Maple syrup

Hey anyone making any small batch maple syrup yet? If so, Im open to purchase several quarts. Thanks.

i would be more interested in moonshine.

X2! Anybody around Nashville or Branson headed north can bring me some Smith's Creek straight shine. Can't get in Iowa.

Here in Connecticut the maple season is off to a slow start, a few good runs but keeps getting too cold. I may not be what you consider small batch tho, boiling from over 1500 taps I usually concentrate a couple thousand gallons of sap with the reverse osmosis and then keep it refrigerated and boil a couple times a week

Our farm is located in southern New York, and same as Connecticut, we are slow also. We have about 200 taps here, and aim for 20 gallons of syrup every year. We have about 3 1/2 gallons bottled so far.

Great photos. Thanks. Wingnut

Those pics look good. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like what I am looking for. I found a guy on Craigslist about four years ago that bottled his in quart jars and although it was in the darker side, you could really taste the flavor. He shipped me about eight individual quarts and I used two and shared the rest with family and friends. Here in western North Carolina, we dont have any luck making anything other than molasses and of course honey. Just like in beekeeping, I feel the best honey comes from those beekeepers with five to ten hives with a good mix of pollen. Heck my dad used to go to the store and buy new panty hose to hand strain it through. He always won the county competitions.

I'd love to know when and how to tap Maple trees. I have a good many around one of my small lakes but I think there the soft wood maples

Taping is usually done about now for the northern ares like MI,NY,CT,And such. For the moonshine with all the corn in IA you could make your own pretty easy with some practice.

ssgshelton send me an email. you mentioned Western NC. What part?
BAnNC Also Western NC

I have friends here in NH that have been operating maple sugar businesses for many years. Two of them are pretty big. Last night the local TV station had a feature on a seventeen year old in my town who has been at it for five years and has just upgraded to a pretty big arch. They are just now getting into high gear.

send me an e-mail

My neighbor lady is cooking maple syrup with coal. I don't think I want syrup that might smell like coal.
geo.

(quoted from post at 06:53:44 03/06/21) ssgshelton send me an email. you mentioned Western NC. What part?
BAnNC Also Western NC

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I wonder if you guys in Western North Carolina want to know the true origin of the state motto "First in Flight"?

A large portion of what we tap are red and silver maples, i.e. soft maples, they run somewhat lower sugar content but make great syrup

(quoted from post at 22:45:01 03/05/21) I'd love to know when and how to tap Maple trees. I have a good many around one of my small lakes but I think there the soft wood maples

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I am by no means an expert but what I do does work so consider this to be my version of Maple syrup for dummies.
I am sure many of the seasoned pro's on here will cringe at some of my methods and add in some more knowledge.

The when part;
When the temperature is below freezing at night and above during the day, this is what causes the sap to move through the tree.
Once they start budding the season is done.

The how part;
I use a cordless drill to make the hole then lightly hammer in a plastic tap, they are readily available online for less than a dollar.
A piece of plastic hose then goes from the tap to a 2gal bucket with a hole drilled in the lid.

On the smaller trees I have when flow is good I can get a gallon+ per day per tree.

The sap will spoil if left too long in warm weather so I collect it daily and get it into my cooker which is a homemade wood fueled contraption that holds about 40 gallons in a stainless pan.

You need around 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.

If I get off to a late start cooking down the sap I just let the fire burn out overnight and finish it the next day.

Once I have it down to 2 or 3 gallons I finish it in a stock pot, you need to cook it down until the temperature is about 8 degree above the boiling point of water, this varies with elevation so you need to boil a pot of water to figure out the actual temp for your location then add the 8 degree to that.

Or you can watch it and when it starts forming large bubbles that want to climb up and out of the pot it is time to take it off the heat before you end up with a big sticky mess to clean up.

Nice color ,pretty clear

Here is a tap from the farm my Dad grew up on, he is now 92.
They had a sugar shack and ran maybe 1000 taps.

Out of 1000 taps and 1000 galvanized buckets, I only have a handful of taps.

The taps are cast iron and the prongs went up to hook the pail handle onto.

Local Country Store in Holyrood sells more 20Kg bags of brown sugar in March than the other 11 months combined .
Wonder where the stuff goes ?

The Amish are the biggest customers at the Miller Mall....

Ben

Worth the trip there for the ice cream cones too .
The place is a history lesson for the kids . Just squeeze down the isles and see the sights .

I loved all the pictures Loren used to post around this time of years past of him and his cousins collecting sap. I hope he is doing ok

(quoted from post at 17:43:41 03/06/21) I loved all the pictures Loren used to post around this time of years past of him and his cousins collecting sap. I hope he is doing ok

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I hope that his cousins are carrying on and making good use of all the equipment that he has built and that hopefully they can get him out into the bush to supervise a little.