Maple syrup

[plantoneonme]

Today Jordan and I tapped a couple trees so we can gather sap to make our own maple syrup. I know we won't get much since it takes 40 gallons of sap just to make 1 gallon of syrup but it is a great learning experience for both of us. I posted how we were able to tap the trees for under $1 on my blog. I hope you get a chance to check it out. I will, of course, keep you all updated as to how our experiment works. I even found recipes for maple candy and maple butter and if we get enough syrup will make those also. Kim

[Kittikity]

That is so neat..

[plantoneonme]

Only 2 days of collecting and I have almost 5 gallons of sap already. If all goes well and I have time tomorrow I may even try to make syrup...if not for sure on Monday or Tuesday! By then I will need to at this rate. Kim

[gardengirl72]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3332741399_cb06ab171d.jpg?v=1236358298

Maple Tapping is so much fun. I just learned and shot a video last weekend at my Uncle's house here in the middle of the city. I'm hooked, but I don't have any sugar maples. You can tap any Maple tree, but it takes more sap to get the syrup. We also boiled a batch and it smelled like cotton candy! We then of course enjoyed some amazing waffles a "City Syrup" yummmmm!!!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3392/3332741585_34236fef5c.jpg?v=0

[MoniDew]

You're making me hungry!!!! Now, I want buckwheat waffles with maple syrup so bad! And I'm supposed to be on a diet! NO FAIR!

LOL!

[HomesteadBaker]

I tapped 2 trees today...... the sap is really running here! I am about to pull of gallon jug #4 for the day, and gallon #5 is almost 3/4 full. I'll be cooking down the sap tomorrow! I posted pics in the "Harvest" section.

[MoniDew]

can't wait! and, oh yeah, could you send me some?! LOL!

[plantoneonme]

Patti love the pics and your breakfast looks so good! I just finished my first bit of syrup tonight!!! I boiled down about 3 1/2 gallons and will finish with about a 1/2 pint. I wanted to see if I could do this without any fancy equipment and boiled it down in my electric frying pan. I took about 4 hours to boil down 3 gallons but it is very do-able. I finished boiling it to completion on my stove. If I boil every couple days it won't be too much of a chore. I am saving all my syrup for Easter sunday when all the kids will be over. I will also be making some maple sugar easter bunnies for everyone (very little ones) if I can find a cute mold. Kim

[plantoneonme]

Patti love the pics and your breakfast looks so good! I just finished my first bit of syrup tonight!!! I boiled down about 3 1/2 gallons and will finish with about a 1/2 pint. I wanted to see if I could do this without any fancy equipment and boiled it down in my electric frying pan. I took about 4 hours to boil down 3 gallons but it is very do-able. I finished boiling it to completion on my stove. If I boil every couple days it won't be too much of a chore. I am saving all my syrup for Easter sunday when all the kids will be over. I will also be making some maple sugar easter bunnies for everyone (very little ones) if I can find a cute mold. Kim

It looks like I took it just a tiny bit too far as it is like a very, very soft candy or stiff jelly. I will add it to the next batch and trust my candy thermometer next time. It was so light in color my husband didn't believe it was syrup...but it does taste SO GOOD!!! Kim

[HomesteadBaker]

I have 2 large stainless steel stock pots of sap boiling away on the stove!! I hope the exhaust fan holds up!!!!!! LOL

[HomesteadBaker]

I have 3 pints of maple syrup sitting on my counter now! Lovely, and dark and full of flavor! A full day of boiling..... but oh so worth it! I have another 3 1/2 gallons of sap already in the fridge.... gonna do it all again! LOL

[plantoneonme]

Got my first couple jars done. The first came out very light in color and tastes more like a mild butterscotch then maple syrup but is very good especially on biscuits. The second jar came out more like the classic maple syrup in color and flavor although I am sure I don't have a sugar maple tree so it is not as strong in flavor as maple syrup. I think the process I used to boil down the 2 different batches made a different taste for both. The first batch was boiled down in an electric frying pan and sort of simmered and not boiled down. The second batch was done on a hot plate and boiled strongly all the way down to the syrup point. I like both methods for a difference in taste and consistency. I put a picture on my blog...for some reason I cannot put pictures on here. I hope you get a chance to check out my "tree honey" as my granddaughter calls it. Kim

[plantoneonme]

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/plantone_2009/syrup.jpg

Oh I did get it to post! Sorry it is kinda blurry but my camera doesn't take pictures well inside. The "tree honey" is on the left which was boiled low and slow and the syrup is on the right which was boiled down much quicker and probably the reason for the difference in color and taste. Kim

