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.

[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!

[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 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.