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Maple time soon

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Have no idea how the Maple thing works from trees. Can someone give me the run down how it works? And can you use it right from the tree or do you have to add something to it? Thanks
You can drink sap right from a tree but it's not really that sweet. only about 1/40th what syrup will be. It doesn't keep well either.
I collect sap every day or two. and begin boiling and reducing.
You can also tap other trees like other maples, boxelders, birch, and walnut. But they wont have as much sugar so yield will be lower.
The syrup has to be boiled down and concentrated to the point where yeast and bacteria can't grow in it.
 
C6, Ok two things once you boil the sap down does it thicken and become sweet? And lets say you have one gallon of sap how much syrup does that make? We have walnut trees here but their sap isn't sweet.
 
C6, Ok two things once you boil the sap down does it thicken and become sweet? And lets say you have one gallon of sap how much syrup does that make? We have walnut trees here but their sap isn't sweet.
First answer is yes
Second answer is variable depending on the trees used. but I'd be surprised if you got more than 4-5 ounces.

I'ts a lot of work and time just for 1 gallon.
 
Funny, have a cyber buddy that does the maple syrup thing. He said he had a dead tree he was cutting up for maple syrup wood.

In tongue and cheek kidding, I told him he should hold on to that, as in my 40+ years as a master carpenter, I had never even seen or heard of that variety. ( Of course, all the while knowing it was some manure tree he was cutting up for fuel to boil sap.)
 
First answer is yes
Second answer is variable depending on the trees used. but I'd be surprised if you got more than 4-5 ounces.

I'ts a lot of work and time just for 1 gallon.

Whats the avg. a person can put up in one season? Here in Calif. we get most of your maple syrup from the Savemart Tree.
 
Whats the avg. a person can put up in one season? Here in Calif. we get most of your maple syrup from the Savemart Tree.

How much you can make depends on the size of your sugar bush and the capacity of your sugar shack and the length of the run. I see people with a few bags on a half dozen trees to 40 acre woods connected with hoses and 3000 gallon collection tanks.
I haven't made any for some years now A storm took out all my big trees so mine comes from the "savemart" tree too. But, I'll tell ya, the best store bought maple syrup pales in comparison to syrup you make yourself.
 
I don't know what Aldi's North carries for real maple syrup. But the maple syrup industry is plagued with the same adulteration problems as the honey industry and the olive oil industry. Often syrups are blended with corn syrup. It's good to know your source. That said? I like many things from Aldi's (South) or "Trader Joes", and am often surprised.
Real maple syrup don't come cheap, but I find it goes a lot further than imitation stuff, meaning you use less for the same level of satisfaction.
 
Well, here in Texas, the maple syrup homegrown is non- existent, but I just bought some awesome home- grown local honey out of Weatherford, Texas.

Best honey I've ever tasted and the price was right, too!
 
Has anyone tried making syrup from walnut trees? I would like to try it.

I thought I had found some "walnut syrup" but once I got it it was corn syrup favored with walnuts. It taste good, but I was quite disappointed that it was fake.

Fleener
 
I'm in SW Ohio and some folks make it here or create a mix of maple and walnut. I make a gal or two of maple from my yard trees. I tapped my walnuts last year, and did not get enough to make pure walnut so I added to maple syrup. I will try again this spring, maybe the sap will be running better this yr. In my opinion not a big difference in syrup taste, just a very slight walnut taste.

DAVE B
 
Has anyone tried making syrup from walnut trees? I would like to try it.

I thought I had found some "walnut syrup" but once I got it it was corn syrup favored with walnuts. It taste good, but I was quite disappointed that it was fake.

Fleener
I have made syrup from the sap of the black walnut trees. the sap flows the same time period as maples. The syrup is more of a yellow than amber and has a buttery taste missing in the maple. Hickory is said by some old timers to make a better syrup and also sycamore can be used. Birch syrup was a favorite of some, but the sap doesn't flow until later in the year and tend to sour before the buckets are collected. Until the house fire, I had a book called Edible plants of Eastern North America that listed several trees used for syrup.

