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This is our second year making the sweet sap , a hobby we should have done years ago .
It's simple and easy and the rewards are delicious .
I spent a few years helping a friend of mine collecting sap and finally decided to give it a go myself . Our first year we had 7 gallons of syrup that we shared with family as gifts and family camping trips . That was from using ten 5 gallon buckets , this year we have 42 buckets out .
I'm going to post pictures of our little operation and how easy it is to do .
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This is a turkey deep fryer converted into a super evaporator for the maple sap .
We used the fryer last year and it did the trick but we went through a lot of fuel , Lots of heat loss and wind made it difficult to maintain a steady boil .
I disassembled the fryer , made it fit into a 30 gallon drum , used the legs and support ring for the bottom legs , drilled holes for the air intake baffle on the bottom and the exhaust vent on the top side . cut a hole in the lid to fit the pan and used furnace rope as a seal so it would fit snug hold heat while preventing soot from contaminating anything . Used the scrap from the lid hole to make a door to light the burner .
It only took a few hours to make but it works great .
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My brothers set up , the simple set up .
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My buddy Bob's operation , high tech , it's easy to get this way once you get the bug .
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Pretty interesting, what kind of trees do you get that sap from, I'm assuming maple but are there other trees you use? How deep do you drill the hole in the tree? Once you get the sap, I guess you boil it, then what? Do you add sugar[:/]? Sounds like with the big increase in the number of buckets you are using, are you planning on selling it?
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Strait from maples , just about any kind will do but the sugar maple has the highest sugar content and requires less boiling down .
You don't add sugar at all , it's strait sap boiled down into syrup .
We do this just as a hobby , the syrup finds it's way to the Mrs.family and mine .
When we have a big camping get together , our sap is on the breakfast table .
At deercamp , the same thing there also but we also make a mean sweet sap whiskey for the evening B.S. festivity's .
Our Deercamp is a lot like the one in the movie Escanaba in the moonlight, I'd be the Jimmer , LOL !!!
Drill the tap hole 3 feet high on the south side of the tree (over a root) about 1-1/4 inches in on a slight upward angle . insert your tap , connect a hose to your bucket and wait until it fills up . 40 gallons of sap equals one gallon of syrup when boiled down .
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Wow, 40 gal of sap for 1 gal of syrup, thats a lot boiling. How many hours does it take to boil 40 gal down? How much sap can you take from a tree without harming it?
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Boiling down 40 gallons all depends on your evaporator , can take a few hours or a couple of days .
I only put one tap per tree . The amount it gives you depends on weather .
sap runs when the outside temps are below freezing at night and above freezing during the day . Warmer days , more sap .
Sap runs up the tree during the day and down the tree at night , kind of a pumping action .
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