Who taps their own maples? (Milford: how much, home, live)

[Maineah]

I was out in the barn digging out the tree tapping stuff today getting ready for the sap to start running soon. I've graduated from the metal spile and bucket to the plastic taps and tubing some years back. I run the tubing to a junction and from the junction to a five gallon bucket. I have three of these setups within easy walking distance of my house. It amounts to about 15-20 taps. We're not talking commercial production here. I have a couple of 15 gallon beer kegs I store the sap in until I have enough to boil. I boil it off on a home made evaporating rig at the edge of my garage. I only do it until I have made three gallons of syrup, then I pull the taps. Some years it takes two weeks, some years it takes three, and some years the run is so bad I only get a gallon or two. It depends on the weather. I'm quite picky about my syrup and that's why I only use the "first runnings" from the trees. The sap has to be crystal clear and ice cold to make the really best syrup. My syrup is beautiful light amber,thin bodied, and very sweet without the slightest hint of off flavors.
If the sap gets cloudy during a hot day I throw it away. If it begins to take on a yellow tinge I pull the taps. Like I said I'm very picky. I love good syrup and in my opinion it's only good for a short while. I could easily make a lot more of it though it would be constantly decreasing in quality up to the point where it turns very dark and has a bitter astringent aftertaste to it. I'll stick to my three gallons of liquid gold thank you!

[Cornerguy1]

I haven't broken out the spile drill just yet. I've found over the years that my trees don't drip reliably until daytime temps start to get into the 32+ range, and I hate going back re-drilling holes that have dried up on their own.

I noticed wind-damaged maple had a pretty good sapsicle on it the other day, so the time is growing near.

We usually do about 50 trees with about 80 spiles. Depending on the year we'll put out anywhere from 15-30 gallons of syrup for friends and family. If we have a surplus one year, we've been known to skip the next spring until the stuff in the freezer is nearly gone.

I love doing it in years when there's enough snowfall in the bush to use the snowmobile for collections, but "mud years" and walking take a lot of the thrill away.

[Maineah]

I love doing it in years when there's enough snowfall in the bush to use the snowmobile for collections, but "mud years" and walking take a lot of the thrill away.[/quote]


Amen to that! I have a nice old snowmobile I use to haul the sap back to the garage. Fortunately my trees are all within easy lugging distance of the house. One year I had the whole sap line hooked together filling buckets via gravity in my cellar. It was convenient but I kept spilling sap from the buckets as I lugged them up the stairs and through the kitchen to the garage for boiling. My wife said that was it because I was getting the kitchen floor too sticky and didn't mop it up well enough for her! I went back to the three buckets that I empty twice a day.

[Maine Writer]

If I can make arrangements to have my sap boiled by a friend with an evaporator I'll tap my trees. I don't want to fool around with boiling it in my inefficient little set up in the driveway.

[elston]

That is a wonderful childhood memory of mine: the trees with the sap buckets in the front yard and out back. I remember "helping" collect the sap....but I was so young when we lived in Canada where we sugared, that I am sure I was little to no help and it must have been an exercise in patience for my Dad to take me along.

As the song says, "Sweetest kind of joy, us sugar makers know!"

[contented]

childhood memories for me too. my uncle farmed the family's 150 acre side hill farm in washington, n.h. many years ago, before the days of tubing or anything modern.

he had a team of big, black work horses named nick and nellie and they pulled a heavy scoot (sled) with a large wooden tub on it that we dumped the sap into. there was a sugarhouse close to the road (the old one was up in the woods a bit) and i think he must have purchased a new evaporator from wally chamberlin of the "vermont evaporator company". wally was quite a character and we kids could barely understand a word he said but all the adults laughed and had a good time when he was in the driveway.

i always loved the smells inside that sugarhouse and never pass one by.

our neighbors down the road made fine syrup and they had a team of oxen that pulled their scoot and years later we always let them tap our trees.

[elston]

Originally Posted by contented

childhood memories for me too. my uncle farmed the family's 150 acre side hill farm in washington, n.h. many years ago, before the days of tubing or anything modern.

he had a team of big, black work horses named nick and nellie and they pulled a heavy scoot (sled) with a large wooden tub on it that we dumped the sap into. there was a sugarhouse close to the road (the old one was up in the woods a bit) and i think he must have purchased a new evaporator from wally chamberlin of the "vermont evaporator company". wally was quite a character and we kids could barely understand a word he said but all the adults laughed and had a good time when he was in the driveway.

i always loved the smells inside that sugarhouse and never pass one by.

our neighbors down the road made fine syrup and they had a team of oxen that pulled their scoot and years later we always let them tap our trees.

Thank you for sharing those wonderful memories for days gone by.

[msina]

I knew an older man here in Maine that made his own syrup, fine stuff it was too! If you know Lynnwood Shaw, tell him the Milford people say hi!

[Cornerguy1]

Maine Writer:

Not sure how much sap you want to boil down, or what your current set-up is, but if you're just making a gallon of syrup you might want to consider using a propane-fired turkey cooker.

They usually have about an 60,000 BTU burner with a temperature adjustment. Combined with a metal wash tub and used in a garage out of the wind, they can reduce a lot of sap with a minimum of fuss.

It was convenient but I kept spilling sap from the buckets as I lugged them up the stairs and through the kitchen to the garage for boiling. My wife said that was it because I was getting the kitchen floor too sticky and didn't mop it up well enough for her!

That brought to mind the city guy who bought the farm up the road and decided to make syrup one spring by boiling it on his kitchen stove. Apparently his wife wasn't terribly impressed when the wallpaper literally peeled off the walls.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

Maine Writer:

Not sure how much sap you want to boil down, or what your current set-up is, but if you're just making a gallon of syrup you might want to consider using a propane-fired turkey cooker.

They usually have about an 60,000 BTU burner with a temperature adjustment. Combined with a metal wash tub and used in a garage out of the wind, they can reduce a lot of sap with a minimum of fuss.




That brought to mind the city guy who bought the farm up the road and decided to make syrup one spring by boiling it on his kitchen stove. Apparently his wife wasn't terribly impressed when the wallpaper literally peeled off the walls.

Hey I have one of those turkey cookers and they work great! I start the boil with the turkey cooker and switch to a more efficient burner after the boil starts. The turkey cookers use a LOT of propane!