Grantham Gold Maple Syrup

In walked bud

2011-04-02T23:18:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I went around to collect the sap, only to find all of the trees had buds coming out. Some of the sap tasted OK, some was flavorless, and some was just plain bad (buddy). I kept the sweet stuff and may boil it or not. Those trees had buds starting and the syrup could be considered grade B, or cooking syrup.

I boiled down about 30 gallons today, yielding 3 quarts and 6 oz. (just shy of a half-pint) of syrup. The sap was from several days ago, before the buds started coming out. It needed to be segregated from the other sap. The syrup was pretty dark, but tasted good. Dark amber.

Five more quarts.

2011-03-31T07:48:00.002-04:00

Five more quarts - getting darker. The trees are starting to bud and the sap is losing its sweetness.

Awash in sap

2011-03-25T21:07:00.000-04:00

After only collecting sap off and on during the week, several buckets ended up overflowing today. The buckets are around 2.5 gallons each. After making the rounds tonight, we collected 45 gallons of sap, giving us around 55 gallons total. That's a lot of propane. And the replacement fan came for the range hood. Now I don't have to worry about the steam as much.

Three more quarts!

2011-03-24T23:29:00.000-04:00

I'm trying something new this year. Finishing the syrup always takes so long. So, after boiling sap down for many hours, I just stick it in the fridge or the garage. Then, I finish it another night. Last night I boiled 30 gallons of sap down to four gallons. Tonight, it finished to three quarts and a half-pint.

I also filter a little less. Getting the tree parts out of the sap seems like a good idea. Then, after boiling for hours, I filter the "almost done" sap into a cleaner boiling pan. That keeps the burnt pieces down. The rest just settles out in the jar over time and doesn't cause any problems.

I need something else to write about. But for now, at least I can keep track of how much I've made throughout the season and hopefully someone out there is learning from my mistakes. I would like to convert to wood in the future or get a better boiling pan to reduce boiling time. But, it's just more money.

Tonight's production - more than expected

2011-03-23T00:21:00.000-04:00

Five quarts tonight! It's still fairly light-medium in flavor. The sugar content must be very high right now, as I'm almost positive I didn't boil much more than 40 gallons. So far, we've managed just shy of seven quarts. That's nearly as much as I made all of last year, which wasn't a great year. There are about 50 more gallons of sap to be boiled, as well.

As you can see by the clock in the photo, it was late (not lunch time). The good news is that I boiled outside longer than ever before. Using the larger pan, it boils faster. Only 30 minutes was needed inside to finish it off, compared to the 1-2 hours I usually take. The larger volume of this batch helped keep the boiling sap deep enough in the large pan. This was especially welcome since I finally broke the exhaust fan in the oven hood last week. A replacement is on the way.

I don't even know how much...

2011-03-22T18:49:00.000-04:00

We weren't around long enough this weekend to boil , so I'm a little behind. There was so much sap, I lost count. And I know many of the buckets are filling up again as I type this. But, we're boiling now to take care of any sap from early last week. With the snow and cold night time temps, I haven't had any issues keeping the sap very cold (with ice on top). We got another six inches of snow yesterday - the sap is all buried in the snow on the north side of the house. Hopefully, I'll have some good reports of actual syrup soon!

45 gallons!

2011-03-16T20:22:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy few days...about 15 gallons each day (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). Lots of sap is nice, but it's hard when it comes all at once! Of course, with the additional taps, this is somewhat expected. Will have to boil soon!

Boiling day

2011-03-13T23:54:00.000-04:00

Today, we boiled. 14 gallons of sap boiled down to fill one quart-sized mason jar, a 3/4 pint jar, and a few tablespoons. That's about a 40:1 ratio of sap to syrup. The color is medium-light amber, and the taste is a little more robust than the last batch, but pretty light. Not bad at all.

Finally got some sap

2011-03-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

The last few days produced about 14 gallons of sap. Earlier this week, there was a really bad ice storm that took out power to the area (and many trees and branches). Warm temperatures and rain returned yesterday, but it wasn't very cold last night. The taps were all dripping slowly mid-morning as we emptied the buckets. There is still around 2 feet of snow in the woods, so snowshoes are essential.

