Maple Syrupin' : Feb/March 2011

Our "small tree" setup: this tree is about 8" diameter.

     This is our third year "syrupin": For 2011, we have 16 taps in a dozen trees, up from  the 6 taps in 5 trees we've had the past two years. We picked out and tagged all of our maple trees last fall, while the leaves were still on, and found a  few good sized maples that we've missed in previous years.  Each year, we've gotten about 3 pints of finished syrup, which means we reduced about 120 pints, or 15 gallons or so of sap.  This year we hope to have  close to two gallons of finished syrup: I don't like a real sweet, thick syrup, so we leave it a bit dilute, but it has a full maple flavor and is plenty sweet . . perfect to soak  homemade whole wheat pancakes with, or for a maple-pecan pie!!

      The picture left shows our "small tree" setup. This 8" diameter maple has just one tap. We have luck with a simple, poly 5/8" flexible tubing as a "spile". We drill holes about 2 in. deep, once we are through the bark......the "sapwood" is in the external growth rings of the tree. Marty put a small shim in to keep the hose in place. I've been saving plastic jugs, and.I made a loop in a piece of cord, wrapped it around the tree and connected the loop to the jug with a small S hook made from a piece of coat hanger. This holds the plastic jug in place, low enough to keep the plastic hose in, but not so far in that the hose draws sap back up the tree, which will happen if it is warm, and the hose is down in the sap . ..the same force that takes the sap up to nourish the little buds will pull sap right back out of the pail!! It happened to us on a warm day last year! 

      The sap starts running when it warms above freezing during the day, a few days in a row. In our "neck of the woods" this is mid to late February. This year, we had a mini warm spell early, and so  after it hit 55 degrees on Friday, I says to the man o' th' place,  in a pleasant sort of voice, it was time to tap the trees. So we tapped on Sunday, February 13.
                                         

The "big tree" two tap setup. This tree exceeds 24" in dia.

      Pictured right is the "multi tap" setup Marty has created: Two taps are on opposite sides of the tree, about the same height, and the sap drips through two pieces of flexible tubing into a five gallon bucket, through a top w. two holes, one for each tube. The bucket is placed on the ground, sealed,  with a brick on top, to discourage hungry critters. Also, the pails must be enclosed,  because we've had two good snowfalls, and you don't want the melting snow diluting the sap. The sap runs really well as long as it freezes at night, and warms above 32 degrees during the day. The old timers say, tap the tree on the side w. most branches, because the tree will be sending most of the sap up that side, to feed the little buds. This is usually the south or southeast side, depends on the location and branching of surrounding trees. I'd like the mister to get his chainsaw out this spring and summer, and take down some of the  mature oak that crowd the maples,  to give the maples more sunlight: that oak would come in handy for fuel next winter, and maybe a plank floor . . 

Marty totes the sap downhill to the house......... where it fills up our big five gallon agate pot, left. 

                                                                                                                                                                       

Five Gallon Agate Pot, filled with Fresh Sap
which will simmer and reduce. 

Stainless 2 gallon pot with almost syrup: this probably has to be reduced half again, and strained. We strain it at every stage, with a fine mesh coffee strainer, but the sediments seem to fall out of sap as it is reduced. The sediments are fine and sandy, with a wood fiber taste.

         My Chef friend, Dan Rothman, told me that the earliest sap is the sweetest. This makes sense, as the sugar is stored in the tree's roots through the winter, and rises each day when  the temp is above freezing, to nourish the little twigs and buds. At night, when the temperature drops, the sap goes all the way back down the tree, which protects the buds and twigs from freezing! Ah, the wonders of nature!  The sap will run as long as the temperature fluctuates during the day........Each year, the sap run is different, and it will change depending on weather, altitude, and region. When it stays warm at night, the sap stays in the twigs.

The Finished Product. First Maple Syrup of 2011.

       Above is the first batch of syrup: almost two pints. There is sediment in these jars. The full one is sealed. I promised the township road crew a homemade waffle and new maple syrup lunch for all the hard work they did this year, so this won't last long. Normally, the reduction is 40 to one, but I estimate these two took only about  8 gallons. The first of the run was very sweet, and reduced quickly. 

      The old timers reduced the sap over an outside fire, and finished it off inside.  This is how we did it when we were kids. The wood smoke can darken the sap, and change the flavor slightly,  and you wind up with ashes that must be strained out.  The pros use gas or wood fired evaporator tables, with a flue to vent off gases. I'd really like an evaporator table with a reverse osmosis system, which reduces fuel costs and time, about 60 percent. Right now we are working out a system for out of doors, which will be an intermediate stage, el cheapo electric evaporator. We've been using only the kitchen stove, and  crock pots: The windows are steaming up, and the condensation is going to kill our paint and drywall, 

      Right now. we have about 3 gallons reducing on an  single electric burner, out door on the deck,  4 gallons slightly sweet in our 5 gallon big pot, pretty sweet sap in each of two gallon-sized crock pots, AND,  in the fridge, almost a gallon of almost syrup, and FIVE MORE gallons of fresh sap. Yee Gads, pics of the new setup coming tomorrow, hopefully.........I says to the mister, I says, Yee Gads, Mister! We've got sap coming like crazy!!! Yee Gads!!