Author Topic: OT Maple Taps (Read 155707 times)

brace · « **Reply #240 on:** Mar 13, 2011, 03:36 PM »

That's a nice looking set-up GF. And, you'll love the hydrometer - It's worth ever dollar IMO.

toguefisha · « **Reply #241 on:** Mar 14, 2011, 08:32 PM »

very nice setup. Makes mine look pretty primitive

MaineFishah · « **Reply #242 on:** Mar 14, 2011, 08:55 PM »

Quote from: toguefisha on Mar 14, 2011, 08:32 PM

very nice setup. Makes mine look pretty primitive

(Image removed from quote.)

Hey, it does the trick. I'm doing mine with a turkey fryer this year and the way I figure it, I'll probably need $50 in propane to boil a gallon of syrup.

gamefisher · « **Reply #243 on:** Mar 15, 2011, 05:10 AM »

Quote from: MaineFishah on Mar 14, 2011, 08:55 PM

Hey, it does the trick. I'm doing mine with a turkey fryer this year and the way I figure it, I'll probably need $50 in propane to boil a gallon of syrup.

I think that's a conservative number Fishah.

Alec - nothing wrong with that setup at all. How many taps this yr.? Is that this yrs. boil?

I surprisingly picked up 8 gal. last night considering how cold it was here all day. Today should be awesome.

Hoping to have 40 gal. to boil by the weekend. $:-\$

cmstearns · « **Reply #244 on:** Mar 15, 2011, 01:02 PM »

sap is flowing good today, quick

?. is it better to boil on gas or wood and witch is quicker, i got a small operation and hopfully ill have ten gal. by the weekend, looking to get a more taps next year if i can do this right.

gamefisher · « **Reply #245 on:** Mar 15, 2011, 01:31 PM »

Quote from: cmstearns on Mar 15, 2011, 01:02 PM

sap is flowing good today, quick ?. is it better to boil on gas or wood and witch is quicker, i got a small operation and hopfully ill have ten gal. by the weekend, looking to get a more taps next year if i can do this right.

Sap is flowing great today, ideal is 20-25 night / 40-45 day. If you are only expecting 10 gal. of sap, use a propane clam cooker and a single steam table pan, 10 gal. should give you about a quart of finished product. Wood is by far the cheapest way to go but hardly worth the hasssle for that little amount.

cmstearns · « **Reply #246 on:** Mar 15, 2011, 05:02 PM »

Quote from: gamefisher on Mar 15, 2011, 01:31 PM

Sap is flowing great today, ideal is 20-25 night / 40-45 day. If you are only expecting 10 gal. of sap, use a propane clam cooker and a single steam table pan, 10 gal. should give you about a quart of finished product. Wood is by far the cheapest way to go but hardly worth the hasssle for that little amount.

thanks

cmstearns · « **Reply #247 on:** Mar 15, 2011, 05:23 PM »

got another stupid

, does all the sap taste the same, not sure what kind of maple im tapping, how do u tell the difference with no leaves on them

toguefisha · « **Reply #248 on:** Mar 15, 2011, 06:37 PM »

Quote from: gamefisher on Mar 15, 2011, 05:10 AM

I think that's a conservative number Fishah.

Alec - nothing wrong with that setup at all. How many taps this yr.? Is that this yrs. boil?

Only doing about a dozen taps taps this year. I bought my own house so I'm in a new location without as many maples (but the ones I have are huge.)
Yes, thats this years first boil. Had to make a few adjustments to that first design.

toguefisha · « **Reply #249 on:** Mar 15, 2011, 06:46 PM »

Quote from: cmstearns on Mar 15, 2011, 05:23 PM

got another stupid , does all the sap taste the same, not sure what kind of maple im tapping, how do u tell the difference with no leaves on them

They all taste the same, except ash maple aka box elder. But they look quite a bit different than other maples. The main difference between different types of maples is the sugar content.

pfd161 · « **Reply #250 on:** Mar 16, 2011, 02:48 PM »

Brace.... perhaps we can taste test that at Moosehead in a couple weeks?