It's time to set up the boiling station. For me, this involves cinder blocks and outdoor propane burners (high-BTU burners often used for frying turkeys or boiling crawfish). If the price of gas is any indication, I'm afraid the price of propane is going to make it an expensive year. On the bright side, it's very easy to start and control boiling with this method. Still hoping to use wood one of these years.

1/2 pint

2011-03-06T23:43:00.000-05:00

Made another 1/2 pint of syrup. This is good, seeing as we finished off the 1/4 pint I made a week ago. Usually, I don't bother with such trace amounts, but there is something wrong with buying maple syrup when you make your own!

The weather just isn't cooperating. It rained all day today and it's been warm. Better luck next week - the forecast is mediocre. Best of luck to those of you sugaring.

Good weather coming

2011-02-28T23:35:00.001-05:00

Each year, it seems I get a few gallons of sap and then it's cold out for a while. Eager to make syrup, I'll usually boil it down in the kitchen. Last week, that effort amounted to a quarter-pint of light syrup - just enough for a trucker's breakfast at Dysart's.

If you do this inside, I suggest a good externally-vented hood. I actually hang aluminum foil down from the hood, over the pots. It looks strange, but keeps the sticky steam off the cupboards.

Following the miniature sap run, we got snow. About a foot. Then, about 4 inches more. Looks like things will warm up a little this week and some more this weekend. If you're sugaring, good luck.

Taps are in...

2011-02-17T19:36:00.000-05:00

I put all the taps and buckets up yesterday and today - 20 in all. It was in the mid-40s today, but the trees weren't dripping too much. The sun was warm but I guess not quite enough. At least I won't miss any good early sap runs like many did last year. I also put some plastic taps in that need to have tubing run. Some buckets will serve as the basin for those taps (two-three taps to a bucket). Will finish that up tomorrow - it's kind of an experiment.

2011: Getting Ready...

2011-02-13T13:11:00.000-05:00

It's time! Scoping out the trees yesterday, I found some more trees to tap. I did a lot of clearing last summer that opened things up. Planning to clean the buckets and spiles today.

The weather forecast is weird. Highs in the low 40s and lows of 34? Will have to watch this...maybe put some taps in tonight or tomorrow.

Show's Over

2010-03-19T11:29:00.000-04:00

I finished off the last of the sap last night - half a gallon and a half-pint produced. The trees have been mostly stagnant for a few days now and the weather is very warm. Any sap that did come out was dumped (many of the trees are budding). So, about half of the taps have been pulled and the rest will be taken care of this weekend.

I'll post later showing overall production. It's a "down year". Just shy of two gallons (three last year).

Yellow sap

2010-03-14T19:30:00.000-04:00

A couple of the buckets were full of yellow-ish sap today. They had been outside a few days and probably turned bad. The others were OK. The rain today is unrelenting. Looking at the weather forecast, I think our days are numbered.

Puzzled

2010-03-10T00:46:00.000-05:00

I guess it wasn't cold enough last night. Nothing much happened today, although I didn't check all the buckets. But, it's 23 deg. F right now. A low of 14 is forecast with a high of 50 tomorrow. That's the biggest temperature swing I've ever seen since sugaring. We'll see what happens.

A pretty good weekend.

2010-03-07T23:35:00.000-05:00

Here's a photo of the weekend's production. A full gallon (plus) of medium amber syrup. No light syrup like last year. The new setup (also pictured below) has worked well. A couple notes on the weekend:

The weather was great and the sap ran wild on Saturday
Outdoor boil for ~10 hours in two pans
Indoor finishing for several hours (boils slowly, easy to take care of)
~40-45 gallons of sap processed
2.5 bottles of propane used
1 gallon, 1/2 pint of syrup produced

This photo (below) only has one burner under the pan on the right. Later, both burners were installed and a preheat pan was up on the cinder blocks on the left. It worked great. By preheating the sap, the boil wasn't slowed down for very long after refilling the other pans.

The first boil

2010-03-06T18:40:00.001-05:00

I set up the boiling rig today. With only one tank of propane (I forgot), I boiled down about 14 gallons of sap. It's finishing up right now.

The trees were going crazy today. I have around 25-30 gallons of sap that need to be processed. Most of it is from the last two days!

