Fryer burner doing double duty - Maple Syrup!!!!

[zomby woof]

Well, it's spring and my Turkey burner is boiling down Maple sap instead of Wheel weights. Sap production is slow right now, only about 13 gallons of sap so far. No I'm not using the same pot.

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/100_2348.JPG

[randyrat]

I see the buckets and bags are hung around here everywhere. I'm not sure how it's going yet though, i bet it is a tough one, trampin through the snow. Man that real maple syrup sure taste good.
I gladly pay for it rather than try and make it. I think it should be double for the work put into it.

[JeffinNZ]

Until my friend from Alaska came to stay I had no idea that so much time etc went into maple syrup. Is the syrup 10-1 and the candy 100-1? Something like that I recall.

[Wayne Smith]

I remember doing that on the old wood range - a loooong time ago.

[Bob J]

Sweet! :kidding:

[44man]

I only have 3 maples in the yard so it is not worth fooling with. But sap is running like crazy here in WV. I had a broken branch on a box elder (maple family but a junk tree) I cut the branch off and it poured sap, must have dumped a few gallons from that one cut. I should have tasted it, not sure if there is any sugar.
That sure looks like fun making a batch.

[BABore]

Typical maple syrup is 40 to 1. When I used to make it as a kid, I'd usually go 50 or 60 to 1 for our family use. Only made a gallon or two each year and it was a ton of work. Sap collecting in Michigan's UP was usually by snowmobile and sled as the snow was 3-4 ft deep in the woods.

Around here, good maple syrup runs about $14 a quart. Next year I plan to show my daughter how it's done.

[richbug]

I made about 10 gallons last year. The more surface area, the faster it evaporates. I use a 16 gallon galvanized wash tub on my turkey fryer. It is done when it boils at 7 degrees hotter than water does at your altitude.


I'm not doing it this year as I have too much else on my plate, and lots of it left from last year.

[inuhbad]

NICE! That looks pretty sweet! (Pun intended)

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for not using the same pot [smilie=f: Hmmm... wonder if I've ever had Leaded maple syrup?!

[Greenhorn44]

Man I'll tell you what. Pure Maple Syrup is the only Syrup that goes on my Hot Cakes, and Griddle Girlies!!!

Used to buy it in Kansas. The only resource hear is The Cracker Barrel. I wont touch anything at the grocers

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I tap two large trees in my Neighbors yard.
I use a triple tap, which is basically three taps connected with tubing.
when the sap is really running fast, I get 8 gallons in a day.
last year I boiled down 110 gallons down to about 3 gallons.
I use a wood stove for most of the boiling, till I get it near the end,
then move to the kitchen stove for better heat control, so I don't burn it.
Jon

[pressonregardless]

We have some on the woodstove right now !! Don't expect to get a lot, but what the heck, trees are in the yard, and we have to have the stove fired up this time of the year anyway.

[Mntngoat]

I'd pay dearly for some fresh real maple syrup. hard to get the good the stuff on the west coast

ML

[Daves1]

We only have one large maple tree in our yard. I put three taps in and get enough sap for about one gallon of syrup. Nuthin Better!

[S.R.Custom]

Boy, does that bring back memories! I used to make syrup out in the potting shed when I lived in Vermont, using the same apparatus. We used to sink our first tap on town meeting day (first Wednesday in March), and boil like crazy for maybe three weeks. After that, the sap gets a bit buddy... if your sap is still running slow, you must've had a hard winter.

Thanks for sharing-- Seeing that pic brought it all back... even the smell! I sure miss it.

[MtGun44]

We hauled a lot of sap last weekend. Boiled down to just under 2 gallons of syrup.

I doubt that there are many making Maple syrup farther south than La Cygne, KS where
my friend has his 'orchard' and I help him make syrup every year for about the last 10
yrs. Plan on at least 40 gallons of sap for a gallon of syrup.

Bill

[qajaq59]

I can remember doing that as a kid, which seems like 3 centuries ago! lol

[44man]

Where could I buy some taps? I might try it next spring.

[Bret4207]

I have a small sugarbush on my farm, maybe 30 acres or so. I have the intentions of thinning it and getting it usable, but it seems there's always a zillion other things to do. Truthfully, real maple syrup is way, way too sweet for my taste. I grew up with it as a choice and still prefer the commercial "fake" syrup (Vermont Maid). OTH my inlaws absolutely love the pure stuff and at $12.-18.00 a pint in those little cutsie glass bottles I can see making some.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I was not working in Vermont many years ago and a local farmer was looking for some help during Surgaring time.

He had a network of trees on a hillside and used plastic tubing to gather the syrup. It would all go down to a large tank on a truck and every day we would swap out the tanks a couple of times and bring the sap to a sugaring house.

This is nothing more than a shack with a roof and open sides and a very large tank mounted on steel legs over a wood fire where the sap is boiled down to syrup.

He had been doing this for over 40 years and had electricity and a decent sound system and we had good music going all the time. It was hard work but also a lot of fun.

He ended up with a couple of hundred gallons of syrup which he sold to the local feed dealer and made a decent profit.

For the work involved he did not make much money but it was a really nice bonding experience with some local people and and I valued it greatly and made a few good friends.

[44man]

I make my own beer and some real maple syrup would make some nice stuff but the cost is too much.
Same as a good honey mead, need a LOT of honey.
Same as spices for cooking. Those tiny containers are stupid high priced. When I worked for the airline we unloaded HUGE suitcases full of Curry, etc. They must have got it dirt cheap overseas. I watch the BBQ and cooking shows and they have barrels of spices.
Moral mushrooms---been poor the last few years here and my supply is going down.
Need a revolt, I want $1 a gallon maple syrup! [smilie=1:

[Dale53]

I had a good buddy who was, let's say, EXTREMELY frugal. Yeah, frugal is the word. Maple sugar is MUCH more expensive than store bought Aunt Jemima pancake syrup. However, as frugal as my friend was (may he rest in peace) he once told me that, "Life is too short to NOT use the real stuff (maple syrup) with your pancakes". That was probably forty years ago and I have been faithful to his comments ever since.

It tastes wonderful, is a natural product, and it JUST DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT!

Dale53

[timbuck]

Thanks for not using the same pot [smilie=f: Hmmm... wonder if I've ever had Leaded maple syrup?!

The romans used to "flavor " their wine with lead. It made it taste better.

[MtGun44]

Some lead salts have a sweet taste. Still toxic as heck.

Bill

[zomby woof]

Where could I buy some taps? I might try it next spring.

Here's what I used this year.
http://www.leaderevaporator.com/images/Product/medium/4779-3.jpg

http://www.leaderevaporator.com/p-51-leader-tree-saver-516-tubing-spout.aspx

[Greenhorn44]

We hauled a lot of sap last weekend. Boiled down to just under 2 gallons of syrup.

I doubt that there are many making Maple syrup farther south than La Cygne, KS where
my friend has his 'orchard' and I help him make syrup every year for about the last 10
yrs. Plan on at least 40 gallons of sap for a gallon of syrup.

Bill

i Was raised on the Marias Des Cygne River. Hadnt been to the warm water outlet in a couple years.
Best maple syrup I ever had came from Louisburg.