What a surprise

[MrsKK]

Based on what my friend from up north said yesterday, I decided to check out my sap buckets.  What a shock!  They were all full to the brim with frozen sap.  Probably about 11 gallons worth.  So I took the buckets in the house and replaced them with empties.  I guess I'll be cooking syrup again tomorrow.

I really never thought the sap would run with the cold weather we've been having.  I guess the warmth of the sun has a lot to do with it, too.  It is welcome, though, because if the weather suddenly turns really warm, the sap run will be over.

Learn something new every day.

[DeejayDebi]

Congrats Karen! With the prices of maple syrup around here I need o think about finding a way to make my own. $42/.5 gallon here now and I use a lot to cure my bacon. I wonder if the sap alone would work? I just gets dumed in the brine anyway.

[MrsKK]

The sap is very, very slightly sweet.  Almost undetectable.  It takes anywhere from 26-40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup, so the sugar is pretty low density.

[DeejayDebi]

Hmm so a hint of maple could be had in a brine maybe instead of water and salt sap and salt? Could be an interesting experiment but I am done with bacon for the year!

[DETERMINED]

Hi  Karen
I picked up supplies to try collecting sap from some of the maples on our land this year so I am new to this.
Just wondering how much above freezing your temperatures have been that the sap is flowing already.
We are still buried in snow but it is supposed to be just above freezing tomorrow and I'm thinking maybe it is time to get busy tapping.
Dave

[MrsKK]

I set my taps the first week of March, which is pretty usual for this area (western Wisconsin).  In the past week, our temps have been topping out at about 32*, which is why I was so surprised that the buckets were full when I went to check them.  Normally, you want night time temps to be in the mid to upper twenties and the daytime temps to rapidly rise to upper 30's to mid 40's.

Where are you located?  I'm always setting out the taps while knee deep in snow still.

[MrsKK]

Debi, I really don't think that sap would give much maple flavor at all.  Some of the distinctive flavor of maple syrup comes from the cooking of it and it has to be reduced by about 3/4's before I really notice much flavor in it at all.

[Tomer1]

Also the cooking itself chemically alters the syrup to creat thos flavours and aromas not the concentration itself, If you were to concentrate it using vaccum I dont think you will end up with maple syrup, perhaps maple sugar liquide.

[DETERMINED]

We are located in Saskatchewan. We got a little above freezing this afternoon so I tapped 10 trees to see what happens.
Snow is still knee to waist deep, had to make a trail with a tractor to get to them.
Dave

[DeejayDebi]

Ah okay thanks - I realy don't have the space to take on maple sryup making here. Maybe I will just stick to shagbark syrup that has become rather popular around here and takes up so much less space. I just use on old 40 coffee pot I got at the GW Boutique (Good Will Store).

[Tomer1]

Are you guys making some Maple wine from it or just using it as a sweetener?

[MrsKK]

I use mine for syrup - waffles, pancakes, and Dutch Babies - yum!

[george]

What's a Dutch Baby?

[MrsKK]

I posted a new thread with the Dutch Babies recipe.  Sorry for the obscure reference!

[OlJarhead]

Geez...I'm in love with this forum

We have three maples in the back yard but I'm uncertain whether or not they can be used?  I think they are silver maples but need to do some research -- my wifes ex planted them about 16 years ago and at least one is big enough to tap.

I've been told ANY Maple can be used but again, am not so sure.