Our syrup is just a touch thinner than the commercial stuff and is super yumm-o.
Gallons waiting to be boiled:
Friday, March 28, 2008
We have syrup!
Here are some photos of syrup day, which was last Friday. We started with 36 gallons of sap that had been collected since February, and ended with just under a gallon of syrup. It took 10 hours, a lot of wood, stirring and beer, but was well worth it.
Our syrup is just a touch thinner than the commercial stuff and is super yumm-o.
Gallons waiting to be boiled:
Intense supervision of the boiling sap is necessary:
This is what the pans looked like at the end of the day. The boys had a two pan system - cold sap went into the staging area in the front pan, which was difficult to keep at a boil. When it was sufficiently warmed, it was transferred by a kitchen pot to the back pan, which was kept good and hot by the fire all day. You can see how dark the near-syrup is after 10 hours of boiling, compared to the newly poured sap. Incredible!
Our syrup is just a touch thinner than the commercial stuff and is super yumm-o.
Gallons waiting to be boiled:
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We had sugaring day last wednesday. Unfortunately I decided this year to use bales of hay to build the fire pit. And a fan to act as a blower. The sap boiled down in the pan in about 5 minutes. Great. Then the hay bales caught. Uh oh. Then one after another the strings holding the bales together burned apart and the bales spread out. Then I had half the side yard on fire. No big deal, I'll just get the hose. Whoops I disconnected the plumbing for the spigots last fall. Huh. Now the bushes are on fire and the horses next door are freakin out. I know I'll shovel some snow on it. Bummer the snow is frozen and the chunks don't melt fast enough. Thats it time to use the sap to put out the fire. That works but I need a lot more. Go into the bathroom with the empty buckets and fill them up in the tub (and track in a lot of soot). Now Kelly is aware of the need to call the fire department. I agreed. I decide to stamp out the fire and spread it out and pour water on. This seems to work. After 3 hours of fire fighting, its out.
ReplyDelete6 buckets, 20$
6 bales of hay, $20
An evening of firefighting and 1/2 qt syrup, PRICELESS
:-O ...!!!!!!
ReplyDeletewow. That's they way to do it!
Hay bales???
I am now speechless.
Your syrup making is exceedingly cool. I'm surprised it took so much sap to make one gallon of syrup. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteOMG, DAD & I LOVED CHRIS'S TECHNIQUE, AS SOON AS DAD SAW HAY BALES AND FAN HE SAID OH, NO. WE VOLLY'S LOVE PEOPLE LIKE THAT. IT ALWAYS GIVES US A GOOD LAUGH AND SOMETHING TO DO ON A COOL AFTERNOON.
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