Can you make maple syrup in your own backyard? Boiling sap with a homemade evaporator (Part 2)
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- The family and I turn our 50 gallons of maple sap into concentrated maple sap using a homemade cinder block evaporator, we then bring it indoors for the final boil to 219 degrees, and then taste the final maple syrup with some pancakes. Homestead maple syrup is the best!
So sweet! Loved watching this and how you include your kids in what they are consuming and making yourselves. This is our goal as well. Great details you shared, especially your set up to boil it down. 2022/2023 winter was our first year tapping about 8 of our silver maple trees. I did all the boiling inside, our grill burner wasn't cutting it. But this year, we definitely need to set up an outdoor area for the first part of boiling.
Thank you so much for posting this video! It helped us change our vague notion of a cinder block cookstove to one that worked really well for our first (outdoor) syruping endeavor. We especially liked the chimney setup, since that was a problem in how we had things arranged before watching your video. Thanks again!
Love this idea! Great job!
Glad you like it!
Dad loves his work !
It appears that the fire was going well and empty pans were put over the flames. That is a great way to warp the pans. An alternative method is to put a small quantity of water in each pan to prevent warping, then add sap. The small qty of water won't extend the boiling time, but it will prevent you from having to replace pans every season.
Thanks for the feedback. We realized this mistake after we started the boiling process and we did need to replace several pans. This year we will have some sap or water in the evaporator pan prior to starting the fire. Thanks for watching!
@@violetvalleyhomestead1270 every season I learn something new! Nice set up! I have a 55 gallon barrel with a barrel stove kit and one pan. Plans to upgrade for next season using my Mom's old oil tank.
I'm just watching that pan brown in slowmo :D
Used to do it that way for a year or two. It's a big step up if you ever spring for a single fabricated pan with a draw off spout to set on top of your blocks. If you do, save your cafeteria tray and drill a couple 1/16s holes in the bottom of the side to work as a slow feed warming tray to set on top of your big pan. It's nice because you can stock the whole thing up and let it ride for 15 or 20 minutes before having to check up on it.
We did get a pan with a draw off this year. I’ll have to try the slow feed to it like you suggested. Thanks!
Liked and subbed. Good stuff! Boiling myself the last few weeks here in Central NY.
Thanks! Its been below freezing where we live the past week or so, but we are looking forward to doing a couple of boils next week when it thaws out a bit.
2 thumbs up. Thanks.
Great job!! Did your sap have a smoky taste? I really want to try this setup the way you have it next year. But I don't want it to have a smoky taste. Please let me know if yours had a smoke taste. Thank you!
WOW
What size pan is that and where do you buy them? Also what finish filter was that. Great video thanks.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZQYXJ7Y for the pans, www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009Z21LOI for the filter holder, and www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018OZFTS for the filter. This year we decided to use a better filter though after using the fryer filter. Its called a Orlon filter and can be found here. www.rothsugarbush.com/product/orlon-bag/ Thanks for watching!
I found a final filter before you finish is the best. Filtering after it's finished will actually affect the taste. You are essentially filtering larger granular of sugar out.
why would you want to filter any sugar out?
@@huggybear100 exactly
@@huggybear100 its called sugar sand.
Question. The 3 pans of boiling sap....at different stages. Why not just fill all 3 pans up and boil them down together (And just add new sap to each pan as it boils down)? Does it boil down faster your way? Enhance the flavor? I've never done this but am going to try next year since it's too late this year and was just curious. Great Video. Looked like a successful endeavor!!
I agree. Mathematically theres no real advantage to it. It Would save a massive amount of needless laddlin to just run all 3 pans the same and laddle in sap (small enough amounts as to not loose the boil) as the levels dropped in each pan. We run 4 of the same buffet pans over the same style fire setup.
I believe that having separate pans like this and ladeling it down, is not helpful. I think it comes from the way a professional sap evaporator works. A professional pan is 1 pan that has partial separators so that the sap is added at one end and travels like a maze to the other. It evaporated and thickens as is goes and then is poured out and strained at the end to be finished.
If he has no spot to preheat cold sap before putting it into pans, then that is a good way to keep the latter two pans hotter more consistently. I used to boil on a larger (2 by 7) set up, and now for fun just use two buffet pans over fire. I had no way to really warm sap prior to adding to pans, so I was killing boils every time I added (I will admit, I have the new small set up so I can get other things done and ate away for 15 to 20 minutes at times). Last week, I realized if I add cd sap to one pan, let that get cruising to an almost boil, I can take a large Pyrex beaker and pull from that pan into the other which I designated as the hotter pan (it started out with sap that had been further reduced the day before). I let the finish or hot pan steadily boiling, while the colder pan I added fresh sap to, it would intermittently boil. Moved things along quicker and then that finish pan was much farther along and reduced finishing time in my stove. Yes I am not too bright, we built a whole sugar shack 7 years ago, and we could be boiling on 150 to 300 taps if we wanted to, but my family is out of state right now, and extended family close by have other priorities as their children are getting older and into sports etc now. So the big set up needs more man hours and close attention than I am willing to give it. Small scale is still fun, and I almost enjoy this a bit more.
So typically in this style boiler the fire is hottest towards the chimney in the back because of the air flow. So even if you started them all off with the same amount of sap that last one would boil down the fastest
I made some this year, tho delisious Never again😅..