Author Topic: OT Maple Taps (Read 156638 times)

gamefisher · « **Reply #690 on:** Mar 17, 2013, 05:51 PM »

Quote from: toguefisha on Mar 17, 2013, 04:34 PM

Got about 3/4 of a gallon off of my first boil. Weather report isn't looking great for this next week

You got that right, needs to warm up for sure, I've been froze up for four days now, maybe by the week's end... $:-\$

maineduckhunter · « **Reply #691 on:** Mar 17, 2013, 07:00 PM »

First Boil....boiled about 25-30 gallons of sap....Hoping for a second boil this year!!

Raquettedacker · « **Reply #692 on:** Mar 17, 2013, 08:12 PM »

Nice Adam... I'm going to put my taps back in next week to get some dark stuff..

maineduckhunter · « **Reply #693 on:** Mar 18, 2013, 10:52 AM »

Quote from: Raquettedacker on Mar 17, 2013, 08:12 PM

Nice Adam... I'm going to put my taps back in next week to get some dark stuff..

Thanks!!......I still have my taps in, so I'm hoping when things warm up, it will flow again!!!

ratbag · « **Reply #694 on:** Mar 19, 2013, 09:41 AM »

Quick question..... I have been seeing alot of sugar sand in my syrup, am I doing something wrong ?...... how do I reduce this.................a lso I have read that you are not supposed to boil frozen sap, is this the case ? if so what is the reasoning behind not boiling the frozen sap ?- thanks

SmellsLikeFishNH · « **Reply #695 on:** Mar 19, 2013, 03:39 PM »

How are you filtering it? I filter just as its finished and I havent gotten any sugar sand.

Ive also boiled a bunch down to what I call a concentrate, put it milk jugs then froze until i was ready to complete the syrup process. Worked perfectly fine for me.

maineduckhunter · « **Reply #696 on:** Mar 20, 2013, 10:06 AM »

I use cheese clothe folded over a few times. Works great!!

The Rusty Crab · « **Reply #697 on:** Mar 20, 2013, 10:17 AM »

I use a paper grease filter works like a charm

SmellsLikeFishNH · « **Reply #698 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 07:53 AM »

Where can you buy those filters??

jethro · « **Reply #699 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 08:01 AM »

Quote from: maineduckhunter on Mar 17, 2013, 07:00 PM

First Boil....boiled about 25-30 gallons of sap....Hoping for a second boil this year!!
(Image removed from quote.)

Oh man, that is some good looking stuff. I like the dark syrup myself and that looks great. Nice work!

Westerly · « **Reply #700 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 11:11 AM »

Finished my second batch on Monday. Not having good luck finishing this year. Wasn't paying attention to the first batch I finished which got ahead of me and turned out thicker than honey. Since it was 1 am, I bottled it anyway. This second batch filtered soooooo slow and I had to reheat it to bottle it. I'm thinking it got hotter than it was supposed to and made more sugarsand because they all have settled into this cloudy layer like the one it this picture. Pretty frustrating. Thinking about dumping both batches into a pot, adding some raw sap, and finishing it all over again. Ugh. I'm sure both batches are fine, but it just really irritates the perfectionist in me.

The forecast looks pretty good for sap - I think we'll all be back in business soon.

SmellsLikeFishNH · « **Reply #701 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 11:56 AM »

Sounds like a good plan, frmo what I hear that wont cause any issues and then you can get the consistancy you are looking for. My taps all started running again yesterday, so im hoping to boil this weekend.

gamefisher · « **Reply #702 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 12:27 PM »

Quote from: Westerly on Mar 21, 2013, 11:11 AM

Finished my second batch on Monday. Not having good luck finishing this year. Wasn't paying attention to the first batch I finished which got ahead of me and turned out thicker than honey. Since it was 1 am, I bottled it anyway. This second batch filtered soooooo slow and I had to reheat it to bottle it. I'm thinking it got hotter than it was supposed to and made more sugarsand because they all have settled into this cloudy layer like the one it this picture. Pretty frustrating. Thinking about dumping both batches into a pot, adding some raw sap, and finishing it all over again. Ugh. I'm sure both batches are fine, but it just really irritates the perfectionist in me.

The forecast looks pretty good for sap - I think we'll all be back in business soon.

(Image removed from quote.)

Just keep the first batch for your family and do better on the stuff giving away, you just went a little too far, when you get near the bottom you might have to throw it in the micro for a few seconds. If you went WAY to far with the first batch, I'm sure it will crystalize on bottom over time but kids love maple candy also.

Easy for me to tell you what to do but being a perfectionist as well, I'd be struggling. Not really that much more work to put it all back into your third batch of near syrup and re-constitute the whole thing. I had very little sugar sand in my fist batch just 20 miles from you, very weird.

Westerly · « **Reply #703 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 02:53 PM »

Quote from: gamefisher on Mar 21, 2013, 12:27 PM

Not really that much more work to put it all back into your third batch of near syrup and re-constitute the whole thing.

Perfect - that's the answer right there - just wait till I'm finishing the next batch and dump it all in. I guess I was so anxious to fix it, that thought never even crossed my mind!

