Maple syrup

Have a large maple spewing sap like crazy,Is it possible to make a couple qts this time of year out of one tree? Been thinking of trying but obviously a novice.Any hints?

Yes, now is the perfect time of year. You will need about 20 gallons of sap to make 2 quarts of syrup. Boil it down outside to about 1 gallon and then finish on stove in the house.

If the tree is a soft maple you will need more sap to get the same amount of syrup.

Well I don’t know too much but you boil off the water to get suyrp it takes 40 to 1 so it’ll take about 40 quarts to get 1 of suyrp. don’t boil in the house from what I know because of all the moisture good luck Stan

Lake neighbor has a big family operation – tap 3,500 trees – finished about 800 gallons of syrup last year. They target 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Very good product, rich brown color, very good flavor.

My family has had a sugar bush for 30+ years. It’s not huge, only 400 taps. We have kept records for more than 20 years. We have a mix of soft and hard but on average, it takes us 27 to 33 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. We boil it down close and finish it all off in the garage. Don’t let the sap sit too long before you burn it off. It will cloud. You can taste test it and pull it off when ever you want. That’s the beauty of doing it yourself.

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My family has had a sugar bush for 30+ years. It’s not huge, only 400 taps. We have kept records for more than 20 years. We have a mix of soft and hard but on average, it takes us 27 to 33 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. We boil it down close and finish it all off in the garage. Don’t let the sap sit too long before you burn it off. It will cloud. You can taste test it and pull it off when ever you want. That’s the beauty of doing it yourself.

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now them are some good trees!

How long does it usually take to boil down a couple gallons or so at a time, Thinking of using the propane turkey fryer base and a 16qt enamel coated pot so I can do it in the garage.Would you add sap to the boiled down sap as you go or do a batch at a time? Thanks for the info.

Don’t know how to send the link but”Uncle Lukes”pure maple surup is $13.28-32oz at Sam’s Club.Tank of LP is $20.00.I would put Uncle Lukes on some Studiwheats and go fishing.My dad gathered sap from every tree in the yard and boiled it down when I was a kid.It was just enough to stick to the bottom of the pot.If it’s one of the things on your bucket list give it a try.Bet you don’t leave any on the plate when you see how much work it is.

Making syrup is kind of like making a lure and catching fish, it is satisfying to do it yourself (for some!). It is a good year so far, now is the time. I only tap a few trees, I boil outside and keep adding as I go until I get a decent quantity to finish in the house. A turkey fryer should work fine, a more open pot is better (more surface area to boil), that said I use a big stock pot and it works fine. Be careful, the sap gets really hot, first sapping injury this year in the CZ house! Take it easy when you’re finishing, once burned there is no going back. Have fun!

It’s a great hobby. We started with 10 trees in the yard and now have 225 tapped. For finishing without a hydrometer ($15.00 very good investment), when sap is getting close to being done it will boil up and look like a head of beer. When this happens, remove from heat so it doesn’t boil over. Test syrup now for taste and thickness. If you want it sweeter and thicker, boil again till head comes up one or two more times. During this stage you must watch very closely (especially if you’re in the house) because if it boils over, your wife will kill you!

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How long does it usually take to boil down a couple gallons or so at a time, Thinking of using the propane turkey fryer base and a 16qt enamel coated pot so I can do it in the garage.Would you add sap to the boiled down sap as you go or do a batch at a time? Thanks for the info.

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1) The fastest you can boil without a forced draft system would be 1 gallon of water/ sq. ft. of surface area of your pot.
2) You can add sap to the pot as it boils down, but make sure you do it very slowly, if you kill the boil, the finished syrup will turn out darker than if you did it a batch at a time.

My suggestion would be to boil a pot full of sap at a time, then finish it on the stove. Finished syrup will boil at 7 degrees above boiling water. Get a candy thermometer, boil water and check what temp. it boils at. Yes, you say water boils at 212, true, but your thermometer might not say 212. Whatever your therm. says, add 7 degrees for finished syrup. A few messed up batches before I realized that one!

I’m by no means a pro, but do know what not to do making syrup!

Depending on the size of tree. Put more than one tap.

This pot has been going for a few days, time to finish it off tonight before the rain tomorrow.

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How long does it usually take to boil down a couple gallons or so at a time, Thinking of using the propane turkey fryer base and a 16qt enamel coated pot so I can do it in the garage.Would you add sap to the boiled down sap as you go or do a batch at a time? Thanks for the info.

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Took my first stab at it this year, and borrowed a propane turkey cooker, 17 gallons. Had it going on a slow boil, and averaged boiling off a gallon per hour. Certainly not economical, but the syrup we ended up with was terrific, all from sugar maples in the yard. Only boiled off 30 gallons of sap, but worth the time and effort, and will do more next year. Ended up with about 3 quarts.
saw the post saying that if you add the sap to a batch that’s almost done, it will darken up. well, that’s what I was doing, and it did turn out dark, but excellebt flavor, almost buttery.
Might try a wood fire next year, as have plenty of that around the yard.