Tried tree-tapping for the first time. It was pretty simple so far. It would be a lot more work without a power drill, though.
None. We just trade beer for syrup.How many trees will you tap and how many gallons of sap do you expect this year?
Got my jam technician certification. Radio is on the way!
Jam radio.........I need to keep up.........
How many trees will you tap and how many gallons of sap do you expect this year?
Okay, so I misunderstood the tapping process a bit. I assumed that you get some sap out of a tree then move on. It turns out you leave your tap in place for the duration, usually about 2 weeks. The number of taps per tree depends on the size. (up to 3 taps for a large tree)
I have 3 taps in the 2 large maples closest to our house. I've gotten about 12 gallons of sap in the first 48 hours.
Boiling this down to syrup is a little tricky without equipment or storage space. Some people call it "laborious". I would say it's not much labor but you have to either have a place to keep the fresh sap cold (less than 40 F just like any food) and/or you need to be around to loosely observe your boiling sap. So it's kind of like making bread: there is not a lot to do but you have to be there at the right time.
It's probably inefficient to be boiling all this indoors on the electric stove, but this year is more of a trial and error. I put some in the crockpot overnight, but that's an incredibly slow process and it's barely warm enough to be safe (between 40 and 140 is the zone at which bacteria grow best) so I went back to the stovetop tonight. I am boiling more vigorously than last night, so I can get this done.
I was also warned that the steam would be so bad it would make the wallpaper peel. Well unfortunately the internet was wrong about that. We are actually TRYING to remove some stubborn wallpaper in our kitchen and boiling all this sap hasn't loosened it up one darn bit!
All totaled, I can see the benefit of having a big kettle outside on a fire and pouring the stuff in. I can also see the benefit of storing it for large batches, but who has room for tens of gallons of sap ?
Starting tomorrow, it looks like the temps may be colder in the daytime so I'm going to store some buckets outside for a few days of collecting. I don't know how much those cold temps will slow down the sap flow though. I was able to pick up some free food-grade buckets today.
I've made syrup. It's a ton of fun but lots of work. Use a turkey fryer outside. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup so you are putting 39 gallons of moisture into the air in your home this way. That's a crap ton of water.
Okay, so I misunderstood the tapping process a bit. I assumed that you get some sap out of a tree then move on. It turns out you leave your tap in place for the duration, usually about 2 weeks. The number of taps per tree depends on the size. (up to 3 taps for a large tree)
I have 3 taps in the 2 large maples closest to our house. I've gotten about 12 gallons of sap in the first 48 hours.
Boiling this down to syrup is a little tricky without equipment or storage space. Some people call it "laborious". I would say it's not much labor but you have to either have a place to keep the fresh sap cold (less than 40 F just like any food) and/or you need to be around to loosely observe your boiling sap. So it's kind of like making bread: there is not a lot to do but you have to be there at the right time.
It's probably inefficient to be boiling all this indoors on the electric stove, but this year is more of a trial and error. I put some in the crockpot overnight, but that's an incredibly slow process and it's barely warm enough to be safe (between 40 and 140 is the zone at which bacteria grow best) so I went back to the stovetop tonight. I am boiling more vigorously than last night, so I can get this done.
I was also warned that the steam would be so bad it would make the wallpaper peel. Well unfortunately the internet was wrong about that. We are actually TRYING to remove some stubborn wallpaper in our kitchen and boiling all this sap hasn't loosened it up one darn bit!
All totaled, I can see the benefit of having a big kettle outside on a fire and pouring the stuff in. I can also see the benefit of storing it for large batches, but who has room for tens of gallons of sap ?
Starting tomorrow, it looks like the temps may be colder in the daytime so I'm going to store some buckets outside for a few days of collecting. I don't know how much those cold temps will slow down the sap flow though. I was able to pick up some free food-grade buckets today.
Agreed. And yes, I boiled it more after it was in the crock pot. I just left it overnight in the crock pot rather than staying up to finish it, checked the temp in the morning (was then about 146-150) then went on to boil it again. I'm also keeping this batch set aside to finish first so I don't wonder which jar was partially sitting at the 146 temp.a few different foods are safe to consume at 140 but to be absolutely safe you must reach 165. Its best to always keep in mind the safe zones are outside the 41-165F range
Battery storage. How do you all take care of the spare battery stash.
I keep mine in the sealed plastic ammo containers. When I open one the odor is intense. Is this going to be an issue.
I cycle them out as needed and with 4 G-daughters running amok daily I do use them.
I have a serious reserve at the ready but I want them to live.
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