School Me On Maple Syrup

[My Pet Powder Goat]

Don't sugar in your house, sugar in the sugarhouse!

[Peruvian]

Where's the advice in these observations?

Boiling sap creates a lot of steam which will cause wallpaper to peel.

[XXX-er]

If nothing else, by doing this you'll realize that paying $30 for a half gallon is a bargain.

yeah this ^^ so do you want a lifestyle or do you just want something to pour on your pancakes?

[mtnjam]

All I know is that Wisconsin still makes the best maple syrup. Of course I'm kind of biased considering I've never paid for syrup my entire life. Always have been given it as a gift or let relatives tap maple trees on our land for at least a gallon of syrup. The barter system is still alive and well in northern Wisconsin.

[XXX-er]

I'm pretty sure free syrup is the best maple syrup in the world

Dude its just maple tree sap, Quebec makes 70 % of the syrup in the world ... cuz thats where all the maple trees are

[Timberridge]

^^^I'm sure you can make syrup from any tree sap. I'm not sure how it tastes on pancakes though.

[XXX-er]

yeah I have had birch syrup

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birch_syrup

sounds like maple is easier more productive

[My Pet Powder Goat]

Vt still makes the best syrup. It's something we're willing to 'check our spare' over.

Intresting fact: in the not too distant future VT will no longer be able to produce high grade syrup due to global warming

[From_the_NEK]

Syrip mafia?

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More like OPEC

[SB]

You should knot attempt to make the syrup, one could only assume it will taste like the asshole you are.

Only good people make the syrup, this excludes the op and many others here.

[From_the_NEK]

I'm from Vermont and I make maple syrup. Obviously, northeastern Vermont has the best in Vermont as well . The Canadian stuff is all blended together by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. Here in Vermont, the flavor of the various regions is identifiable. Similar to a fine Scotch.

Anyway, advice...
When I was young we started out collecting sap in buckets (about 50-60 taps) and boiling over a homemade evaporation unit that my dad bought of someone for $50. This unit consisted of an old coal furnace flipped onto its back and a 12" deep flat galvanized pan (I think the galvanize may have not been good? ) to boil the sap in. We were outdoors and that setup SUCKED. It took forever to finish a batch and staying up to 3am was not uncommon. Then if it started to rain or snow, that sucked worse as you got wet and cold and the precipitation falling into the pan was counterproductive. All of this for 4 or 5 gallons of syrup. WORTH IT!

Do not try to boil down sap in your house, unless your house can withstand large amounts of steam. Finishing/Bottling on an indoor stove is fine since that doesn't involve boiling off huge amounts of water.

If you do boil outdoors, make sure you have a way of preventing smoke/ash from the fire from tainting you syrup. My Bro-in-law was boiling on an outdoor setup one year but he was under the eaves of his large lean-to style garage. He was boiling with primarily cedar scrap wood. The syrup ended up super dark and tasted like ass (cedar smells better than it tastes) due to contamination from ash and smoke.

These days, I help my neighbor with his hobby operation. He has about 100 taps and makes about 35 gallons of syrup a year. He has a drop flue evaporator pan, and finishing pan. It is pretty slick. Similar to this https://www.leaderevaporator.com/p-2...aporators.aspx

We still have plenty of time to hang out and drink beer and some other season specialties .

[buttahflake]

I live in the southern maple kingdom.
Bascom's and Clarks are one town north.

New Hampshire loves maple products!

https://www.bascommaple.com/

Bascom's is like a living history museum, that produces and sells every product needed to harvest the nectar.
Seven generations started in 1853!

[XXX-er]

everybody knows the best stuff is made by druid virgins

[dunfree]

Tapped ~dozen trees (not sugar maple - red maples so less sugar content) a couple years running. Bags are cheaper than buckets to put on the trees. A dual basket propane fryerhttps://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/grills-outdoor-cooking/fryers-accessories/chard-trade-propane-dual-basket-fryer-18-qt/p-1444426389135.htm is worth the little $ for substantial savings in time over a single burner type deal. Finish on the stove indoors. A syrup hydrometer is nice for measuring sugar content, some filters to filter it before jarring it.

Biggest ongoing expense is energy. Biggest suck is time.

[charles martel]

Ok.

Thx for all this.

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[Foggy_Goggles]

I missed this the first time around. This is some friends of the family up in the Kingdom. Good peeps. If you need syrup, they'll hook you up.