The maple sap is running in NJ

[JohnT]

A first for me.

I have a buddy that makes his own maple syrup. We tapped the trees yesterday.

He purchses these plastic tree taps for areound 35 cents a piece.
He drills a 2 inch deep 3/8" hole into a maple tree, then hammers in the tap.

Almost immediately, you could see the sap start dripping.

he then taped plastic over a 5 gallon bucket which he hung on the tap.
we placed 3 on 5 trees

This was really cool!

I know that you need a lot of sap to create just a little bit of syrup. I think the sap needs to reduce to 1/40th to get syrup.

Still, I think its cool. Maple syrup for 35 cents (plus cost of bucket).

 

[grapeman]

A first for me.

I have a buddy that makes his own maple syrup. We tapped the trees yesterday.

He purchses these plastic tree taps for areound 35 cents a piece.
He drills a 2 inch deep 3/8" hole into a maple tree, then hammers in the tap.

Almost immediately, you could see the sap start dripping.

he then taped plastic over a 5 gallon bucket which he hung on the tap.
we placed 3 on 5 trees

This was really cool!

I know that you need a lot of sap to create just a little bit of syrup. I think the sap needs to reduce to 1/40th to get syrup.

Still, I think its cool. Maple syrup for 35 cents (plus cost of bucket).

And don't forget the cost of energy to evaporate all that water (about 40 gallons of water to evaporate for a gallon of syrup). It certainly is a lot more than the 35 cents.

 

[Flem]

I have 5 nice maples on my property. I've been tempted for a couple of years but just haven't pulled the trigger. Maybe some day.

 

[rms]

Flem are they regular maple trees or sugar maple? To make maple syrup they must be sugar maple.

 

[REDBOATNY]

It makes a great beer base too. Reduce to half and make a nice Porter, yum!!

 

[Flem]

Flem are they regular maple trees or sugar maple? To make maple syrup they must be sugar maple.

Yeah, they're sugar maple.

 

[Larryh86GT]

I tried this once with my maple tree. I didn't have a lot of sap and when I was boiling it down on my grill it went from sap to a carmelized mess very quickly. I may give it another go this year but be more watchful in the boiling process.

 

[Arne]

I tried this once with my maple tree. I didn't have a lot of sap and when I was boiling it down on my grill it went from sap to a carmelized mess very quickly. I may give it another go this year but be more watchful in the boiling process.

Now if you do that inside, you will probably be banished to the grill outside from now on. LOL, Arne.

 

[1ChuckGauthier]

When I was a kid back in Mich UP, we had maple trees out front and tapped them each year, did not have such fancy equip as today, bent a tin can lid into V shape and inserted it into hole, pounded in a nail above that to hold bucket. One advantage we had was an old wood cooking stove in the kitchen converted to oil, that we used for heat, hot water (coil of tubing leading to hot water tank nearby), and as such simmered down our maple sugar just fine at no more cost......man that homemade maple syrup sure was better than anything you could buy.

 

[AlFulchino]

running here as well the last two weeks...early....but the temps are perfect so it should be a great long season....my neighbor makes and shares....good to have nice neighbors

 

[Dugger]

Close to 50 years since I tapped the trees around the old homestead - we had the metal spiles back then - also had the wood stove going all the time so no wasted energy. One of the old ladies from up the road made maple cones for us kids - maple sugar in a cone made from birch bark - delicious!

 

[Rocky]

Long time ago when I was in grade school, we saw a film on maple syrup. I recall that the people made some kind of v-shaped cut in the tree, pounded in a spigot and hung a bucket on it before going to the next tree. They had a fire built and were cooking the raw maple sap over the fire. But the image that sticks in my mind for some 60 years is that they poured either the raw sap or the cooked syrup on the ground in the snow and made a kind of candy that all the children ate. Does this sound familiar to anyone or am I having another senior moment?

 

[Dugger]

You remember right, Rocky. This is still done and a much anticipated tradition at many maple camps here in Nova Scotia, and presumably any place they produce syrup - it's called maple taffy and is delicious.

 

[Rocky]

Thanks, Dugger. I thought that it really looked good. I assume that they used the cooked syrup, right?

 

[Dugger]

Yes, hot syrup from the pot onto the snow.

 

[JohnT]

RMS,

I am not sure that my buddy tapped sugar maples. All I know is that they are maple trees.

I did a little research (Making Maple Syrup at home) and they say that you can make syrup from most any maple. It is just that Sugar maples (with sap at 3%) has the highest sugar content.

Here is the link..

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/pdfpubs/7036.pdf

Is there any dangers in using just any old maple?