Mark asked about the making of maple sirup and I would like to make a
comment. I used to make quite a bit of it and I got my training from
an old timer about 40 years ago. First when we tapped early in the
spring (February)you got about a gallon of sirup from 35 gallons of
sap . As the season goes along it drops and by the time we pulled
the taps usually by April 15th it took about 90 gallons of sap. It
becomes a lot of boiling to evaporate that amount of water but there
is not a lot of other projects going on at that time of year. Next
when you are finishing it to the right consistency you should have a
thermometer in it during the day to find out at what temperature it
is boiling. This may sound strange but you will find that it will
boil at a different temperature each day. This depends on the
specific gravity for the day. Water supposedly will boil at 212
degrees but the sap will boil anywhere from 208 to 216. If you know
what it boiled during the day when you want it judged in fairs or
exhibits you want it finished at 7 degrees above what ever temp it
boiled that day. It takes out any guess work on when it is done and
it comes out without a burnt taste and a pretty color. You then
strain (filter) the sugar sand out of it, bottle it, give away most
of it and have a happy feeling of job well done. Have some on vanilla
ice cream and your work will not be for naught! We never put in more
than 2 taps in any one tree regardless of size. That might of been
because we had enough trees to choose from. Ray
[NAFEX] Maple sirup making,
Ray Kaminski, 02/24/2008