Who makes or has made maple syrup and sugar?

[me&thegals]

Ours is definitely not as purely sweet and tasty as maple syrup done the "right way," so maybe the storage and long boiling-down times are part of the issue...

But, like hoosier girl, I'm not about to use electricity or other fuel for this process. Part of the cool part is that it's just using existing energy (wood heat) and putting back into our home the moisture we normally want anyway.

 

[valmom]

Sugar season was finally over here about 2 weeks ago- I was getting sick of boiling.

We tried it for the first time this year- just had two big stock pots going on the stove every minute we were home. It seems to have worked. We boiled every day (well, late into the night some days) and didn't let the sap sit unless it was below freezing outside, then no more than 24 hours before going into a pot.

Here is our haul, minus a quart we gave to our neighbors, and a quart that got sent to Tasmania(they don't have maple trees there.)

 

[PamsPride]

Beautiful syrup Valmom!! How many gallons did you start with and how much did you end up with? How does it taste?

 

[gettinaclue]

I love those maple leaf jars! So lovely!

 

[me&thegals]

Beautiful!

The sap:syrup ratio is 40:1

 

[freemotion]

Even with the long storage time I will likely deal with, I'm still gonna boil some next year! I'm excited and encouraged by all your experiences. I'd like to make a gallon of syrup, we would likely use a quart and my folks would use some, and a couple of friends would get a small bottle each. Might as well use that wood stove heat!

That is a beautiful picture, valmom!

 

[valmom]

We probably got about 2 1/2 gallons of syrup from 6 trees. I don't know how many gallons of sap we got, but it was anywhere from 5 to 10 gallons a day, and one day we got 15 gallons of sap from our measley 6 trees! It was a lot of boiling, but it is delicious and well worth it! And now we have our own syrup to host my in-laws for Easter weekend- my MIL will be impressed!

Now my SO wants a sugar house and an evaporator- we may look for a used one this spring from someone who is upgrading. We have a LOT more trees than six.

 

[freemotion]

Oh, thanks, valmom! I was planning on scouting for six trees and now I will probably only do three. Thanks for saving me some work! Half what you do will be more than enough for my first attempt.

 

[me&thegals]

OTOH--We tapped 9 trees and only got 4.5 quarts. It really depends on more factors than the number of trees, like their size, the weather, and probably other factors I don't know about Personally, I would tap as many as possible. You can always store the syrup or give it for gifts...

 

[freemotion]

Sigh....back up to six taps!!!