# Get ready for maple sugaring!



## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

The heavy flow days (boy does that sound bad) will start when we get sunshine. just beacuse it warm does not necessarly mean the sappy will flow.

I use two diffrent types of stiles. 
1. is the old metal type. work great been around for years We attach a piece of hose to the tap and use 5 gallon buckets to collect.

2. the new plactic type same 7/16 hole in the tree same depth but it uses a small hose to transfer the liquid to the pail. for someone that is just buying I would reccomend these the are cheep and you can buy a tee to attach more than 1 stile together to dump in to a single bucket. if you use larger buckets leave the lid on it to help keep the bugs and animals out.


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

Rackdaddy,



I just recived my spiles today and also thought why cant I just use some tubing over the end and run it down into my container. Picked up some 3/4 id. tubing and it works.It fits good over the end. Thanks for confirming this method.


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Twohats, No problem. As far as boiling a turkey fryer will work very well. You just should'nt use an aluminum pan. the real boilers (arches) dont use alum. Must be a good reason. the Next thing that you need to get is a filter that is made for the end product. dont skimp get the real thing. 
I am setting up my boiler this weekend and tapping on Tuesday. After that comeon sunshine!!!!!


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

I have a turky fryer and a s/s pot for on it.I was also wondreing if my filter for the oil would also work for this.


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

The sap is flowing again.I collect a little over two gal. today and taped two more trees . I put two spiles into that big sugar maple I found.Drank a little sap straight from the spiles when I put them in. GOOD STUFF!


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Twohats,
A true sugar filter is about 1/2" thick and is made of a felt type product. I have been boliling for about 8 years as a hobbie. believe me when I say just buy the right filter!!!! I have tried milk filters (from a dairy farm), cheescloth, coffee filters, paint filters even tried scrambling some eggs and dropping in the syrup. NOTHING works as well as a filter made for sugar. They can be cleaned and re-used so dont think that they are throw away. 

The next thing to consider is how do you know when it is maple sugar?? we started out uesing a candy thermomter which works well, I dont know what temp you are looking for but it is in the 220 range ( I can find out for you) we now use a hydrometer that is made for syrup. it is basically a glass bobber.

Just think if you collected 2 gallons of sap that means you only need 38 more to make youf first gallon of gold........... 

paitience young bull, the sun will come out and the trees will start relly flowing...


I sure wish this had spell check


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Here is a good basic site


http://www.mi-maplesyrup.com/Activities/activities_homemade.htm


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

Rackdaddy,


Thanks for the info. I collected another three gal. today.


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

what are you doing with the sap untill you get enough to boil?? I have in the past froze it untill it is worth the effort.


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

Kroppe also sugested that I frezze it. I have a large frezzer that I took the bottom shelves out of. It holds two 6 gal buckets on the bottom and my 2004 deer on the top two.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Rackdaddy, as I recall I boiled until about 219-220 degrees on a metal cooking thermometer. A hydrometer is the proper tool as you point out. With the thermometer you have a bit of variation from batch to batch since it's not easy to nail the temperature exactly right. 

twohats, yes I froze about 5-6 gallons of sap then boiled it down to make about a pint of finished syrup per batch. Did this about 4 times. Had to make space in our kitchen freezer because any more than 5 gallons of sap was forcing out the frozen peas and chicken nuggets!


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

How long to boil down 5 or 6 gal. ?


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Tohats,
This is a BIG question! what are you going to use to boil in?? the larger diameter equals more surface area equals better evaporation rates.
So as we all here........ Bigger is better..............
Krope, 
We do a lot of cheating when we boil. we will freeze syrup that has been boiled down untill we can finish large ammounts at once, 2-3 is a good ammount. once you start to can or jar it you dirty a whole bunch of other things. 
The correct temp can varry day by day depending on many factors( 9 degrees above water boiling) . But for us it dosent matter because I dont sell it. If you are selling it better be close to being right. All that I make is for personal use and give aways to tree owners and some friends.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

twohats, about three hours to take 6 gallons of sap to approximately 1 pint of syrup. This is using 4 burners on the kitchen stove with the 4 largest pots I had. If you have larger pots or a higher power stove you may be able to do better than this ratio. Doing the math on the above info, you could estimate a boiling rate of 2 gallons per hour of raw sap until you get a finished product, assuming you are using an electric kitchen stove. 

