2021 Sugar Season
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kyle Interesting family history, Kyle. How does one go about getting the harvesting rights to the sugar maples or does your family own the property with the trees?
processhead when my grandpa did it, he had probably a ten acre patch of maples. when the neighbor and I do it, we just tap the trees around our houses. this year we had 30 trees tapped. Most people around here let people tap their trees, it does not hurt the tree
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True story. Making syrup is definitely not done in Nebraska. But 50 years ago when I was just a kid, I used to take a short-cut home from school through a wooded area. One Spring, I noticed a tree that was dripping sap from a broken limb. Being a dumb kid, I tasted it and it was sweet! I had heard a little about syrup making and decided I was going to try and get enough sap to make syrup. Now remember, I don’t even know if it was a maple tree. Most likely, it was not.
But the sap was sweet and I caught about a pint of it in a tin can. Boiled it down and made about a thimble full of something sort of resembling syrup. And that is why no one makes syrup in Nebraska.
Paul
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True story. Making syrup is definitely not done in Nebraska. But 50 years ago when I was just a kid, I used to take a short-cut home from school through a wooded area. One Spring, I noticed a tree that was dripping sap from a broken limb. Being a dumb kid, I tasted it and it was sweet! I had heard a little about syrup making and decided I was going to try and get enough sap to make syrup. Now remember, I don’t even know if it was a maple tree. Most likely, it was not.
But the sap was sweet and I caught about a pint of it in a tin can. Boiled it down and made about a thimble full of something sort of resembling syrup. And that is why no one makes syrup in Nebraska.processhead you could take a short cut home through a corn field and make some whiskey tho.
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processhead you could take a short cut home through a corn field and make some whiskey tho.
kyle I just buy a 1.75l of Everclear 197* proof. Best moonshine ever
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YooperDog I have a barrel stove and a 16x30 flat pan. I did purchase an RO this year so that cut down some major time. My last boil I started the RO at 7am and started the boiling at 8. I finished about 10 that night. That was about 140gallons in one day. I woulda been there about 3days if It wouldnt of been for the RO. I had 45 taps this year. Gonna upgrade my storage system, filtering/bottling, and probably go with a 2x4 divided pan and new arch.
JoeB Midwest_kc I sold all of my “extra” to my neighbors and friends already. I was a little blown away how quickly they jumped at the opportunity to buy it from me. I’ve got quite a few return customers that buy my bacon that wanna make a breakfast pack of our eggs/bacon/syrup.
deanlorensen I have a slightly modified barrel with a continuous flow 33x240 pan. Looking at an RO set up since my help has sorta disappeared. All kinds of help to drink and stoke the arch, imagine thatThat and a drop flue pan would really speed things along. Had a challenge keeping a 6 gal/hr boil rate going this year. Still have enough to make some candy and sugar.
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The neighbor and I pulled our taps on Monday. Sap is still flowing and no buds on the trees yet here in Wi up by superior. We ended up with 8 1/2 gallons. our average boil rate was a little higher this year at 36:1. usually its around 32:1
kyle that is still a pretty decent ratio. I usually start 36:1 and by end of season sitting around 45:1. It’s great to have a piece of family history.
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deanlorensen I have a slightly modified barrel with a continuous flow 33x240 pan. Looking at an RO set up since my help has sorta disappeared. All kinds of help to drink and stoke the arch, imagine thatThat and a drop flue pan would really speed things along. Had a challenge keeping a 6 gal/hr boil rate going this year. Still have enough to make some candy and sugar.
YooperDog said in 2021 Sugar Season:
deanlorensen I have a slightly modified barrel with a continuous flow 33x240 pan. Looking at an RO set up since my help has sorta disappeared. All kinds of help to drink and stoke the arch, imagine thatThat and a drop flue pan would really speed things along. Had a challenge keeping a 6 gal/hr boil rate going this year. Still have enough to make some candy and sugar.
When you sugar guys talk about an RO, is that a reverse osmosis unit? If so, what are you doing with it?
Paul
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YooperDog said in 2021 Sugar Season:
deanlorensen I have a slightly modified barrel with a continuous flow 33x240 pan. Looking at an RO set up since my help has sorta disappeared. All kinds of help to drink and stoke the arch, imagine thatThat and a drop flue pan would really speed things along. Had a challenge keeping a 6 gal/hr boil rate going this year. Still have enough to make some candy and sugar.
When you sugar guys talk about an RO, is that a reverse osmosis unit? If so, what are you doing with it?
In Bismarck, Nd, I taped my Silver Maple 2 years ago, got 21 gallons, boiled into 7.5 pints, last year harvest was 32 gallons which made 1.25 gallons of the sweetness. That’s all from one tree. This year because of the warm dry winter, I miss calculated the time for tapping & only harvested 2 gallons of sap, not enough to boil. I think You can tap in Nebraska if you watch your trees and temp. Missouri has a sap run. Dewey
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YooperDog said in 2021 Sugar Season:
deanlorensen I have a slightly modified barrel with a continuous flow 33x240 pan. Looking at an RO set up since my help has sorta disappeared. All kinds of help to drink and stoke the arch, imagine thatThat and a drop flue pan would really speed things along. Had a challenge keeping a 6 gal/hr boil rate going this year. Still have enough to make some candy and sugar.
When you sugar guys talk about an RO, is that a reverse osmosis unit? If so, what are you doing with it?
processhead yes it is a reverse osmosis system. Maple sap is at best 4% sugar and as the season progresses that number drops. The RO system condenses that sugar by removing water, that in turn will reduce your boil time. The quicker you can get to the syrup stage, 7° above boiling, will help with a better quality syrup, reduced fuel consumption and reduced man hours. There are other factors that will affect your final syrup, but those areas will make a big impact.
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Thanks for the explanation YooperDog, I used to work in the water treatment industry and am more familiar with RO use to remove impurities from drinking water. ln the case of making sugar from sap, the water is the “impurity” you are trying to remove.
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