Making Maple Syrup

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC made our first Maple Syrup Run this year, February 2020. Here is how we made our syrup, following up from our Blog on tapping Maple Trees 

https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/2020/02/maple-tree-tapping.html . 

What you will need to make Maple Syrup:

• Maple Sap (40 gallons of Sap will make roughly 1 gallon of Maple Syrup.)
• Large Pots is what we used. There are also pans made specifically for Maple Syrup making.
• Something to Boil the sap in the pots on. We used an old wood burning stove that a friend gave us. You could use a well maintained campfire or again a unit that is pre-designed for Maple Syrup making. You could use your kitchen stove top. We did to finish, but that will let a lot of humidity into your home, so not ideal.
• Fuel and Fire/Electricity. We used wood. If you are doing the process the way we have you will need a lot of firewood to boil the sap for multiple days. 
• A Hydrometer
• A filter and something to support it. We used a funnel.
• Your choice of storage. We used mason jars.

Boiling Sap through the Night and Day to make Syrup.

As our Syrup was boiling down low outside, we brought it into the kitchen to finish up. 

How to, or how we did:

• Pour the Sap from your 5 gallon collection buckets into large pans for boiling.
• Start a fire in the wood stove to heat the Sap to a boil.
• Keep the sap boiling uncovered until most of the water has boiled off. This may take a couple of days.
• When you think the sap may be getting boiled down enough, take a sample and test it with your Hydrometer. Here's a link for how to use your Hydrometer https://www.wikihow.com/Read-a-Hydrometer. Sap reaches Syrup at 66% sugar.
• When the Syrup is ready use a filter to strain the mixture so that you can remove any impurities. 
• Pour your strained, 66% sugar Syrup into the jars or containers that you will be storing them in. Refrigeration is recommended. Syrup will keep longest frozen and will not fully freeze. 

Make sure whichever methods you use to use all safety precautions and beware the dangers of heat and fire. 

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™

Maple Tree Tapping

Here in New Hampshire Mid February to Mid April, dependant on weather, is Maple Tree tapping season. Carrying out New Traditions today by using some of the Maple Trees located at Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC to collect Sap to turn into Syrup this weekend. 

What you need:

• A Maple Tree
• 12-20 inches in Diameter for one tap
• 21-27 inches in Diameter for two taps
• 28 inches in Diameter or wider for three taps
• Stainless Steel Maple Syrup Taps 
• Hammer
• Measuring Tape
• Drill with 5/16 Drill bit
• 5/16" ID 7/16" OD Clear Vinyl Tubing FDA Approved Food Grade Multipurpose Tube
• Food Grade 5 Gallon Bucket with Lid

How To:

Identify your Maple Tree(s). Measure the size of the Tree you intend to use to verify that it is an adequate size. With the Drill and 5/16 bit Drill a 1.5" hole straight into the tree. Using the Hammer, hammer the Maple Syrup Tap into the hole in the Maple Tree. Push the 5/16 tubing onto the tap to seal, Drill a hole into the lid of the 5 Gallon Bucket to fit the hose into. The lid should prevent anything falling into your sap while you are collecting it. 

You will need to collect 40 Gallons of Sap to boil down to 1 Gallon of Syrup. This is a weekend project here. After the buckets fill they will need to be slowly boiled down to evaporate the water and make the Syrup sweeter. We will follow up this Post with another showing how we made our Syrup.

...https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/2020/02/making-maple-syrup.html 

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™