The Post COVID Clock Was Ticking On Getting Some Maple Syrup Done!

Do you remember when I tapped trees back in early February...I didn't either and the time arrived to cook it down to Maple syrup. Actually, it was past time. I pulled the taps the day before I was diagnosed with COVID. So, my plan to cook down the sap was delayed because of being sick & then getting a "RONA" Rebound. After three weeks that meant the clock was ticking on the sap, I gathered (not to, also, mentioned what I had frozen last year). See, sap does go bad eventually. Since I already had sap in the freezer I didn't have room for more and it needed to be used eventually. 

So this weekend it was time...and I mean it takes a lot of time to make Maple Syrup. I started at 9 am and finished around 8 pm, that's 11 hours. At that time it is mostly about the gathering of wood and feeding the fire. For the first six hours, I had two pots, to which I add sap before boiling it off. Finally, I get it to one pot for two more hours. 

Around 6 pm it gets to the point where I need a more controlled boil and move it to an induction burner. Then it is 500° before it gets down to that final hour where I reduce the temperature and watch the candy thermometer get to 219° which time it is done. I always ask if is it worth the work? I keep doing it so I guess that is the answer...

It's Early February & That Means Maple Sap Season!

It is February, bringing a late winter tradition, the tapping of Maple Trees. This is my seventh season tapping Sugar Maple Trees. Unlike last year when I tapped them late, I started this year in the first week of February. However, this year makes the first time I didn't tap the big Sugar Maples out front. Last year I didn't tap one of them because it had limbs cut out and the second, next to it, didn't produce. Because of a late start and lack of production early on I needed more to make syrup last year. The tree that was produced was one of the younger ones and because of this, I tapped two of the smaller ones. First I tapped the second of the twin tree (I did the other half last year) and the other was a virgin tree about 10 feet from the first tap tree. 

(Above) Drilling the sap hole. (Below) The two trees I tapped.

The earlier start plus cold temperatures have brought an early bounty of sap. However, with 70-degree temperatures, sap production has ground to a halt. Here's hoping colder weather this weekend will translate to more sap. When it is time to cook sap I will have a blog on the all-day event that cooking is...

It's February & It is Again Time To Tap Maple Trees

It's February and besides being the last month of winter it also means tree tapping time and Sugar Maples to be exact. This is my sixth season tapping trees.

This year I was a little behind for a number of reasons. The first one of the big maples here at St. Clair is out of action as I am letting it heal after the trauma of having some big limbs removed. Two there has been work going on at the house and three I had to get some new, permanent tubing. 

So, I had one big maple to tap and after getting ready and drilling the hole it came up dry...not a good start. The following day I checked some of the younger trees and found one that was 10 inches in diameter making it ready to tap. So far this tree has outproduced the much larger Sugar Maple. Well, when it is time to cook I will give a rundown of that.

Keeping The Eye On The Prize Of Maple Syrup Made The 10 Hours Worth It!

While it isn't just here yet one of my rites of Spring is the cooking of Maple Sap into Syrup.

As I said in the blog when I tapped Maple Trees just under three weeks ago this is my sixth year cooking down sap. 

As I have said many times this is a long, long process. Let me say that again...loooong. I originally was going to do this on Sunday but a number of things got in the way. I had biathlon to watch, it was really cold that morning (it is winter still) and I just wasn't feeling up to snuff so I put it off until Tuesday. I got up pretty early and it felt like winter out, but it didn't take long for it was more like Spring which is appropriate for syrup making.

The first half of the process means feeding a lot of wood on the fire and pouring more sap in as it cooks. I don't have a really big pot so I have to use two. The process of adding sap goes on for over six hours as I quit this about 2 pm. Dad did have a good idea to put a reflected metal sheet behind the pots to keep the heat up. Then it was a few more hours as it cooks down. Then at about the nine-hour mark, I combined the pots (it is easier trust me). 

After this, the process picks up speed. At about 5:15 I took the liquid from the fire, poured it in a small pot, and put it on the NuWave 2 Induction Cooker. I can control it better, but last year I took my eye off the ball and boiled it out. I wasn't making that mistake this year and kept my eye on the prize and it paid off. I produced my biggest haul ever as I cooked down 750 ml (about 26 oz). It filled up a whiskey bottle! So, yes this was a successful year making that Tennessee Maple Sap...

Maple Sap '21 Collection Update...

This past Friday it was time to start Maple Syrup Making '21 with the 'Tennessee Tap.' Like I said I was encouraged when the holes I drilled were damp from the start. However, to my surprise, the tree closest to the house has produced the most sap. So much so I had to empty its receptacle. The other tree had put a decent amount, but there was just as much dripping out of the tree. Anyway, I did something that I have never done in six years...put in a second tap on a tree. I did this in hopes of catching some of the excesses that this Maple Tree is producing. As always I will blog with updates...

Hopefully A Colder Winter Means Better Maple Sap

In East Tennessee, the start of the last month of February can mean snow, but for the last five years for me, it is tapping maple trees.

If you thought that they only did this in the Northeast or Canada and as I have said...no. I mean that is why the visitor center in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is named for that part of the park called Sugarlands. The UPS guy came while I was tapping and ask what I did with the maple sap and I said "make syrup" and he replied, "you can do that?"

For this sixth season, I now call the big maple trees that I tap here at St. Clair my Tennessee Tap. That is because I tapped a tree at the Cabin last year (and will again this year) and it is where I got most of my sap. Anyway, once I tapped I did get good news as the wood out of the holes of both trees was most. Then when I put the taps in they started to drip sap immediately which is what you want to see. From this point, it is a waiting game, more to come...

New Sap Opportunities In An Unusually Season

It wasn't all water and hiking at the Cabin but I did have a little time to tap some trees. The reason I say trees is that I just didn't tap a Sugar Maple, but I also did a Sycamore.

This is the first time that I have tapped trees at the Cabin. I picked the largest of the four maples out front. As soon as I drilled it, the pulp was wet and the sap started running out. Now when I tapped the Sycamore it was kind of dry. This is my second attempt at tapping them we will see how it goes.

The thing that this Sugar Maple got me thinking was how good this tree did as soon as I tapped it, much different than when I drilled the big trees in St. Clair. Frankly, the tap hole was dry and when I left Thursday morning (after tapping on Tuesday) versus the almost gallon I had overnight at the Cabin. So, when I got back to St. Clair... nothing! I read in my book How to Make Maple Syrup that you can cauterize the hole by accident when making it. So, when I got back to St. Clair I decided to re-drill, but this time I didn't reverse it which seem to work at the Cabin. To be continued...

As Winter Passes the Half-Way Point It Is Maple Sap Time

It is late January and that means a lot of things, but one that has become a tradition is the tapping of the Maple Trees. This is the fifth year that I have tapped Sugar Maple Trees to different degrees of success. Year one good sap, year two not so much, year three was the best season, but last year was oaky. However, this year is the first year I did everything on my own.

In the past, Dad has drilled the holes, but I did that plus washing the buckets, getting the spiles and such. So, if things don't go well I will only have one Wood Booger to blame. I will do an update blog at some point and I am also going to tap trees at the Cabin, so stay tuned...