PFD37... I will take some Al...let me know how much $ to bring to work!

D.

gamefisher · « **Reply #251 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 07:42 AM »

Today is the day every sapper dreams of, my taps were already thumping at 6:30am, BIG run today, atleast in central Maine. After 12 gal. yesterday on 16 taps, today will easily exceed.

Storage question for you sap-a-holics - what are you guys using for food safe storage? So much conflicting info. out there about plastics leaching, etc. Thank you.

swampfisher · « **Reply #252 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 03:56 PM »

don't worry about the plastic Eric , Lapage was wrong your wife wont grow a little beard

gamefisher · « **Reply #253 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 04:11 PM »

Quote from: swampfisher on Mar 17, 2011, 03:56 PM

don't worry about the plastic Eric , Lapage was wrong your wife wont grow a little beard

We had that same laugh this morning Swamper!

Come over this weekend, not sure which day is boil day yet, least windy will be the pick.

Super day, Sam and I just collected, 18 gal. from 16 taps, junk trees. Hope no run tomoorow, out of storage.

Looks good next week as well.

toguefisha · « **Reply #254 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 05:31 PM »

I just use a clean rubbermaid trash bin. I think it's about a 40 gallon capacity. When it's full I know I'll get about a gallon of syrup. Had a major filtering disaster the other day. In the past I've used coffee filters. Got a different brand this year and they couldn't stand up to the pressure and ripped. Now I have a gallon of syrup canned up in pint jars but they all have about an inch of sediment in the bottom. Will the syrup be okay if I uncan it, heat it back up, filter it and then recan it?

Allen66 · « **Reply #255 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 05:49 PM »

Quote from: toguefisha on Mar 17, 2011, 05:31 PM

I just use a clean rubbermaid trash bin. I think it's about a 40 gallon capacity. When it's full I know I'll get about a gallon of syrup. Had a major filtering disaster the other day. In the past I've used coffee filters. Got a different brand this year and they couldn't stand up to the pressure and ripped. Now I have a gallon of syrup canned up in pint jars but they all have about an inch of sediment in the bottom. Will the syrup be okay if I uncan it, heat it back up, filter it and then recan it?

yes!

maineduckhunter · « **Reply #256 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 06:00 PM »

So far in 3 days I have collected about 4 gallons of sap off from 5 taps.....had like 2 or 3 taps not produce

....WHOOPS!!!

.....manage to get in 7 more taps today, now I'm up to 15 taps......Also got Big Red Fired up this afternoon to do some Boiling, it didn't get out on the ice this year, so maybe it can be used as a sugar house this spring!!

cmstearns · « **Reply #257 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 07:42 PM »

just got done boiling down 12 gal of sap and canned it, they are cooling now and there is some white_ish stuff on the bottom is that normal or not, eaither way its gooooood.

toguefisha · « **Reply #258 on:** Mar 17, 2011, 09:22 PM »

You end up with sediment after you boil. Did you filter it through something. The sediment won't hurt you but most people don't like the looks of it on their pancakes.

gamefisher · « **Reply #259 on:** Mar 18, 2011, 06:10 AM »

Quote from: cmstearns on Mar 17, 2011, 07:42 PM

just got done boiling down 12 gal of sap and canned it, they are cooling now and there is some white_ish stuff on the bottom is that normal or not, eaither way its gooooood.

That is nitre (suger sand) you didn't get filtered out before bottling. If it's just for personal use, simply put it in the microwave for a few seconds to remove. (minus the metal lid.

) Otherwise, dump back out and reconstitute the whole batch with a little bit of fresh sap, boil, re-filter.

gamefisher · « **Reply #260 on:** Mar 18, 2011, 06:21 AM »

Quote from: toguefisha on Mar 17, 2011, 05:31 PM

I just use a clean rubbermaid trash bin. I think it's about a 40 gallon capacity. When it's full I know I'll get about a gallon of syrup. Had a major filtering disaster the other day. In the past I've used coffee filters. Got a different brand this year and they couldn't stand up to the pressure and ripped. Now I have a gallon of syrup canned up in pint jars but they all have about an inch of sediment in the bottom. Will the syrup be okay if I uncan it, heat it back up, filter it and then recan it?