Trompin' in the woods

2010-03-04T23:14:00.000-05:00

I got about 4-5 gallons of sap today. Overall, around 20 gallons. For the first time, I also tapped 5 trees with plastic spiles and tubing. It's not much of a tubing network, but I'm trying it out. They just drop down into buckets. I am pleased to say that the huge/old/half dead maple out front seems to have some life in it. I found a good spot and it started dripping immediately. Last year, four taps in it did nothing.

Not a drop

2010-03-03T21:32:00.002-05:00

Must have been too warm last night. I checked five buckets...empty. C'mon freezing temperatures!

More people making syrup

2010-03-02T23:29:00.000-05:00

Well, more people are tapping trees anyway. A couple co-workers have tapped trees for the first time. It will be fun to see how their experiment goes! I'm always amazed at how many people in this area make syrup on a small scale - and how many others have been involved on a larger scale.

The weather

2010-03-02T23:24:00.000-05:00

I haven't kept track of the weather as closely this year as in the past. It looks like the remainder of the week is going to be ideal (mid-twenties at night, high 30s/low40s during the day). The 10-day forecast shows 5 days with lows above freezing (not good). This time of year, sugarers actually hope for cold nights and sunny days - I guess what is good for foliage is also good for sap output.

Saps running

2010-03-01T22:59:00.002-05:00

I feel like I should have tapped the trees earlier. Got about 10 gallons after the first day and a half. Guess I'll be boiling this weekend!

The taps are in.

2010-02-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

20 taps in today. We had a huge storm this week that gave us about 20" of snow, high winds, and no power for two days. Today was a nice, sunny day with a little snow. The taps started dripping as soon as they were drilled. I think I missed a little run last week, but nothing major because it was only 37-39 degrees and cloudy. Here's hoping for a season as good as last year (which I found out was the best in about 70 years in terms of production).

Cleaning...

2010-02-25T00:35:00.000-05:00

Spent about an hour and a half cleaning the buckets, spiles, and larger storage buckets last night. Today, we got a foot or so of wet snow. I hear the sap is running, but I will tap after a bad wind storm coming this Friday.

Almost time...

2010-02-19T10:38:00.002-05:00

Greetings. It's almost that time of year. I've noticed a couple other bloggers to the south are getting their sugaring equipment ready. The temperatures are in the mid-30s (forecast), but we always seem to be a little cooler on the wooded hilltop. I wonder what next week has in store for weather? It's definitely time to get the equipment out for a good washing and make some improvements over last year's setup.

Done for now

2009-04-01T01:12:00.000-04:00

A 1/2 pint short of 2 quarts. Dark, very tasty.

No more sap - boiling what's left

2009-03-31T19:56:00.004-04:00

I was holding off saying the sap was done, but now the weather confirms it. One tree today had a half gallon or so, not very sweet at all. Several had a few tablespoons of yellowish sap. Probably from sitting in the hot sun a couple days.

I have the two pans boiling outside and one inside. There probably isn't enough propane or time tonight to finish it all off. We'll see how far I get. I'll try to avoid the trap of putting fresh sap in the pan very late. Then it has to boil off for an hour of two before bringing inside to finish (another hour or two).

Boiling again

2009-03-28T23:31:00.002-04:00

Another late night. Boiled about 20 gallons +/- tonight. It's on the stove finishing now. This reduces the remaining sap to around 30 gallons. At least it's manageable.

Loads of sap

2009-03-27T21:51:00.002-04:00

Surprisingly enough, we got sap today-8 gallons. It was very mild last night, just around freezing. In total, I have about 60 gallons of sap...enough for about 1.5 gallons of syrup. Total sap for the year is around 120 gallons. Not bad considering about 10 of the taps are pretty quiet trees.

The sap this week was also the sweetest it has been all year. It really was a great week for sap. Not sure when I'll boil, but probably Saturday evening. Definitely won't get through the 60 gallons. There isn't enough propane or time in the day.

Record production (for me)

2009-03-21T20:27:00.008-04:00

We achieved the higher volumes of syrup we were shooting for. 1.25 gallons of syrup made on Friday and Saturday (see photo below). If I can get one more weekend like this, I should have enough for the year and a few gifts.

