Maple Sugaring 2016- with a boy who loves his pancakes (french toast too), boiling down maple sap to syrup is a must-do project.
I built a small wood fired evaporator based on a rocket stove design. It uses two flue tiles, one nestled inside the other, with insulation in between. The metal sleeve on top keeps the heat next to the pot as it rises. Very fuel efficient and hot once it gets going, and hardly any smoke at all. Boils off 20 gallons in a day.
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Thats awesome. Iāve read about the merits of rockets stoves the last few years and I really want to build a small steel one as my next welding project.
I think wood fire is the only way to economically make maple syrup on the small scale. If you use propane or electric burners you end up spending a fair amount of cash due to how much heat is required to boil sap down. My old home had several huge sugar maples but when I purchased my new home I never had the chance to identify the sugar maples prior to leaf fall. So Iām not able to collect this year.
How much syrup are you getting out of 20 gallons of sap? about a half gallon?
Pretty neat! Looks like you could put together a nice forge, too, if thatās one of your interests.
As I understand it sugar maples, while the preferred source of sap for syrup making, are not alone, and other maples as well as birch (?) and perhaps some other hardwoods can be used too. True? Iāve noticed a couple of taps on local norway maples here in town.
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Auto correct strikes again- title should read āRocket stoveā.
I tap both Red and Sugar Maple, did Birch a couple years ago as well, that makes a stronger flavored syrup but the sap is even more diluted than Maple. I got about half a gallon syrup from 20 gal of sap.
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Thanks for the info. I was not aware of that. I donāt have any birch trees in my area but I do have red and silver maple. Iāve heard that you can extract sap from sycamore trees too but have never tried it.
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Thank you Speedster for the post about sycamore syrup, going to try this next year! http://www.crookedchimneysyrup.com/?
Hello, I did something similar a long time ago when I could still carry sap out of the woods. I took a 55 gal drum with a lid, ~ 15" down from the top I cut holes and pushed 2" t bar thru to hold the 15 gal pot, cut a hole in the top 2" bigger than the pot, put a 6" stove pipe in the back, and cut a door in the front to load wood in and some vent holes. You could really get the thing cooking, Did about the same thing but you could make a couple of gallons of syrup per day (one batch at a time) and didnāt need to keep sticking wood in the hole.
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Thanks for posting that, Jesse. I love everything about it. Like many others here I suspect, Iāve always loved the idea of getting something delicious to āeatā out of a tree we usually donāt think of as being a producer of āediblesā. I have lots of Maple trees around me and have always thought about trying to tap them and make a little syrup. But most of what Iāve seen online are larger set-ups than Iād ever want or be able to undertake. Iād be thrilled to make 1 small bottle of syrup just to say I did it, and your little set-up looks like it would be pretty easy and inexpensive. Very interesting!
Jesse. I love your rig.
I have 33 mature red and sugar maples on my mountain acreage that are begging me to tap them. I just currently donāt have the time. Iām starting a new job on Monday, and am busy as a bee. Eventually I hope to make the sugaring thing an annual tradition for my family.
This weekend we are going to a maple syrup festival nearby and will be engorging ourselves with pancakes. My wife is originally from Maine and our young sonās favorite food is pancakes.
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Walnuts and hickories (including pecan) can be tapped, too.
Saw an article in one of the NNGA proceedings (I think) from sometime in the past decade where they tapped black walnut, butternut, boxelder, and sugar maple, then had taste tests on the syrup from allā¦ I donāt think sugar maple came in firstā¦ but itās been a while since I read it.
I make hickory syrup by boiling nutshells, nut husks, straining, then adding sugar and cooking down. Historically, folks made it by pulling strips of exfoliating bark off of shagbark trees, and boiling them; my stuff is cleaner, with less lichen, bugs, bird pooā¦
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Just read your post on not knowing which trees are sugar maples. Donāt know if you know, but all maples and several other species can be tapped and syrup made from their sap. I tapped silver maples in my yard and made some syrup a couple of years ago just to see if I could. As you point out, it cost more to boil with propane than the !syrup is worth, especially if you factor in the time spent watching a pot boil!