Maple syrup questions again

To boil down would one of those new turkey fryers (outdoor propane fired) work for a small hobby operation.

Gotta think a little bigger. If I remember, the ratio is about 50 to 1, sap to syrup. I"ve worked a bit in a couple commercial operations, and takes a lot of wood or oil to boil down what seems a lot sap! They both were running progressive condensers that continuously fed sap in one end, and brought syrup for finishing out the other.

It will work but it would take a lot of boiling hours to make even one gallon. Remember, you will have to boil out 30-50 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup.
I use one of the turkey fryers to finish my small amounts of syrup.
But give it a try!

It will work but it would take a lot of boiling hours to make even one gallon. Remember, you will have to boil out 30-50 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup.
I use one of the turkey fryers to finish my small amounts of syrup.
But give it a try!

Propane burners work good to finish sap that's already 3/4 boiled down, but it would take a awful lot of gas and boiling trying to map syrup from raw sap. 40 to 1 ratio with "high-test" hard-maple sap, and 60 t0 1 with red maple. I keep a close eye on the water content because I sometimes truck and sell raw sap, and I get paid by the sugar-content, not the actual gallons. I've had hard-maple sap that was 30 to 1 and also as bad as 50 to 1. Depends on the season, snow melt, etc.

A lot of places use propane-fired finish rigs since it's easier to conrol the flame and get the syrup just right without burning it or turning it into candy.

The reality is, you can boil sap with anything, and in anything and eventually it will turn into some sort of syrup if you don't burn it up. But, doing it in a deep pot or pan results in a long boil time and very dark and strong-tasting syrup. High quality syrup depends on very fast evaoporation in a shallow pan with lots of surface area. 6" deep and 6 feet long works much better then 12" deep and 3 feet long. That's why they are called "evaporators."

All depends on what you like and expect. Some people like dark-strong syrup, but it doesn't sell very well to the general public. Most of mine gets sold at 1/2 price as "B" syrup.

Many people have done it small scale in an old kettle or pot, and liked what they got. Pros try to get the syrup as clear as possible because that brings the "Grade A" fancy price. That means getting sap from the woods fast, sterilizing the sap with ultraviolet lights, then running through a reverse-osmosis macine to get half the water out, and then boiling down to syrup fast in a large evaporator.

If you do it for the first time, get a good thermometer or refractometer. It's easy to be out in the cold, standing over sweet hot boiling sap and think it's turned to syrup - when it's not. Don't trust your taste-buds. The stuff always tastes and looks better then it really is - when you're out in cold, standing over a hot rig.

The question is:

Are you willing to fill a turkey fryer full of sap and boil it down to 1/2" - 3/4" of syrup in the bottom? You will probably be working for negative dollars per hour. The propane consumption will cost more than the value of the pure maple syrup in your local supermarket. And we haven't even considered your time, labor, and burnt flesh. You will be making enough for one breakfast if you have several kids.

There are a number of backyard syrup sites but I suggest you go to the link below. You can also view makeshift evaporators on YouTube.
Click me

BTW, sap was running Friday in eastern Mass. Probably will run tomorrow too. Saturday night will be too warm to get much on Sunday unless you apply negative pressure on the tap. Now don't go attaching your wet-or-dry vacuum to your maple tree.

jdemaris,

Someone on Mapletrader.com said he sold his Wisc sap for $0.14 per gal per point last year. Can you get that price in New York?

I've been thinking about selling and shipping sap this year. All my sugar maples are full crown and large so they should have high sugar and volume. I can probably set about 150 gravity taps. Just trying to figure if it is going to pay. My buyer is 15 miles from here but his formerly active Facebook page is moribund. I wonder if he went broke last year.

(quoted from post at 01:30:11 01/01/11) jdemaris,

Someone on Mapletrader.com said he sold his Wisc sap for $0.14 per gal per point last year. Can you get that price in New York?