Finished everything tonight at 8PM. That's nice because usually it's much later. The turkey fryers worked really well when turned up high, getting through the 30-35 gallons of sap in about 7 1/2 hours. I also waited longer this time before bringing it onto the kitchen stove. The finishing process was a little faster because of that.

The syrup made last night (below, left) used sap from last weekend and Monday. The syrup made today (below, right) was from late-week sap. It looks a lot darker and tastes a little stronger. I've heard that batch processing like this can make the syrup darker, but haven't found many sources online for that (let me know if you can confirm).

Boiling day

2009-03-21T16:18:00.003-04:00

I have somewhere around 30-35 gallons of sap. Right now, the last of it is boiling in the pans. Looking forward to see how much we get. The sap is sweet, plus I dumped all of the ice out...and there was a lot this morning. Some trees are quiet today, others are dripping so fast it is almost a steady stream.

Sap's back

2009-03-21T01:32:00.002-04:00

Boiled down around 12-14 gallons tonight for 1.5 quarts, plus a few ounces. That's a pretty good ratio. Somewhere in the low 30s, but I took out some ice. It seems to help, even if I lose a small amount of sugar. The buckets are full and I'll toss the ice in the morning.

Uh oh

2009-03-18T21:41:00.002-04:00

Since the 14-gallon collection on Sunday, I got 20 more gallons. No collection today, maybe I'll check it out in the morning (didn't see much in the few buckets I checked...too warm). I don't know how much time this is going to take to boil, but I think it will be a lot. So, hoping to make a gallon this weekend.

A productive weekend.

2009-03-15T20:43:00.003-04:00

Well, I boiled down a half gallon of syrup on Saturday and emptied 14 more gallons of sap today. It's going to be a busy week or two. The weather looks promising, with only one night forecast to be above freezing. Without freezing temperatures, the sap doesn't build the pressure to come out.

Boiling took about 8 hours on two burners. Then a couple hours to finish, etc.

That's more like it.

2009-03-10T22:49:00.002-04:00

After gathering a few gallons of sap this weekend and making a half pint of syrup, we had two days (Sat/Sun) that were so warm at night, no sap came out. However, today was a different story. We gathered eight gallons of sap today from our 20 taps. Some of the colder trees (deeper in woods) are just starting to produce. A few out in the open produced 1-2 gallons just today! It's sealed up and stored in the shade and snow for this weekend.

Made some

2009-02-28T15:18:00.002-05:00

Boiled down 1.5 gallons of sap just for a taste (and before a cold week that will likely produce no sap). It is very light in color and taste, but is good. 43:1 ratio, so the sugar content is pretty good for this time of year. Off we go!

The taps are in.

2009-02-26T20:08:00.001-05:00

Well, I really think we're on the edge of the right weather. Today and tomorrow are warm, but then it's barely above freezing here. And I'm usually a few degrees colder than the forecast. We'll see.

Snow?

2009-02-24T21:00:00.003-05:00

Well, so much for the trail. It snowed about 12" Sunday night. With high winds, the snow drifted everywhere. Some people in the area are tapping, so I guess it's time. Looks like 30s to 40s in the coming days.

The buckets and extra steam pans arrived today. Time to clean and sanitize.

Made the trail

2009-02-21T19:42:00.001-05:00

We snowshoed around the property today to set up a path to the tapped trees. We went to last years and many more...a total of 29. Although, I only have 20 taps. Not sure what I'll do there. We also trimmed some of the pine/fir boughs blocking the sun.

Ordered the stuff

2009-02-21T19:27:00.003-05:00

The last couple weeks were spent looking for good deals on supplies. In an effort to make tapping, collecting, storing, and boiling easier, here is what I got.

(10) Spiles - local feed/farm supply store

(20) Sap buckets - online...hoping they arrive this week!

(10) Storage buckets w/lids - Craigslist, 8-gal. each, also used for gathering.
(2) Propane burners - Home Cheapot online after a massively frustrating experience in store.
(2) Steam pans - online...to speed up boiling this year.

I need to make a lot of syrup to make up for the money I've spent!

Let the 2009 season begin!

