Spring has sprung-

[thriller1]

Next Thursday, Friday, Saturday could be a humdinger...

Im hearing this as well....

 

[johnr]

GHF’s?

I am interested too

 

[guywhofishes]

gwf’s?

fify

just two big maple hybrids in the front yard - 20 gallons of sap so far

this first round has good color - flow is stopped for a few days due to tow temps

not sure if there’ll be another good round or not. budding out might ruin the second round

 

[bucksnbears]

20 gallons from 2 trees.
How much actual syrup will that produce?
Never done it before.

 

[johnr]

Say you get 35% of total volume at end of production. You will now have enough syrup for the rest of your families existence with a 7 gallon yield.

Awesomeness.

 

[guywhofishes]

20 gallons from 2 trees.
How much actual syrup will that produce?
Never done it before.

That’s 20 g from two trees we tapped last Friday. They usually put out twice that during the season of a week or two.

For some reason my maples aren’t sugar maples (they're some huge yard type silver maple looking hybrid), but they put out crazy high sugar content of 2.5-3.4 percent sugar (called Brix).

Gallons of sap need to make a gallon of syrup follows the rule of 86.
86 / your trees' Brix = gallons of syrup.

I haven't measured the sap's Brix this year but if it's average (say 3%) then 86 / 3 Brix = 28 gal of sap per gal of syrup.

I'm going to boil that pot of reduced sap I posted a picture of tonight on the stove (with a good vent) to get to perfect syrup sugar density (66.9 Brix) using a sugar hydrometer. I'll report later how many quarts we put up for this first batch. That sap is probably 90% of the way there - so it won't take a lot of boiling to get there.

Lots of people are surrounded by boxelder which makes good syrup too (it's a maple after all). It's not always real high in sugar though.

If you decide to give it a go don't try to boil a lot of sap using propane - it'll put you in the poor house! We used a hot plate the first year just for kicks (boiled maybe 15 gallons of sap) and liked it. So we built a POS wood-fired evaporator out of a barrel and some hotel steamer pans and we burn cull firewood.
It's sorta fun to do something productive during "mud season". Freezing nights and highs in the 40/50s is what makes sap run. If it doesn't freeze overnight then the sap doesn't flow much, if at all the following day. It's the freeze/thaw cycle that does it - somehow.

Sluggo had success a couple years ago. But he's not hooked. He's got the Missouri River for something to do in March. Grrr.

 

[bucksnbears]

Thanks for the info GHF's. Lol.
No maples here but sheetloads of boxelders.
They are ( weeping) hard now.
May try this next year?

 

[guywhofishes]

Thanks for the info GHF's. Lol.
No maples here but sheetloads of boxelders.
They are ( weeping) hard now.
May try this next year?

Make your own bagholders from PVC - they’re the way to go it seems to me. I bought a big kit 15 yrs ago from on online supplier when clever DIY’s hadn’t yet come up with clever (cheaper) ideas.

 

[Traxion]

What do you do with all the syrup? Just curious?

 

[guywhofishes]

What do you do with all the syrup? Just curious?

One Ice cream, homemade granola, pancakes, desserts.

We keep it in gallon jugs in freezer. Lasts forever. Which is good because last two years there wasn’t a decent flow - we were on the last jar.

here’s tonights yield - that’s a gallon jar - not if it’s full or not but at least a gallon - from 20, maybe 22.5 gallons of sap

I still don’t understand why my trees are so sugary - or why my math is so crappy.

 

[Sluggo]

Next Thursday, Friday, Saturday could be a humdinger...

Is that anything like a peewinker?

 

[Rowdie]

Open water at Yates

 

[Sluggo]

Sluggo had success a couple years ago. But he's not hooked. He's got the Missouri River for something to do in March. Grrr.

Yeah. All was enjoyable and easy except boiling it down in the kitchen. Unfortunately I don’t have the knowledge or resources to MacGyver an outdoor boiling thingamajigger.

 

[LBrandt]

Thought I had a big ass flock of turkeys north of the pasture, turns out it was a flock of sandhill cranes. First time I have seen that. LB

 

[ndfinfan]

Going to Bismarck this morning to pick up the new 5th wheel!