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vthompson
02-07-2009, 08:20 PM
Does anyone roughly know how much Maple sap it takes to yield 1 quart of Maple Syrup? I think that I would like to try making some, but I don't know that much about it. Can anyone help?

crashdive123
02-07-2009, 08:24 PM
According to THIS (http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/PDFpubs/7036.pdf) it takes about 10 gallons of sap to make a quart of syrup.

vthompson
02-07-2009, 08:51 PM
Thanks crashdive, I don't guess that I will be tackling that project.

RBB
02-07-2009, 11:42 PM
Forty gallons of sap to one gallon of syrup. We usually go with this for the first run, but more like 50 or 60 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup for the later runs. It is well worth doing if you like maple syrup.

I usually tap about 50 trees, but if you tap in town where the trees have large crowns - you can get the same amount of sap out of four or five trees.

Tap your tree about waist height, or a little less, so you are in a line between a large root and a large branch. Start boiling in a large kettle ( I use 25 gallon kettles made from half a 55 gallon drum - be sure to get a drum that has been used for food storage). After you've boiled the sap down to where it foams (watch very closely) pour the sap into a smaller kettle and finish it. For sugar, boil the sap at a lower heat until it "sheets" when poured from a spoon, then pour it into a mold and let it harden.

vthompson
02-08-2009, 12:15 AM
RBB, How long on a regular kitchen stove would I have to boil the sap, or is it even feasable?

Dennis
02-08-2009, 09:36 AM
This brings back some good memories of my Uncle’s farm. When I was a small boy I would help gather and cook the maple sap. My aunt would cook the pancakes. Just good memories. I can still smell aroma. This was in upstate NY.

One thing I remember VT was a lot of work but well worth it.

tacmedic
02-08-2009, 03:09 PM
You probably don't want to do it inside, it creates a lot a steam and everything could wind up coated with a thin sticky residue from small amounts of sugar in the steam.

RBB
02-08-2009, 11:38 PM
RBB, How long on a regular kitchen stove would I have to boil the sap, or is it even feasable?

It is feasible. I sometimes "finish" the syrup or make sugar on the kitchen stove, but be prepared to do a lot of cleanup - unless you bride is a lot easier going than mine.

adalel
02-10-2009, 07:58 PM
Tapped a maple yesterday for the first time. Got a pint of sap out of the tree and simmered it down to about a fourth of that much. It tasted good. Should I plug the hole to keep the tree healthy? If so how?

Rick
02-10-2009, 08:01 PM
Shouldn't you have asked that first? You sort of got the hole before the plug didn't you? Or something like that........

RBB
02-11-2009, 03:08 AM
Tapped a maple yesterday for the first time. Got a pint of sap out of the tree and simmered it down to about a fourth of that much. It tasted good. Should I plug the hole to keep the tree healthy? If so how?

You can. Just cut a sapling, whittle it to size, tap it into the hole, and cut it flush. The bark will eventually grow around it.