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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> For maple syrup aficionoadoes...
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Showing posts 26 - 50 of 66, (reverse)
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03/12/2015 07:19:39 PM · #26
I've unaccountably missed this. Let me go on record here as saying I'd trade my firstborn for another bottle of the Red Queen. THAT was a syrup :-) Love the flavor wheel in the OP :-)
03/12/2015 07:27:58 PM · #27
There's no way I can guarantee another batch of Red Queen, now or ever, though I have a tiny bit (like 250ml) left for historical purposes - I plan to pour off a little, let it come to room temp and then see what I can pick up apart from that crazy flavour and colour.
03/12/2015 08:45:38 PM · #28
Originally posted by snaffles:

Originally posted by kawesttex:

Starting our bee hives. May have to work out a trade with unmolested honey for some maple syrup if you are game!

Eta: Northeast Texas honey


Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner - yes definitely would be interested, esp if honey was made by killer bees ;-)


If they are we may not be able to do the harvest and then it would be a loss wouldn't it! We are just setting up hives soon then adding the bees in a few weeks. We have the help of veteran bee keepers so it shouldn't be too difficult. (I think) Harvest should be towards the end of summer.
03/13/2015 07:39:22 AM · #29
Originally posted by kawesttex:

Originally posted by snaffles:

Originally posted by kawesttex:

Starting our bee hives. May have to work out a trade with unmolested honey for some maple syrup if you are game!

Eta: Northeast Texas honey


Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner - yes definitely would be interested, esp if honey was made by killer bees ;-)


If they are we may not be able to do the harvest and then it would be a loss wouldn't it! We are just setting up hives soon then adding the bees in a few weeks. We have the help of veteran bee keepers so it shouldn't be too difficult. (I think) Harvest should be towards the end of summer.


Sounds good, I don't mind waiting. Just be sure to wear those nice white jumpsuits around the hives, so they don't think you're a bear :-)
03/14/2015 08:50:54 PM · #30
bump
03/16/2015 08:24:59 PM · #31
Well had my first MapleTrader gtg today, so that was fun and informative :-) And sap finally starting to run again so that always makes me happy!
03/16/2015 08:59:27 PM · #32
I still need to photograph my tree. I haven't forgotten. It's usually dark when I think about it...
03/17/2015 05:31:54 PM · #33
Good news...trees in both bushes running well, despite freaky weather conditions - I wasn't expecting to get any sap at all today. So glad on that front, though I don't want to get swamped if I can help it.

However, according to some of the MT professional sucriers (like those who are 6th generation) some are seeing sugar content of only 1%! A few have had to go 45:1 and some have been known to have to go 60:1. I think someone even posted 65:1 in what must've been a really bad year.
03/17/2015 07:20:33 PM · #34
Sounds like those trees need someone to give THEM some sugar, if you know what I mean? ;)
03/17/2015 08:02:31 PM · #35
Originally posted by aliqui:

Sounds like those trees need someone to give THEM some sugar, if you know what I mean? ;)


Oh I don't know about other sucriers but I try to give mine a lot of love...I always say hi to them as I check the pails and give them a pat on the trunk and words of encouragement. And now that I have approx 37.5l of my home sap, I'll see if I can make syrup by tomorrow evening. If all is well I should get 1l.

But it's also not unusual for the first run or two to be somewhat low in sugar content, then increase steadily throughout subsequent runs. This was also a viciously cold winter and my trees are big (the virgins are quite small by comparison) so it takes longer for my trees to thaw out and give me really good sap, which is what I tasted today when I was breaking off sapsicles :-)

ETA: Following is list pulled from MT as to which States produce maple syrup, although I imagine apart from New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, most are hobbyists and small commercial producers: Conneticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and last but not least, Wisconsin.

My knowledge of US geography isn't so hot, so if your state isn't listed, like MadMan2k's stomping ground of Oklahoma, I'd look for the closest syrup-producing state near your area and wing it from there. Probably next year by the sound of things.

Message edited by author 2015-03-17 20:32:33.
03/18/2015 04:37:28 PM · #36
Originally posted by snaffles:

Originally posted by aliqui:

Sounds like those trees need someone to give THEM some sugar, if you know what I mean? ;)


I try to give mine a lot of love...I always say hi to them as I check the pails and give them a pat on the trunk and words of encouragement.


I need new glasses... I misread that and started thinking to myself... lucky trees.

Ray
03/18/2015 05:36:11 PM · #37
Originally posted by RayEthier:

Originally posted by snaffles:

Originally posted by aliqui:

Sounds like those trees need someone to give THEM some sugar, if you know what I mean? ;)


I try to give mine a lot of love...I always say hi to them as I check the pails and give them a pat on the trunk and words of encouragement.


I need new glasses... I misread that and started thinking to myself... lucky trees.

Ray


Ewww, Unca Raymee!! Yes, I always check my hardwood, on a regular basis, about 4x a day during the season for my own big stiffs.

Oh and in case anyone's interested, a MT'er up in Barrie area of Ontario finally got her first batch made...at a ratio of 70:1. Wow. However she's since checked the sap of the new run and it's more where it should be, in the range of 2% up to 3.5%. Whew.

