When I first started maple sugarmaking, I'd boiled the syrup until the temperature reached 219 degrees. The resulting sweetness was tasty, but thin. So I invested in a hydrometer, and wouldn't you know it, at 219 the syrup wasn't at the correct density. Who knew. Now I use the thermometer as a guide. When the temperature reaches 219 I start measuring the density every few minutes. Usually, I'm spot on. In the picture above, the syrup is coming in a tad on the thicker side.
Yesterday at 6 PM I did the last gathering of sap for the day. The buckets at least half full, it looks like we are in for another good run.
Today, by scheduling demand, is a non-boil day. Forty-four kindergarteners will be amazed by the magic of maple. They will discover that making their own maple syrup might be as close as the tree right outside their door. I just hope not all our collected sap is frozen. I love bringing in a sample for them to try. I also bring in a few taps, a bucket and lid, and our evaporator pan, so they can see exactly what a two foot by three foot pan looks like. Last year we found out you can put 11 future maple sugarmakers in the pan; carefully standing side by side.
3 comments:
nice hands
You are so right about the hydrometer! I'm so glad I started using one two. Thank you for posting the great photo showing how it works.
I didn't boil tonight either. I have 30 gallons of sap from two very light days of gathering though.
Do you think it is going to run like mad as it warms up this weekend and into next week, then the trees will just bud out too fast?
Down here the sap continues to pour out of the trees. I collected over 22 gallons of sap in 1 day from 14 taps. My next boil has to be this Sunday, due to schedule. We'll be swimming in sap by then.
In looking at the long range forecast, with no temperatures in the 50s or 60s, I suspect we are in for a long season. My only concern is the night time temps are starting tow arm up into the low 30s. So we'll see what that does to sap flow.
Good luck and it's so nice to connect with another maple sugarmaking mom.
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