Sugaring Off

Maple syrup season has begun!!!

 

We first learned about tapping maple trees when we visited a local maple syrup festival a couple of years ago. My husband became obsessed with the idea of eventually tapping our own trees and making homemade maple syrup. I was a bit skeptical at first because it seemed like such a complicated process.

We looked through a variety of sources (Mother Earth News, youtube videos, etc.) and compiled a mishmash of information into something that worked for us. The hardest part was figuring out what to use for a spile. Once that hurdle was crossed, we jumped right in. 

Although you can tap nearly any tree belonging to the maple family, sugar maples are preferred for their higher sugar content. We don't have any sugar maples, but we have a ton of silver maples in our front yard. The only caveat to using anything other than sugar maples is that it takes more sap to make syrup. In all honesty, I'd rather take a smaller amount of syrup over none at all :). 

We put in a total of ten taps on four trees. I won't go into details about how many taps you can put in one tree, since there is a slew of useful sites available. This is just one of many. 

Within the first day we had collected nearly ten gallons of sap. My mind was completely blown. I was soon dreaming about maple syrup and became quite giddy at the thought of all the syrup we were going to add to our pantry. After we boiled down our first batch, I realized it takes an enormous amount of sap to make even the scantest amount of syrup. 

It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. Crazy, huh? Plus, it takes nearly forever to boil all the sap down. We've spent the last few Saturdays boiling down all the sap we gathered throughout the week. 

You'll know the sap is done when it reaches 218/219 degrees Fahrenheit. The proper technique is to boil some water on the stove, measure the temperature, and then add seven degrees to that number. 

Once you've reached the proper temperature, you're ready to filter out all the bugs and other unwanted bits. 

After you've filtered everything out, you're ready to store your homemade syrup in the refrigerator. Some sediment may collect on the bottom. Don't worry, this is just sugar sand. After letting your syrup sit in the refrigerator for a day or so, the sand should settle to the bottom of your container. We then pour off the syrup on the top into a different jar and dispose of the sand.  

Even though it takes quite a bit of work to make homemade maple syrup, the taste is indescribably good.

We made a short video of the tapping process and I posted it onto Youtube. It's not the greatest quality, but I hope it's at least somewhat helpful. 

I'm sure our method of boiling down sap will change over time, but I love how excited my husband was about setting a big pot over our fire pit and letting it boil all day. He couldn't leave it unattended for longer than 15 minutes or else the fire would start to die down. 

The best part about making homemade maple syrup is that it's an exciting activity for the whole family :).

Linking to ...
Homestead Barn Hop #100
The Ole' Saturday Homesteading Trading Post Ed. No. 39