I jury rigged collection equipment from scavenged articles. I drilled hole 3/8 inch diameter and about two inches deep into the tree. used a bottle brush to pull out some of the saw dust from drilling and then inserted the end of a 8 to 10 inch plastic tube about a half inch into the hole. I put a stainless steel screw into the tree about 3 inches below the hole and had 2 and 3 liter soda bottles with 3/8 inch holes drilled in the caps. I put fence wire loops around the bottle necks that would hook the bottle to the stainless steel screw. then inserted the tube through the hole in the bottle cap. I would take extra bottles with intact caps out to collect the sap. I would unscrew the tubed cap from the full bottle of sap and put the solid cap on it, take the empty bottle and screw it to the tubed cap and hang it from the screw. the tube and cap system keeps bugs dirt and rain out of the sap.

Around here the trees flow best when the days are above 35 and the nights are below about 28. The wider the temp swings the more it seems to flow. In this area, tapping starts in late January and often ends about the third week of February although sometimes it extends to mid March. I am only 90 miles North of Washington SC. Our Daffodils are often blooming in mid march. I have shoveled snow in April and filled the kiddie pool for hot days in March. In 1993 we had several days in late February in the upper 70 degrees. and on March 13, we had 20 inches of drifting blowing snow. Four or 5 days later I was shoveling snow wearing a short sleeve shirt in the 70's again.
 
Can someone show some pictures of your set up??
I haven't done it in a few years. but will do it again in a few days. You need a way to collect sap. On a day about 40 degrees the sap with flow like a leaky faucet. You need a container to put it in, and then an evaporator. An evaporator can be as simple as a 4 gallon kettle from Walmart. Don't do it in the kitchen, or the steam vapro will condense on the cabinets and ruin everything. I use a kerosene stove out doors. It take a awhile to cook it down and then if not careful it will scorch quickly. 4 gallons of sap will get you about 10 oz of syrup. You don't need sugar maple, any maple except Japanese. A tree about 24 inches in diameter should give a gallon or two of sap per day depending on the temperatures. Some folks make their own spiles out of short sections of PVC pipe and hang buckets the old fashioned way. True value hardware sells spiles, but the type for open buckets which get a lot of wind driven dirt in them. There has got to be dozens of you tube videos
 
I haven't done it in a few years. but will do it again in a few days. You need a way to collect sap. On a day about 40 degrees the sap with flow like a leaky faucet. You need a container to put it in, and then an evaporator. An evaporator can be as simple as a 4 gallon kettle from Walmart. Don't do it in the kitchen, or the steam vapro will condense on the cabinets and ruin everything. I use a kerosene stove out doors. It take a awhile to cook it down and then if not careful it will scorch quickly. 4 gallons of sap will get you about 10 oz of syrup. You don't need sugar maple, any maple except Japanese. A tree about 24 inches in diameter should give a gallon or two of sap per day depending on the temperatures. Some folks make their own spiles out of short sections of PVC pipe and hang buckets the old fashioned way. True value hardware sells spiles, but the type for open buckets which get a lot of wind driven dirt in them. There has got to be dozens of you tube videos


Thanks
 
used to get about 2 gallons out of the one red maple i had in ontario. we`d boil that down and make a few pieces of candy.
in Newfoundland I use 3/8 copper line spiles(is that what they are called?) and tap about 12 weed maples( i don't know the proper name but they grow everywhere like weeds) and 2 birch trees in my yard. at the right time of year they run pretty good, i got lucky the first two years here finding out the right time. for buckets i use metal cans from irish cream bottles or the metal cans from the All sorts candy. the biggest can i use is the one that the Boy scouts assorted chocolate covered popcorn comes in and that holds just over a gallon. they have a tight fitting lid and are easily cargo strapped to the tree. its very windy where i live, the straps are quite necessary. I usually collect about 10-15 gallons in the season, freeze it till i have it all then boil. end up with under a gallon of syrup, but its quite good. will last almost a year. usually use pallet wood for the boil fire.
the only weed maples i cut down are the ones that grow by the house.
 
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