[plantoneonme]

Round 3 of my syrup is done and I finally found an easy way to boil down the sap. My husband has wanted a propane fired turkey fryer for some time and he suggested we buy one...for making my syrup ;) Well I had a coupon and found a good sale and picked one up for around $30 (about 1/2 price). It worked like a charm and my syrup looks and tastes WONDERFUL!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oNpU6Mrp02c/Sb6z57-yxsI/AAAAAAAAAFM/t84eXeIfX8Q/s1600-h/syrup+003.jpg

I wrote all about it on my blog. If you have time, take a look at what I've been up to. Kim

[PJJ]

Hi,

I haven't been on here for a while. I'm VERY interested in tapping some trees we have in our yard.

My husband says they are "soft maples"?? They are a quick growing variety.

I was wondering if they would be good trees to tap? Any help would be greatly apprecaited!!

Kim,

I'm going to use your method and the cheap supplies if my trees will work.
Thanks so much for posting that on your blog.

Penny

[plantoneonme]

Hi,

I haven't been on here for a while. I'm VERY interested in tapping some trees we have in our yard.

My husband says they are "soft maples"?? They are a quick growing variety.

I was wondering if they would be good trees to tap? Any help would be greatly apprecaited!!

Kim,

I'm going to use your method and the cheap supplies if my trees will work.
Thanks so much for posting that on your blog.

Penny

Penny, Many trees besides maples can be tapped such as box elder, birch and any variety of maple. The sugar maple has the highest concentration of natural sugar at around 2%. In order to make a gallon of syrup from a sugar maple you will need between 40 and 42 gallons of sap. The other trees will require somewhat more up to 60 gallons of sap for 1 gallon of syrup.

The problem now is the weather. In order for the trees to flow, the temperatures must get below 30 degrees during the night and above 40 during the day. In my area of Michigan, there has been a substantial decline in the amount of sap I am able to harvest...so much so that I have pulled the taps from one tree and will do so in the next day or 2 from the other one. Once a tree's buds begin to open, the sap will become bitter. The one tree has buds just beginning to open, therefore, the taps being pulled.

I had a great experience tapping my 2 trees this year and was able to make just over 2 quarts of syrup. I don't think that is too shabby for only 2 trees. I have already approached a couple neighbors about tapping their trees next year...so far they both said yes. The were wondering why I had buckets hanging from my tree (between the sidewalk and curb) and one couple even had a bet whether I was making syrup or not....well the husband won:)

Anyway, I hope you are able to make some syrup if not this year then next. Kim

[PJJ]

Kim,

Thank you for all that information. I never even thought about it being too late in the year to tap the trees. I follow your blog when I can. As soon as I saw your post about tapping your trees I was excited to try it. I LOVE how frugal you are!!! I've read a couple of other blogs about it but, I never dreamed it could be done on such a small scale. Unfortunately, between my husband and my Mother, I've been pretty much camping out at the hospital since Jan 15th. I'll just have to wait till next year.:( We are lucky that we have 4 maple trees on our property. One of them is huge. Hopefully, we will get a decent amout of sap when we do tap them.

Your syrup looks SO GOOD!!

Thanks again!!

Penny

[plantoneonme]

Kim,

Thank you for all that information. I never even thought about it being too late in the year to tap the trees. I follow your blog when I can. As soon as I saw your post about tapping your trees I was excited to try it. I LOVE how frugal you are!!! I've read a couple of other blogs about it but, I never dreamed it could be done on such a small scale. Unfortunately, between my husband and my Mother, I've been pretty much camping out at the hospital since Jan 15th. I'll just have to wait till next year.:( We are lucky that we have 4 maple trees on our property. One of them is huge. Hopefully, we will get a decent amout of sap when we do tap them.

Your syrup looks SO GOOD!!

Thanks again!!

Penny


Penny, sorry to hear of you family's health issues. I hope they are doing better. I will be slowing down a lot in the next few weeks instead of gearing up. My husband needs another transplant and things are moving very fast. In the next 2 weeks we have 17 appointments for pre-transplant testing. I'll keep up with the blog when/if I can.

My next project, I think maybe finishing tonight, will be making maple cream from some of the syrup. We all loved the first batch (made by accident) so much I decided to make some more. It is WONDERFUL on biscuits! I'll post information to tell you all how it works out. Kim