Hey Guys
Any syrup makers out there? Just trying to help out a buddy. Curious to see what equipment others are using. I am sure that somebody out ther has some good ideas as far as heat containment, use are concerned. Any thoughts, ideas, or pics would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks in Advance
Marc
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heat containment, use are concerned
Are you trying to figure out how to heat it? We have a stainless steel wood fired syrup cooker that holds 60 gallons of sap. We continue to add more sap as the moisture is cooked off of it. Once it reaches a color stage (starts to have color) we then transfer that to a propane burner to finish it off.
Use a good thermometer and a hydrometer to tell when your moisture/sugar ratio is correct. Be sure to use a syrup hydrometer and not a sap hydrometer. The hydrometer measures the sugar content of your finished produce. If the syrup is done the hydrometer should float so that the top Hot Test red line is even with the surface of the liquid.
Once the syrup is done you bottle it.
Scenic
How much sap an hour do you figure you are boiling. Got a decent system, would just like to boost productivity, and cut cost.
Thanks
Marc
I wish I could give you an honest answer for that one but I really have never figured it out. It is a time consuming process I know that. It takes about 6 hours of cooking for us to get it down to where it is ready to be finished off.
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We have a stainless steel wood fired syrup cooker that holds 60 gallons of sap.
Hi Scenic, were did you get this cooker and how much did it cost? My sister and I have been making syrup for the last three years and we need to find an improved way to cook it down. Right now we’re boiling it down outside over an old BBQ grill. It doesn’t work very efficiently, especially if it’s windy at all. I was wondering too about using one of those turkey deep fryer deals that people use to burn their garages down, if you know what I mean. They’re designed to hold a lot of fluid and heat it up with propane. We need to do something better. This year was a banner crop, we ended up with about 2 gallons of syrup from 8 trees!
Rootski
Our cooker actually came with our house when we bought it. What I have learned is that you want a pan that has more surface exposure to allow it to release more steam. Shallow and wider can be better. We do use a stainless steel pan on our two burner fryer base to finish off. Anderson Syrup has a few cookers for sale most of the time. They can run anywhere from $1,000.00 – 6-7,000.00 depending on how much you want to spend on it.
This year has been a bumper crop for most. I personally did not tap this year as I have not had the time to do it. A couple years ago we ran right about 200 taps with a pipe line system. It’s a lot of fun but it sure is time consuming.
I have helped a friend of mine do it a couple times. He uses and old bulk tank like dairy farmers use. You can find older, smaller tanks all over for scrap price since farmers only want the big ones. He has two, one to stock the syrup until he has enough to cook, then tranfers if to a tank with the top cut off and wood fires it.
It takes a lot of work, but I like to work 
One thing to be sure of is that you have a good place to do the boiling, and you will literally be putting gallons worth of mosture into the air. I know one person who tried doing it inside her house, and the condensation was a real problem.
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Scenic
How much sap an hour do you figure you are boiling. Got a decent system, would just like to boost productivity, and cut cost.
Thanks
Marc
they say 1 GPH per square ft of pan
That sounds about right.
Anyone know of a fluted constant flow set up being sold I am looking. All I have now is a home made flat pan and I want to move up
They are tough to find up here but I will keep my ears open. I may be getting rid of some taps and maybe a pipe line stystem. Last count I think we had about 400 taps. Way to many!
Our first try was two years ago, I think our pot/pan was a bit on the thin side, our first batch scorched real bad and now we know not to have the fire too hot. I like the turkey pot idea with the spigot to drain the oil, now just use that idea with a pan/pot with more surface area. The heavier and more surface area your pan/pot has, the better. My brother has over 200 gallons of sap going right now and the time it takes, along with the amount of wood (cutting and splitting time) brings the labor hours of one pint of finished maple syrup way up there. Look at the Mille Lacs thread, the Red Door Resort has a picture of their sugar shack.
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