2009-02-12T13:08:00.002-05:00

Welcome back. I've started thinking about the 2009 season and what things I'd like to do differently. Last year, I only made just shy of 1 gallon of syrup. So, my first goal this year is to make more syrup. Second, boiling took a long time, so I'd also like to reduce that time.

So far I've purchased 10 more taps, more filter paper, and some funnels. Now, I'm looking for outdoor propane burners (the gas grill approach didn't generate enough heat to maintain a boil on cold days).

Day 39: Last Day for 2008

2008-04-13T21:28:00.003-04:00

Boiled down the final 9-10 gallons of sap to get 24 oz. of syrup. A little stronger flavored, really nice...medium in flavor/color. In hindsight, the weather changed very abruptly. Most of the days barely hit 40, and then, all of a sudden, it was 60 deg. outside with 40 deg. nights. The sap totally stopped. It's been a lot of fun...and a lot of work.

Lessons learned:
1. Making maple syrup is a rewarding hobby - try it!
2. Start small. Worry about mass production later.
3. Never, ever complain about the cost of maple syrup!

Day 37: No more sap

2008-04-11T18:42:00.002-04:00

Yep, that was the end of the sap. I've kept it cool with snow this week, planning on boiling this weekend.

Day 35: 4/9/08 Still running

2008-04-09T07:39:00.002-04:00

I've collected 8 gallons of sap in the last two days. The temperatures have dipped to the upper 20s at night. Same last night. This will probably be the last day because the forecast is for very warm temperatures. The buds on the trees haven't changed yet up here, but with the 50s and low 60s coming, I'm sure they will soon.

Day 31: 4/5/08 The Longest Day

2008-04-06T09:02:00.003-04:00

Boiled today. 15 1/2 gallons of sap into 1 3/4 quarts. That's a pretty good ratio. It was a long day - 14 hours total. I modified the boiling setup a little to try to capture all of the heat. Sheet metal on the right side stopped most of the heat from escaping, as did the bricks. I need a new plan for next year. This way is too slow. If I had more sap, I would have been boiling endlessly.

This might have been the last day. We'll see. It did get down to 29 degrees last night. That doesn't mean all the trees were that cold, though.

Day 29: 4/3/08 Two warm days...

2008-04-03T19:38:00.003-04:00

Some of the taps are producing a lot...overflowing the milk jugs. I had to replace two half-gallon containers with gallons. Since some of the taps seem to have nearly dried up, I moved four of them to trees without taps. The sap poured out, literally. I'll have to empty them tonight. I have about 13 gallons now, hoping to get 20 by this weekend...probably will miss that mark by a little.

It looks like the south-western taps are doing really well. A couple of trees had taps on the eastern side because that faced a clearing. The cold mornings plus sun weren't that good compared to the trees with western or southern taps. I'll make this change for next year.

Day 25: 3/30/08 Nothing but cold.

2008-03-30T15:38:00.002-04:00

No sap this weekend at all. We did make it to Valley View Maple Farm in Springfield, NH. They said their syrup was running dark amber now and that they thought the season was almost over. I hope it isn't up here. The weather is showing very high temperatures next week. Sixty degrees on Tuesday. The nights are borderline, just around freezing. So, it could be all done or an excellent week of sap. We'll see.

Day 23: 3/28/08 Snowstorm?

2008-03-28T09:26:00.002-04:00

4-8 inches of snow last night and today. School was cancelled...go figure. Happy Spring.

Day 22: 3/27/08 A little more...

2008-03-27T18:56:00.003-04:00

Two gallons of sap yesterday and 2.5 today. It really is not that warm yet. My elevation is 1250 ft. and the sun only hits a couple trees. One possibility is for the taps to dry out. I read somewhere they last 4-6 weeks, or maybe that was the length of the season. I have plenty of other trees to tap, though, if that happens.

Day 18: 3/23/08 Boiling day...

2008-03-23T19:26:00.000-04:00

11AM - I'm boiling today. The grill setup still has a hard time maintaining a boil. It's about 25 degrees outside now, but was about 15 degrees when I started at 8:30am. Nine gallons of sap in all.