Time to go see if anything ran today...

rude the dude · « **Reply #704 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 06:18 PM »

it ran today, and yesterday, got a late start both days though.

rude the dude · « **Reply #705 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 09:46 PM »

cooking good tonight

Keychain · « **Reply #706 on:** Mar 21, 2013, 10:56 PM »

Looks good Rude! I'd say today was a pretty good drip, maybe yesterday too since I didn't check 'em. Collected almost 5 gal off my 18 taps tonight and did another boil. Next year I'm gonna have to get a woodstove set up out in the yard. The propane cooker provides a quick start, but boiling no more than 5 gal at a time is pricey and time consuming. 5 pints of good stuff made up thus far though, more than double last year's product...

gamefisher · « **Reply #707 on:** Mar 22, 2013, 05:04 AM »

Love the new set up Iain, you can fly through the sap now. It's hard to imagine just what a difference a few miles makes, I've been froze up for 8 days now, only late yesterday afternoon did a few of my 10 actually thaw out and start running again, I have 1 gal. of sap and 5 gal. of block ice in storage.

Not quite as cold last night as its been, hopefully the trees will wake up for good this season, I think there is a lot of sap ahead providing the trees don't bud out. This week coming should be smokin' by the looks of the forecast.

ICEMAN-73 · « **Reply #708 on:** Mar 22, 2013, 06:24 PM »

sap ran good today, best day so far this year! about 30 gallons out of 20 taps wohoo.

toguefisha · « **Reply #709 on:** Mar 22, 2013, 07:09 PM »

About 20 gallons off my six taps today (two big yard trees)

gamefisher · « **Reply #710 on:** Mar 22, 2013, 08:53 PM »

Quote from: toguefisha on Mar 22, 2013, 07:09 PM

About 20 gallons off my six taps today (two big yard trees)

Quote from: ICEMAN-73 on Mar 22, 2013, 06:24 PM

sap ran good today, best day so far this year! about 30 gallons out of 20 taps wohoo.

You guys are living in a completely different world than I, maybe 3-4 gal. from 12 taps, only got to 36 with a cold breeze all day, hoping for better results this weekend.

rude the dude · « **Reply #711 on:** Mar 22, 2013, 08:59 PM »

Quote from: gamefisher on Mar 22, 2013, 08:53 PM

You guys are living in a completely different world than I, maybe 3-4 gal. from 12 taps, only got to 36 with a cold breeze all day, hoping for better results this weekend.

Same for me Eric, only got 10 gallons today, It's been so cold at night it's taken to long to warm up, it was dripping good at 5 but by the looks of the buckets it started late . I finally got all the ice out of my buckets though. May be getting darker but like you said, we should have a good run coming up.

ICEMAN-73 · « **Reply #712 on:** Mar 22, 2013, 10:18 PM »

all my tree have southern exposure on the south side if a hill, all the small undergrowth is cleared out around them so they get sun all day long. from talking with others in the area seems like mine run better than most especially early! I may have got more today but some of my buckets were actually overflowing. looks like its going to be some late nights this coming week because the weather looks good all week!

Mainehazmt · « **Reply #713 on:** Mar 24, 2013, 09:58 AM »

Here ya go a magaiver set up cheap too. http://www.instructables.com/id/MacGyver-Style-Indestructible-Maple-Sugar-Evaporat/

gamefisher · « **Reply #714 on:** Mar 24, 2013, 06:27 PM »

Was away all weekend only to come home to fairly disappointing buckets, just can't seem to shed that cold North wind here. A couple trees produced well, others still haven't hit their stride it seems, hoping for a good week to make up for lost time. $:-\$

Westerly · « **Reply #715 on:** Mar 24, 2013, 07:41 PM »

Last few days I've been averaging a qt to a half gal per tap. Funny thing is, some have none and a few are overflowing 1.5 gal buckets. I think they're slowly waking up though and this week could be primetime. I'm at the tail end of cooking off 50 gal right now so i can start the week with plenty of storage.

maineduckhunter · « **Reply #716 on:** Mar 24, 2013, 08:13 PM »

Came home from fishing Moosehead this weekend to over flowing gallon buckets!! Emptied them around noon, and they were half full this evening around 6....the flow is on again!! Have 30 gallons collected, might need to do short steams this week!!

SmellsLikeFishNH · « **Reply #717 on:** Mar 25, 2013, 07:21 AM »

I boiled down close to 80 gallons this weekend, ended up with 145oz of syrup....Here is a picture of my finish pan from yesterday and my results last night. When I moved from the big boilers to the finishng pan I was convinced I was a lot closer to syrup than I actually was, boiled off almost 2 more gallons after it hit the finishing pan :-( the mess on the ground was just me throwing my foam on the drive way LOL I gotta hose that down tonight.

cmstearns · « **Reply #718 on:** Mar 25, 2013, 08:43 PM »

toguefisha · « **Reply #719 on:** Mar 26, 2013, 11:26 AM »

Sap ran real good yesterday and I expect more good results today. Ran out of storage, so guess I've gotta do another burn tonight.

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Author Topic: OT Maple Taps (Read 156638 times)