anyone make their own maple syrup this year?

[LuckyDeutch]

We had a very good sap season this year! I made more syrup than in the past 3 years!  Today I am finishing off my sap for season and should end up with around 37 quarts in all!! We had a few bad days but BOY, when that sap ran, it was great!! I am SO happy about this years season! The sap was also real sweet and on light colored side! Happy Sapping for me! hope everyone else had fun and had a great turnout!

[kingozzy]

Not me I dont have any trees that produce syrup otherwise I'd give it a try

[vickysue]

We used to make it when i was a kid and lived in Ohio for a while. But am back out here in the desset of N.M. and we don't have maple trees, but ther are some great pecans here. Our neighbor has some and we get all the pecans we want. Much rather have them then maple syrup. Hubby dosen't like it  and i very seldom use syrup. Prefer ;honey. But am glad you make your own. It says a lot of money.

[potluck6]

no maple trees here,very cool you can make your own syrup.the price of maple syrup in the stores is extremely high so usually buy mrs butterworth's .maybe you could sell any extra .

[southernhorizons]

Yes, we had a bumper crop this year! My brothers made a ton of maple syrup, they are still boiling down the last of it.

[ljrjess69]

i dont but i know people thay do 

[kapeh12]

I was hoping to for the first time this year...but had too many other projects going on.  Maybe next year I'll give it a go.

For those of you that do, are there any recommended sites to buy equipment from (taps, buckets, etc)?  Also looking for best recommended way to boil the sap down.  I don't have any outdoor firepits.  I heard some people use things like an outdoor turkey frier to boil the bulk of it down before bringing it indoors.

I'm hoping I try my hand at it next year and open to any advice from those who do.  I just have one tree to tap, so looking for small scale stuff.  Thanks in advance!

[reiddb]

I have never attempted to do that, although I think my sister  is going to try.

[lbeery]

I didn't but have several friends who do.  They said it was a good sap year.  Don't know if the wierd winter to instant summer will effect the sap or if it all already completed.

[LuckyDeutch]

If you are doing it for yourself, this is how I do it.. collect sap , put in coolers or big water jugs 3-5 gal ones. We use propane stove outside which boils sap down pretty fast. I do not have an enclosed building for this so on rainy days or stormy days, I will boil it down on my porch and stay with it so not to have a fire. I usually boil some in house overnite and I do not have any problem with steam making a sticky mess in my house. You do NOT want to put a cover on it while boiling it. Yesterday I took a jar and boiled it down almost to crystalized. I made maple candy. It came out very good. If your syrup is too thin AFTER you jar it, you can boil it down more to thicken it. IF it is too THICK, you can take that jar and pour it in with another jar of regular made syrup or thinner syrup. You never throw away syrup because no matter how it comes out in the end, you can always fix it to your liking. If you want any good recipes, just look under maple syrup making. Their are lots and good recipes there for all sorts of things. Good Luck and hope I hear from you next year on your progress. Hope this helps you.    

[kingreyam24]

My parents make maple syrup every year. They have a big rectangular pan in the yard to boil down the sap. They just started for this year though. They have one batch done which gives them about 12 jars. My dad said he went out to collect the sap a couple days ago and a bunch of the pails were off the trees and down in a pile at the bottom of a hill. He went down to get the pails and a bear was laying there, so the bear was collecting the sap for himself.

[dreamyxo]

My bf snd his family make it.  He gives me a bottle I can't wait.

[kapeh12]

Thanks for the information LuckyDeutch!  I never thought to look into propane stoves.  I'll have to do some research on those to find some reasonable options.

I'm starting a garden for the first time this year, so hopefully I'll have homemade maple syrup to complement the garden next year!

So excited to start...but need to have the equipment to do so.  LOL!

[coreyw87]

Tee Hee I don't think  you can make syrup in Florida but people do make great orange blossom honey.  I love real maple syrup and although it is expensive to buy, I don't buy the fake cheap stuff. 

[LuckyDeutch]

you are very welcome , Kapeh12. usually sap season here starts in Feb to beginning of March. This year was very good because we had the cold nights and warm days, so we actually gained 2 weeks! Sap usually doesnt run good at all when we have cold days and cold nights. I made some more maple candy last night. It came out so good! another recipe I tried...lol... was i coated potato chips with maple syrup and threw them in the freezer real quick while the syrup was still hot.  What a delicious chip!! everyone in my household wanted more. I ended up making 2 bags of chips that way! No it did not come out soggy. you just have to throw them in freezer IMMEDIATELY after pouring syrup over chips. GREAT SNACK! You can actually do it with anything! yummmm! You REALLY need to try this!!