5PM - syrup is done. A long day, but it was extended by one low propane tank. I lost the boil for quite a while, but got it back after switching tanks. In all, just over one quart of syrup. This sap-to-syrup ratio is a lot better than last time. I know the sugar maples (vs. red) were producing more. The sugar content may have changed also. I filtered a lot more during the process and am curious to see how much sugar sand settles out.

Day 15: 3/20/08

2008-03-20T22:28:00.004-04:00

Well, the weather stinks. Rain, freezing rain, snow. The sap is trickling. Some friends have trees in the sun that are producing a lot. So, I'm optimistic. Probably will boil to make a quart or so this weekend.

I made another Grantham, NH web site. http://granthamnh.googlepages.com

Day 11: 3/16/08 A little more...

2008-03-16T20:01:00.002-04:00

Another gallon and a half. Boiled a cup on the stove to taste the quality - made a tablespoon and tasted good. Looks like another up and down week. Hopefully I can get ten gallons to boil this time. That would make a quart - enough for Easter and our visitors in two weeks.

Day 10: 3/15/08 Got some sap

2008-03-15T11:49:00.004-04:00

2 1/4 gallons of sap flowed overnight on ten taps. A trickle for some, but a lot for me. With 200 taps, that would be around 45 gallons - a decent night for a larger producer. Into the freezer to keep it fresh. Four gallons are in the freezer.

Day 9: 3/14/08 Sap's runnin'

2008-03-14T22:36:00.002-04:00

Warm day, sap's coming out. Not terribly fast yet, but it looks like the start of something. Warmer weather is coming next week. For now, I'm freezing the sap.

Day 8: 3/13/08

2008-03-13T21:47:00.002-04:00

Still hovering around 37 degrees. Must be colder in the woods. No sap to speak of. The syrup has a little sugar sand settling out. Will have to figure that out. Forecast is for low-mid 40s for the next week or so. The weatherman keeps lying.

Day 7: 3/12/08

2008-03-13T20:40:00.001-04:00

One quart of sap in the last three days. Pretty much nothing due to cold weather. Waiting...

Day 4: 3/9/08

2008-03-13T20:39:00.001-04:00

Boiling day - first attempt. Thought it made sense to do a small batch (alpha test) and see if it comes out OK.

11am - It didn't take long to get the 3.5 gallons boiling on the gas grill with the grate removed. The grill is in rough shape, but it works. The smoke from the years of grilling is strong and I hope it doesn't affect the syrup flavor.

12pm - Sap is turning darker already and smells sweet. The wind picked up and when it gusts, the sap stops boiling. The heat plate is disintegrating.

1pm - Brought sap inside 10" pot. After about an hour in the large pot, I transfered to a small pot (2 qt. or so). Syrup is now about 2" deep and temperature is rising.

2:30pm - Really tastes like syrup, but it's very thin. It foams up quickly and I have to lower the heat.

3pm - DONE! Just as every how-to warns, the temperature rises fast. Filtering was slow because we did it a little at a time and it cooled/thickened. The end result was two 1/4 pint jars full of syrup. Light amber, but good tasting. A nice ending to the small batch. About 5 hours of work, 4 hours of boiling - something I hope to reduce if I can keep the boil going longer outside.

Day 3: 3/8/08

2008-03-13T20:38:00.001-04:00

Collected 1.5 gallons of sap this morning and put in the other 4 taps, giving us 10 total. It rained in the night - might have some rain water in there. Later on, looking out the window, it looked like buds were forming. I think I've found the red maples vs. sugar maples based on the bud shapes, but we'll see. No one can remember the leaves even though we looked at them for this purpose.

Day 2: 3/7/08

2008-03-13T20:37:00.000-04:00

1 gallon of sap from the 6 taps: into a milk jug and into the freezer. Earlier in the day, bought a full-sized steam table tray, which measures about 12"x20" (6" deep) and is stainless steel. I returned an outdoor burner and decided to use the larger pan on the gas grill. Also picked up a new propane bottle and had it filled.

Day 1: 3/6/08

2008-03-08T19:39:00.001-05:00

Two thumbs up. After reading a lot of materials about making syrup and driving/calling all over town, we're ready to tap the trees. I bought a drill bit, taps, and filters locally. For "pails", we're using milk and soda bottles. They do the trick, but are a little harder to hang securely on the tap. 6 taps in, ran out of bottles.