Alec - I just took a quick pic for you. For a few dollars, you can make your life a WHOLE lot easier.

On the right is a $2 strainer from Mardens with a $2 piece of felt prefilter. I set that on my storage coolers and then dump the sap from my collection buckets into. I then rinse out, that filter is probably 3 yrs. old.

On the left is my advanced bottling system.

It is a simple wooden frame I made with a peach can to hold my felt cone pre-filter, again, a couple of bucks. Once my finished product is down to between 180-190 degrees, I pour through the filter into a waiting container. The pre-filter will get clogged with nitre, simply remove and rinse, repeat. I get NO sugar sand in my mason jars using this method.

I would suggest you going to your neighborhood sugarhouse, getting these materials, and re-finishing your syrup, you'll be happy you did. Good luck.

brace · « **Reply #261 on:** Mar 18, 2011, 06:42 AM »

I'm guessing the sediment you're seeing is crystalized syrup - And if so, I doubt reheating and filtering will fix the problem, as the crystals will just melt with the heat and then recrystalize as it cools. Perhaps you overcooked the last batch? I filter my initial sap through a heavy felt strainer and then filter my finished product through cheese cloth. At times I still end up with some sediment.

brace · « **Reply #262 on:** Mar 18, 2011, 06:52 AM »

I'm heading to camp this afternoon to boil tomorrow. Put out 40 taps on 16 trees last weekend - Would like to get out another 10 taps if possible. Looks like it should have been a great week for the sap flow.

rude the dude · « **Reply #263 on:** Mar 19, 2011, 06:00 PM »

Quote from: brace on Mar 18, 2011, 06:52 AM

I'm heading to camp this afternoon to boil tomorrow. Put out 40 taps on 16 trees last weekend - Would like to get out another 10 taps if possible. Looks like it should have been a great week for the sap flow.

I have 5 gal. buckets with 2-3 taps going into them and they have been full every other day since last sat. It seemed like the sap didn't stop running for a few days in a row. Yestedays sap was cloudy. I dumped it. Boiling now, should be a nice cold moonlit night for it, started around 1, I started with 50 gals.. 4.30's going to come early tommorow. @

brace · « **Reply #264 on:** Mar 20, 2011, 01:10 PM »

I did OK with Sap this weekend, netting 60 gallons total. Some trees did better then normal and others not so much. Still - Not bad for the first collection of the year.

Koda · « **Reply #265 on:** Mar 20, 2011, 01:51 PM »

Boiling right now and drinking canadian mist. Also cooking boneless spareribs. Can it get any better?

Sap ran great yesterday despite the wind. Not so fast today. Just when you think you know what it is going to do, you realize that you don't know anything at all!!! Fishing tomorrow!

maineduckhunter · « **Reply #266 on:** Mar 20, 2011, 02:19 PM »

Here is my set up this year....going to b a lot different next year ...but this seems to be working....

brace · « **Reply #267 on:** Mar 20, 2011, 02:25 PM »

Nice set up Adam for your 1st year. This time next year you'll have it all squared away.

maineduckhunter · « **Reply #268 on:** Mar 20, 2011, 02:28 PM »

Quote from: brace on Mar 20, 2011, 02:25 PM

Nice set up Adam for your 1st year. This time next year you'll have it all squared away.

Thanks Brian....I've already got some good ideas for a boiler next year!!

gamefisher · « **Reply #269 on:** Mar 20, 2011, 04:01 PM »

We drove off 43 gallons on my "new" pan yesterday. After I got some better wood, it worked great. Finished this morning, took forever but made a gallon of nice looking stuff. I've determined it be much easier to just go buy a jug full.

Brace / others - what do you filter with before bottling? My prefilter does a nice job but takes forever to get through and quite a bit gets wasted with the niter.

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Author Topic: OT Maple Taps (Read 155707 times)