Pick out your maple trees now!

[kroppe]

Now is a good time to identify which trees you want to tap for spring maple sugaring, since the leaves haven't fallen yet. I know that I had a hard time picking trees in January, with no leaves on them. Even with a field book, maples can be hard to identify by bark alone.

While scouting for deer I found a few good sized maples that should take 2 taps per tree. Hopefully I'll be awash in sap come March!

[tangleknot]

Great reminder, Kroppe! Thank You!

[Robert W. McCoy Jr]

How do you go about this kroppe?

I think that would be interreasting.

Do you make your own syrup?

[kroppe]

Robert,

Making maple syrup is fun, easy and you are rewarded with an awesome end result. To me, it is a quintessentially "Michigan" activity. There are many guides as to how to do it. I have given a quick summary from my experience. More can be found at

http://www.massmaple.org/index.html

When to Tap Trees
------------------------
Late February and March is the time to tap. When the daytime temperatures are above freezing, and nighttime temperatures below freezing, is the key. Too early and there is no sap. Too late and the sap is watery and bitter. Like everything else, the exact dates depend on the weather and other factors.

Collecting the Sap
----------------------
1. Find a few maple trees of decent diameter. I think most instructions say 8"; if a tree is bigger you have less chance to damage it. A mature tree will not be injured by tapping, although there have been concerns raised that it detracts from the timber value.

2. Buy some spouts from a hardware store. Call around to find them, they are not hard to find, but not all stores have them.

3. Use a brace with a 7/16" bit, and drill upward slanting holes in the tree, about 2" deep, or deep enough so most of the spout fits in the hole. The spout should be angled downward when installed, so the sap fills the container by virtue of gravity. I recommend a hand-powered bit & brace, simply because it's lighter to carry in the woods than a cordless drill, and the cordless batteries don't last long in winter outdoor temperatures.

4. Use a light hammer to tap the spout into the tree. Do not drive the tap in too hard, because you eventually have to remove it.

5. Cut a hole in the side of a clean plastic milk jug, and impale the jug on the spout. Use twine through the handle of the jug and around the trunk to secure the jug loosely but firmly. If the conditions are right, sap will already be dripping into the jug.

6. Repeat the process for each tap or tree. Very large mature trees can handle multiple taps. It is said that the south side of the tree is better for sap production since it gets warmed by the sun.

7. Check the jugs frequently, such as every day or every other day. Empty sap into a suitable container. If left too long, the sap will spoil, as well as attract bugs.

Making Syrup from Sap
----------------------------
1. Bear in mind this is a long, steamy and possibly sticky process. The steam generated can make your kitchen ceiling slightly sticky. It's not a problem to clean up, but if someone in your household frowns on sticky ceilings, you might consider an outdoor option.

2. Filter the raw sap with cheesecloth several times to remove bugs, bark, sticks, etc.

3. Fill a pot with raw sap, and turn the burner on. A propane burner is good for this, such as used to heat oil to fry turkeys, fish,etc. In my opinion a BBQ grill is not a good choice because it doesn't get hot enough to creating a rolling boil. I use an electric stove in the kitchen, lacking another option.

4. Boil the raw sap until you reduce the volume to about 1/40 of the original volume. At this point you can decide to stop boiling when you like the color and taste, or you can use a candy thermometer. Officially you should stop boiling when the temperature of the sap reaches 7.5 degrees above the boiling point of water in your locale. e.g. About 219.5 degrees. If you boil too long, you risk burning the sap. However if you boil a few degrees above 219, you end up with maple candy, which is excellent. However it is solid, or nearly so, at room temperature, and therefore can't be poured on hotcakes.

5. Decant the syrup into suitable containers for storage. Enjoy over hotcakes and homemade fresh venison sausage!

[Robert W. McCoy Jr]

Thanks Kroppe

I have to give that a try....

[Rupestris]

kroppe,
How did you do this year year?

You aren't makin' any of Albert Soady's Sweet Sap Whisky are ya?:D

[kroppe]

Rupe,

LOL No I didn't make it; if I had the recipe I just might try! ;)

I ended up with about a pint of syrup. Didn't get as much sap as I hoped for, and boiled it a tad too long. That just made it a bit sweeter! :) The kids and I enjoyed one plate of hotcakes each, drenched in pure Michigan maple syrup.

[redwinger00]

I tapped 15 maple trees in my yard which produced about 2 1/2 gallons of syrup when I was all done. First year doing it and must say it was fun and very rewarding.

I used my turkey fryer for boiling the sap down. I have sense bought 3 more turkey fryers and plan to make much more syrup this coming spring.

My best advise is to take the boiling of the sap at a slow pace. I tried to turn the heat up to boil the water off faster and all is does is create a distinct bitter taste. Go slow.

Hotcakes with pure maple syrup. Man am I hungry!!:p :D :)

maple syrup supplies (http://www.rmgmaple.com/)
Check out this site for supplies. They had everything I needed to get started to me in 3 days.

[niner93]

Excellent idea. My dad and I did it years ago. He passed away this past christmas and I picked it up again this spring. I only tapped the trees in my yard but had 8 taps. I got about a good quart of syrup this morning. All in all it was great just to remember the good ole days with the old man!:) :) :)

[kroppe]

SPILES! That's what the taps are called. I couldn't remember the word for the life of me! ;)

[Rich12271]

Question for you guys who have done it before. Any certain type of maple better than another? I was out yesterday marking some trees on our property and have quite a few, at least 8-10 that are more than 8" in diameter. Can't wait for spring. :)

[kroppe]

Rich,

Acer saccharum, the sugar maple (naturally! ;) ) is the best, meaning it has the highest sugar concentration in its sap. The average ratio is about 40:1, give or take. That means 40 gallons of raw sap yields 1 gallon of finished syrup. However with a productive tree, early in the season you can have much more concentrated sap.

I recommend going to the library, Border's, Barnes/Noble, etc. and pick up a copy of a field book for tree identification. It helped me a lot in identifying maples. The leaves make for fairly straightforward i.d. When you have no leaves on the tree, it is kind of hard to i.d. the tree (at least for me).

[farmlegend]

Kroppe, while the leaves are on, study the maples. With practice, you will easily be able to identify Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum) from Red Maple (Acer Rubrum) or Silver Maple (Acer Saccharinium).

The bark and habit of Sugar Maple is clearly different.

Some sugarbush afficianados state that syrup produced from the Black Maple (Acer Nigrum) is superior to that of the Sugar Maple. However, Black Maple is relatively uncommon, and some botanists even doubt that it is a bona fide discreet genus, and merely a genetic variation of Suger Maple.