As you get to a more concentrated product, pour the contents into smaller and smaller pots to avoid burning.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I never boil my sap - I did it once years ago, and it seemed to give the finished product a burned taste. I just put some turkey roasting pans on the stove - each one covers 2 burners, and set the burners (gas) on low. I leave them on and just evaporate the sap until it is reduced to syrup. I can usually evaporate around 9 gallons/day. Like other posters, I reduce it to a certain point, then store the "almost syrup" in cold storage until I am ready to finish a batch. Then I usually cook 5 gallons down into 2 or 3 gallons and can it. I quit filtering it because it is too hard to filter the thick syrup. I just let the gritty stuff settle in the jars before using it. It isn't sand or anything -I think it is cellulose that simply cooks out of the sap over time. I usually discard the bottom of a jar of syrup with the crunchy stuff in it - it doesn't hurt anything, but doesn't taste especially good. 

I think it would be cool to be able to make syrup on a larger scale, but I don't have the means or time right now. I have never found syrup in a store that tastes anywhere near as good as my homemade stuff. 
I sometimes add a cinnamon stick or two to a jar, for a different flavor, when I can them.


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Fish, You are right when you say that nothing tastes better than your own syrup. beacuse Im sure mine tastes better than yours and the next guys tasted better than mine. LOL :lol: 

I expect to boil about 200 to 300 gallons this year doing it over a stove would get me thrown out of the house.. 

Guys, be careful if you ar going to cook it on a glass/creamic cook top, my dad a few years ago bought my mother a new stove because he fubared the cook top!!!!!!!


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## Bow Hunter Brandon (Jan 15, 2003)

Rackdaddy153 said:


> Fish, You are right when you say that nothing tastes better than your own syrup. beacuse Im sure mine tastes better than yours and the next guys tasted better than mine. LOL :lol:
> 
> I expect to boil about 200 to 300 gallons this year doing it over a stove would get me thrown out of the house..
> 
> Guys, be careful if you ar going to cook it on a glass/creamic cook top, my dad a few years ago bought my mother a new stove because he fubared the cook top!!!!!!!



Im fairly sure that the moisture killed my microwave last year that was mounted over the stove. I dont think my wife put the two together though.


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

Finally had a good day. Collected 7 1/2 gal.


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Hey guys, I made it to Sugar Bush Supply the other day, the proper filter is less than $20.00 Now that the weather is turning cold take a drive up there to look around. take 96 towards Lansing get off a exit 110 turn left and go down about 1 1/2 miles it will be on your right hand side.


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## Taxidermist (Jan 3, 2002)

Well whatever Rackdaddy is doing he is doing it right!!! I was given a jar of his 01 stock and had some this morning WOW!!!!! was it GOOD!!!!!!!




Thanks Brad and keep it coming


Rob


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Rob, Thanks alot, When you called this morn I was busy going my job. We had a hazmat at the Power Plant. mabe when I am in full production we can collect sap, start boiling and kill crows. sound like a perfect day to me............


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Hey guys, how's the boiling coming? Any photos to share of your tap setup or jars of golden syrup? Would like to hear what kind of production people are getting.


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Kroppe, I am putting my taps out tommorrow and Friday. there shouldnt be much flow (if any) with the weather that we have had. If you tap to early then the tree starts to heal before the flows really come. The best days right now that we might see some sap will be Sunday and Monday but I cant figure out what the cloud cover will be.. Patience boys.... the time is comming


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

where is the sun and warm weather at????????? it sure would be nice to see some drips come OUT of my trees..


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I have collected approx 18 gallons of sap since Sunday morning, and it is still flowing. I know it is going to get cold again, but that is okay. I almost tapped in January, and again during a warm spell (brief) in Feb, but now it is on. Looking forward to my first finished stuff - nice and hot from the pan. Nothing better.


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Fish, I collected 30 yesterday and ran out of buckets. I will guess that I left another 10 in the field. I am going to have to start up the boiler tomorrow. I ended up with 36 tapped trees this year.. now the work begins........:evil:


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## captain jay (Jan 6, 2002)

Went and helped Father in Law boil Sunday. He had 140 gallons already, and it was still flowing when he quit gathering. I'm sure he got more on Monday as well.

He just got a new "boiler" machine all hooked up and was using it for the first time on Sunday. Supposed to be 75% faster than sitting in the woods with the huge fire going all day. Although...I would rather sit in the woods with the fire, than sit in the shed with his new machine. It's just not the same.

Good luck and get boiling!!

Captain Jay


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

From weather.com. Looks like the season will kick in fast and likely be over quickly, since it is so late in the year. Downstate at least. Local forecasts are calling for higher daytime temps early in the week.