Message edited by author 2015-03-18 17:37:13.
03/18/2015 08:49:49 PM · #38
Is maple syrup the new athletic superfuel?
03/19/2015 08:11:30 AM · #39
Originally posted by markwiley:

Is maple syrup the new athletic superfuel?


I suppose...I've also heard of straight maple sap being used by athletes, too. Must be pretty expensive, a teeny little gel pack of the stuff! :-)
03/20/2015 03:54:47 PM · #40
Well I posted a new formula for calculating sugar content on MT....not too shabby, I think anyway, for someone for whom learning math was like this Oh duh me, you have to scroll down to the post by Lespetras to see it.

Oh yeah got 1250ml syrup from my trees for their first batch, and another 700ml from the virgins.

Message edited by author 2015-03-20 15:55:48.
03/23/2015 06:41:21 PM · #41
Well, the run this March has been more stop-and-go than a teenager learning to drive standard...some days I get a couple gallons, then the weather chills the trees up again. Then it warms for a day or two.

Anyhow I thought you guys might want to take a look at a couple of pics...oops forgot to upload them first, duh me...brb
03/23/2015 06:56:24 PM · #42
Originally posted by snaffles:

Anyhow I thought you guys might want to take a look at a couple of pics...oops forgot to upload them first, duh me...brb


This made me laugh, lol.
03/23/2015 07:00:18 PM · #43
Ok here we go...across the road from me is an old Xmas tree farm where the owner also sugared...and sugared so much that this ol' baby is still over there....a Grimm evaporator that, I've been told, can handle sap at the rate of 400 GPH. To give an idea as the size of this thing, those pans laying across the top of it are all at least 6ft long.

And for fun...can you figure out what the rest of this old bumper sticker says?

Message edited by author 2015-03-23 20:25:29.
03/23/2015 07:00:31 PM · #44
double post

Message edited by author 2015-03-23 19:01:34.
03/23/2015 07:29:04 PM · #45
Originally posted by snaffles:

Well, the run this March has been more stop-and-go than a teenager learning to drive standard...

THIS made me laugh ... and your bumper sticker probably reads:
Maple Sugar Makers

never die ...
they just evaporate
03/23/2015 07:46:19 PM · #46
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by snaffles:

Well, the run this March has been more stop-and-go than a teenager learning to drive standard...

THIS made me laugh ... and your bumper sticker probably reads:
Maple Sugar Makers

never die ...
they just evaporate


Yep, I'm pretty sure it does too! :-) Though maybe without the 'Maple' part at the beginning, I don't think cane sugar people use evaporation techniques :-)
03/23/2015 08:03:44 PM · #47
I think cane juice is processed pretty much the same way as maple sap, just (these days, anyway) only on an industrial scale. You can get straight cane syrup, which is thinner and retains more of the sugar than molasses. I think the main difference is that the cane juice starts out with a much higher sugar content, and it may crystalize out of the solution more readily.
03/23/2015 08:26:05 PM · #48
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by snaffles:

Well, the run this March has been more stop-and-go than a teenager learning to drive standard...

THIS made me laugh ...


I flashed back to when I was 15 and my mom said "more gas" and I lurched into the lawn with my brother and his friend standing there, laughing. To this day I have no idea why she said more gas! So, that comment did not make me laugh, because it was too close to the truth for me. :P
03/23/2015 08:33:02 PM · #49
Originally posted by GeneralE:

I think cane juice is processed pretty much the same way as maple sap, just (these days, anyway) only on an industrial scale. You can get straight cane syrup, which is thinner and retains more of the sugar than molasses. I think the main difference is that the cane juice starts out with a much higher sugar content, and it may crystalize out of the solution more readily.


Cool, I always thought that with cane sugar, it was just cut and pressed, a la sorghum. I don't really know much about other sugars and methods of extraction apart from maples, which has always been the same, though different methods were used to boil it off. Apparently the Native Americans collected sap in birch buckets, then dumped the sap into a hollowed-out log, into which they added hot rocks from the fire to boil off the water.

Nowadays the big guys (like 10s of 1000s of taps) collect by vacuuming sap out of the trees, process it via reverse osmosis, and boil off the concentrated sap in gigantic vats. All very industrial, all very The Sugar Season (about the Bascom family in NH) where they make arrangements to buy, say, 7000 gallons of Vermont syrup to toss in with the rest of their syrup and sell to Wal-Mart or whomever *Gold Coast* is.

Which is why the hobbysists like me start small, and mostly stay small, to fill only our own needs and maybe a few others. And for the fun of it.

Message edited by author 2015-03-23 20:34:34.
03/23/2015 09:32:33 PM · #50
Originally posted by snaffles:


Which is why the hobbysists like me start small, and mostly stay small, to fill only our own needs and maybe a few others. And for the fun of it.


I don't think you will find our honey in a little bear in the store either! We are starting with 2 hives and going to expand from there for the same reasons, to maintain quality over quantity.
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