... As is this stuff. Plus you could boil a little more down to get sweeter flavor - win win :)
Xi, that's a 2.5gal pot. I put half a bucket (5gal) in, boil down to about 1.5-2" left in the bottom, and fill er up again. Repeat until the 5 gal bucket is empty. That's my best option so far...
From: Jebediah
02-Mar-18
Funny timing, my wife tried Maple Water sample in the grocery store today, said it was pretty good. Apparently the person handing out samples said it would cure all your ailments. So I did the calculation for real, and I think we’ve boiled away 8000 dollars of maple water this year.
From: Jebediah
02-Mar-18
Maybe you thoughtful folks here on Maplesite can offer some advice. Today in one of our syrup jars I found an ant corpse. You see, we’re not big on filtering. We just give the syrup to family, neighbors, but if we were selling that jar—would we charge less, because the ant is a contaminant? Or would we charge more, because the ant is a bonus?
From: huntskifishcook
02-Mar-18
Jeb, sell it like a supplement. Protein packed maple syrup, charge more!
Earlier in the season I was drinking the stuff by the glassful and putting it in smoothies. Now the sap is real cloudy and filled with creepy crawlies, not as appetizing.
From: xi
03-Mar-18
Jeb, slap the word Organic on it, price just went up
From: Will
03-Mar-18
Call it "Paleo Syrup". Put a big label with a skull and a T-Rex and "Paleo Syrup MegaAmplifier". Walk into your local CrossFit box and sell it for $80 bucks. You just made 75 bucks (5 bucks for the jar :))
From: huntskifishcook
03-Mar-18
Checked the damage on my buckets this morning. Lids were blown all over the place, but my sugar maples were running slowly. Hopefully they pick up this week with more favorable weather. Reds were still dry, I'm thinking they might be done for the year.
From: Jebediah
04-Mar-18
Now I want to dial down my pessimism on the possibility of more sap. Pretty darn cold this morning and forecast looks good. So now I put odds at 50:50 for one more run. That way, no matter what happens, I’m right...
From: xi
07-Mar-18
Pulling everything today when I get home. Talked to a few of the local big time boilers this weekend and they said it's definitely been an off year for sure. Oh yea, I dislike everyone who got me into this new addiction, Thanks for nothing !
From: Will
07-Mar-18
I pulled stuff prior to friday's big blow last week. But the little misses wants to bring sap to the kids school with real syrup to explain how it works for their 1st grade class. So I stuck it back up Saturday and will pull it in the AM (assuming they have school).
From: xi
07-Mar-18
Will, any sap flow since sat
From: Jebediah
07-Mar-18
I had a few running a little yesterday. Hoping for one last boil, probably won’t be pretty.
From: xi
07-Mar-18
Nope, not luring me back in. Picked up everything, getting ready for wash and sanitizing, then stacking and shelves. Thanks everyone, it was fun and will be doubling my operations for next year.
From: Jebediah
07-Mar-18
Smart move. I do this every year, run it into the ground, and wind up angry that I wasted my time.
From: huntskifishcook
07-Mar-18
Just checked my buckets. Had about two gallons from my sugar maples. I'm going to leave them in through the weekend and if another run doesn't start I'm pulling the plug.
From: Jebediah
07-Mar-18
Best vehicle for getting syrup down your throat (other than a spoon) is vanilla ice cream. Try it, it’s delicious.
From: huntskifishcook
13-Mar-18
Guys, I don't know if any of you are still tapped, but I just got back from checking taps and I had a major run the past couple days. Just hauled out a little over 12 gallons. And it's not that cloudy stuff I was getting a couple weeks ago, much clearer. Even in the snow today they were still slowly running. I'm expecting another good run when the weather warms back up.
From: Jebediah
13-Mar-18
Interesting. When did you tap trees initially? Still have taps in, here, but tapped Jan 19 and I think holes may be sealed up. Also, a word of caution, although you’re probably already aware, with that warm weather we had, I think buds may be opened up somewhat, and this can lead to funny-tasting syrup. Regardless, if I had a big load of sap right now, I wouldn’t be able to resist boiling it. Good luck.
From: huntskifishcook
13-Mar-18
Jeb, I tapped on Feb 11th. And I agree, there is a chance it could taste funny, but I'm hopeful based on how the sap looks that it will be okay. It's almost as clear as the first run of the season.
From: Jebediah
14-Mar-18
Well, HFC, I went and checked, and sure enough, have quite a bit of sap. So, of course, I’ll boil it and hope for the best. Just hadn’t gotten around to taking the taps out.
From: huntskifishcook
14-Mar-18
I'm hoping to start boiling mine tonight. If it turns out good, I'm going to leave my buckets up, because the weather the next week looks great.
From: xi
14-Mar-18
Guys, my son was on chipmunk patrol Friday after school and came running back in and told me to come see all the sap coming from the trees. Swore I wasn't going to do it, well 1/2 hr later I'm all re-tapped. Originally tapped trees that were flowing got re tapped, drilled and tapped a bunch of new trees that I had marked for next year. Well Sat morning I got 4 gallons from 22 taps in 16 hrs, Sun morning I got 6 gallons, Monday morning I got 7 gallons. Boiled it down Mon afternoon to about a gallon and finished it this morning to 2 1/2 pints. Sorry about not giving you the heads up, but my truck is on the fix up list and I was pre occupied with that.
