Last Boil of 2015

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So it’s hard to believe considering the 60-degree weather we are having today, but a week ago today we still had snow on the ground!  We boiled down about 100+ gallons of late season sap with hopes of making our first batch of Grade B Maple Syrup.  When we shut down Saturday we had about 7 gallons of Sweet almost syrup that we would take to syrup the following day.

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We spent last Sunday reducing the “Sweet” to syrup and once we were close we shut this process down and began pulling taps and cleaning up the woods from our 2015 Micro Sugaring Operation.

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As I pulled the first tap which was the tape furthest away from the Shurflo pump I was astonished about the amount of suction I was hearing.   I was able to take a quick video below.

 

The best tap pulling crew below.

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Pulling the taps was trick in some areas because we put them in when there was a couple feet of snow on the ground.  Luckily we did not need a ladder!

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The filter press earned its money in this batch.  This grade B syrup was some of the hardest to push through the press!

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We figured we would make it official by putting some of the syrup in the grading set and comparing outside.  It is officially Grade B!

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Re-capping our 4th and last boil of 2015 we filled (8) 8 ounce bottles and (7) 12 ounce bottles.  Giving us a grand total of 7.72 gallons of syrup for the 2015 season.  We boiled approximately 500+ gallons of to make just under 8 gallons of syrup.  This puts us right around a 60 to 1 sap to syrup ratio.  It was a pretty super season, but we are ready to get on to gardening!

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2 comments on “Last Boil of 2015”

  1. James Burchfield Reply

    I have talked to Bill Mason about the 2×3 hobby evaporator—- do think they are worth the money as far as construction & being efficent.
    You can call my cell 330/341/0023 or e-mail jim.burchfield1@frontier.com
    I do have several questions.
    Best regards,

    James Burchfield Sr.

    • Bill C. Reply

      Hi Jim,
      I have had no issues with my Mason 2×3 evaporator I feel that i have gotten my monies worth. If you can I would add on the blower. I boil outside in the open air and was not getting the boil rates I wanted until I rigged up a impromptu blower. I got a lot of info on the site about my experiences small time sugaring, but if you have any questions let me know.

      Bill

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