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I've heard the same, JarHead.  Ours are silver maples, but I only know that because my daughter had to identify trees for science class years ago.  It makes very good syrup.  If you aren't certain of the tree variety, many times you can take a leaf to your county extension agent and they can help you identify it.

Quote from: MrsKK on April 03, 2011, 09:46:53 PM
I've heard the same, JarHead.  Ours are silver maples, but I only know that because my daughter had to identify trees for science class years ago.  It makes very good syrup.  If you aren't certain of the tree variety, many times you can take a leaf to your county extension agent and they can help you identify it.

Good point -- I'll do some checking again (think I did a couple years ago)...our biggest is about the right size (I think I heard 12" in diameter min?).

I used to live at Edith Wharton's home in the Berkshires, "The Mount," lots of maples of different kinds, and if memory serves right, they did tap silvers there.  I seem to recall that you could get sap from the silver maples, but you really have to boil it down to get any kind of real syrup (that is, more than with sugar maples). Not bad, just not much concentration.

I was looking up tapping maples and it appears ANY maple can be tapped (as well as other trees).  I'm thinking I'm a little late in the game but I will plan on tapping them next year -- which gives me almost a year to prep.

Only one is ready anyway but I have some incentive to water them more now

If you are cooking down for home use, you can just cook it to your own preferences as far as thickness and flavor.  I cook about 25 gallons of sap down to one gallon of syrup.  I've heard that commercial purpose is closer to 40 gallons to 1.  However, our syrup is quite flavorful and sweet, plenty thick.

Here's a website that's got pretty good info on tapping and cooking the sap.  I use food grade plastic pails with lids and run tubing from the taps to the pails, through holes in the lids.  It helps keep the sap a lot cleaner.

I don't use a thermometer because I don't have one that's long enough to reach to the bottom of the pan, but cook the sap until I can't stir down the boil.  I do filter the sap prior to cooking it and again just before bottling it.

Quote from: OlJarhead on April 04, 2011, 12:26:06 AM
I was looking up tapping maples and it appears ANY maple can be tapped (as well as other trees). 

I would think any sugar-bearing plant could be extracted, though hadn't thought about it.  I know my grandfather-in-law, a true and noble son of Estonia, has a ton of birch on his acres in the Upper Peninsula of MI, and made syrup from those.

  Update
1 month later. Tapped 10 trees
Yielded 0-1.2 gallons per day per tree
Built 30 gallon wood fired evaporator
Cooked 2 batches 35 gallon first batch resulting in 1 gallon syrup
Second batch 38 gallon produced just over 1 gallon
Amazing flavour with a slightly fruity taste
Warmer weather now trees slowed down to 2.5-3 gallon per day total 10 trees
Hoping for one more batch before trees bud
9-10 hours cook time
Followed by 1.5-2 hours in smaller pot on propane burner to finish syrup
The boys are getting sick of collecting sap but do not complain when eating pancakes
Next year plan to tap 30 trees then the boys will scream
Dave

It sounds like you had a great run, Dave.  We ended up with a gallon of syrup total.  I can it up in pint jars.

Not a good sap year here.  The weather was too up and down.  Unfortunately, we had slightly warm days and warm nights (40's daytime, upper 30's at night) all throughout March.  Not good at all for syruping.  I pulled the taps the first week in April.