10-Day Forecast for
Belleville, MI On The Spot Weather

Mar 13 Partly Cloudy 
30°/15° 0% 
30 °F

Mon
Mar 14 Partly Cloudy 
32°/18° 0% 
32 °F

Tue
Mar 15 Partly Cloudy 
34°/16° 20% 
34 °F

Wed
Mar 16 Partly Cloudy 
34°/20° 20% 
34 °F

Thu
Mar 17 Partly Cloudy 
35°/19° 20% 
35 °F

Fri
Mar 18 Snow Shower 
35°/23° 50% 
35 °F

Sat
Mar 19 Few Snow Showers 
36°/18° 30% 
36 °F

Sun
Mar 20 Mostly Sunny 
40°/24° 10% 
40 °F

Mon
Mar 21 Mostly Cloudy 
40°/30° 10% 
40 °F

Tue
Mar 22 Showers 
40°/30° 40% 
40 °F


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

well if I can just get enough sap for about 5 gallons of finished product that is all that I am after this year......


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

Well this is my firat year collecting sap.With the few taps that I have out I have collected about 100 gal. Went out to collect yesterday and collected 6 gal. Some trees seem to have gone dry.I also noticed that the trees are starting to bud.From what I have heard thats bad news for sap collecting.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

Since it is still below freezing at night, and above during the day, the sap is still flowing. Try pulling your taps, washing them well, and tapping new holes. I have had taps build up mold inside the tap; and have had holes go dry after awhile, because the tree begins to heal itself.


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## Taxidermist (Jan 3, 2002)

Here is Rackdaddys setup


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## Taxidermist (Jan 3, 2002)

Flowing gold this is also Rackdaddys tap setup


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## Taxidermist (Jan 3, 2002)

try agin


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## Taxidermist (Jan 3, 2002)

darn thing!!!!!!!


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

Thanks Rob for posting the pictures.

Twohats. That is the big problem when you tap a tree to soon. pull and clean your tap and run a drill back in to clean the hole up. There arnt any buds on my trees that want me to pull my taps yet. But It might be a short year for sap because of the weather. But untill then Lets keep boiling boys


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## FishFood (Nov 30, 2003)

I've done two batches so far.....ran both through an orlon filter just as it was done boiling, then packed it off in jars at about 180 degrees. It was crystal clear...but after cooling the jars got this cloudy stuff that settled to the bottom in a heap. Any idea what it is or how I can avoid this in the next batch?

Thanks!!


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

Thanks for the tips.I found a few larger trees that I am going to tap.I have pulled the taps out of the trees that have stopped produceing for me.I hope to get at least enough to make another gallon.Now if I can get the wife and kids to stop eating out of the boiling pan before I get it into jars.:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

FishFood said:


> I've done two batches so far.....ran both through an orlon filter just as it was done boiling, then packed it off in jars at about 180 degrees. It was crystal clear...but after cooling the jars got this cloudy stuff that settled to the bottom in a heap. Any idea what it is or how I can avoid this in the next batch?
> 
> Thanks!!


 
do you have the right filter??? is you sap old and possibly sour??? try putting it in to a container and let it cool then pour off the good stuff and reheat(not to hot) then try canning....... I would start with the right filter....


my 2 pennies


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## BrowTine (Oct 23, 2004)

Hey first time tapper here...boiling down my first batch ever 

Question....after I pull out the taps....is there some sort of tree repair I can do? A gunk to fill the tap hole??

Ive heard of a fungus getting into the tree from the taphole, and I dont want to hurt the trees I tapped....they're in my yard!!

BT


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

My BIL is just starting to flow in northern Oakland county. He's going to Florida on Thurs for a week. Geuss who gets to check his buckets and have whatever is collected. ME!!!!!! Free sap!!!!

I boil it with my turkey fryers. Did it for the first time last year. Man that stuff is good.


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

I have collected enough sap for about 2 gal. of syrup. I think I am going to be done collecting sap this week.I also have been useing my turky fryer to boil it down.I am located down river and the trees are starting to bud.I started collecting sap in mid Feb. I had only 10 trees tapped, but thats about all I can do with work and all the after school activites with the kids.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Nice setup Rackdaddy! The oil tank with evap. pan and petcock is great.


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

Boiled down about 27 gal. yesterday. Got 5 pints of nice dark brown sweetness. BIL's gone this week(yis trees). Probably make 2-3 trips more this week.


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## Rackdaddy153 (Feb 3, 2005)

we have collected 330gal so far this year we (dad and I) decided by saturday we will be pulling the taps and then we will finish our product. I have to fighure that we will collect about 60 gallons tomorrow morning when I get off work. This is a great day for sap. After were are done with syrup then it time for thoes little fungi (morales)


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## Taxidermist (Jan 3, 2002)

Little rackdaddy working on the production line These photos are of Rackdaddy153 son and liquid gold.





















Ready to be shipped to taxidermist for all his hard work posting these pics :lol:


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

To The Top.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Back up to the top.


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