I've been thinking about selling and shipping sap this year. All my sugar maples are full crown and large so they should have high sugar and volume. I can probably set about 150 gravity taps. Just trying to figure if it is going to pay. My buyer is 15 miles from here but his formerly active Facebook page is moribund. I wonder if he went broke last year.

Click to expand...

When I used to sell sap it was not a fixed price but based on sugar content. So one day it would one price per gallon and something different the next.

Worked well and I enjoyed doing it. Was a good side job for a HS student, but that was a while ago now. I would probably still do it now and just trade for syrup but none of the guys around here like working that way now. They will come and tap your trees for nothing though.

K

We use a 60 quart steam table pan that is larger and flatter than a pot but not as flat as a real maple pan. We got it cheap at a restaurant supply house and it has been fine for us for three years now. We put it on a metal rack over a couple of concrete blocks and burn wood under it so it is cheap but not terrifically convenient.
Zach

I've gotten as high as 26 cents per gallon on my best sap runs. It all depends on the sugar content. The last season, with all the excess sap I trucked, I averaged 23 cents per gallon. Once it got down to 1.9% sugar, I stopped trucking it. It wasn't worth the bother to make a 30 mile round trip across the mountain to deliver it. I've had it as high as 2.8 %. If you are going to truck syrup, I suggest you buy or borrow a sugar fractometer so you can measure sugar-content yourself. I've seen some buyers cheat when they know the seller can't check.

Here's what I sold last season:

1st - Feb 22 - 417 gallons as 2.4% sugar content
2nd - Feb 25 - 447 gallons at 2.5% sugar content
3rd - Feb 26 - 442 gallons at 2.6% sugar content
4th - Feb 27 - 417 gallons at 2.4% sugar content
5th - March 3 - 448 gallons at 2.4% sugar content.
6th - March 4 - 232 gallons at 2.3% sugar content
7th - March 7 - 320 gallons at 2.5% sugar content
8th - March 8 - 465 gallons at 2.3% sugar content
9th - March 9 - 470 gallons at 2.1% sugar content
10th - March 14 - 446 gallons at 2.2% sugar content
11th - March 21 - 444 gallons at 1.9% sugar content

Total - 4,548 gallons at $1,050. 23 cents per gallon with average sugar - 2.3%

Canada requires 66% sugar content for syrup. By Canada and Vermont "fancy" standards . . .

Sap with 2.5% sugar - 27 gallons can make 1 gallon of syrup.

Sap with 1.9% sugar - 35 gallons can make 1 gallon of syrup

Sap with 1.5% sugar - 44 gallons can make 1 gallon of syrup

Saps runs off and on, all fall, winter, and spring. The problem is - to time your tapping for a consistent run. If you tap, and then the trees shut down for awhile, the holes "heal" and you have to tap all over again.

Not long ago, many people "cheated" by sticking a formaldehyde pill in each tap-hole. That would keep the sap running all season. Some still do, but it's pretty much illegal now.

Here in NY, fall trapping with small 1/4" taps was being promoted for awhile, but seems it didn't get very popular.

Works well for finishing it. we usually boil down a couple hundred gallons in our large tank, then drain it off into the turkey boiler to bring it down the rest of the way. it gives a lot better control, plus its deep enough to float the hydrometer.

Below is a post from mapletrader.com. The author is located in DeKalb, NY. Click the link for the thread.

I buy sap based on the maple digest suggested prices. Last 2 years has been the same. 2% sap was .325 per gallon, 2.5% was .45 per gallon and 3% was .575 per gallon. I paid this delivered and I paid when I sold my bulk at seasons end. Those wanting cash were paid 2% less and if I picked up the sap, there was a mileage and stop charge. I stipulate that sap is to be delivered fresh and I will deduct .05 per gallon for cloudy or off color sap.
Click me

Jd you cease to amaze me first Studebaker and now sap. I will shoot you an email at some point.