Maple season is over, here.

[Avondale]

Sadly, here in eastern Ontario, the maple season is over (at least for me). The buds are out, sap has all but stopped and what does flow is weaker (barely 2), seems to be either cloudy or yellowish. I am now taking apart my gear for end-season cleaning and storgae. It was a very poor year, made about half of last year's total. The syrup was also darker, generally speaking.

 

[SandburRanch]

Sadly, here in eastern Ontario, the maple season is over (at least for me). The buds are out, sap has all but stopped and what does flow is weaker (barely 2), seems to be either cloudy or yellowish. I am now taking apart my gear for end-season cleaning and storgae. It was a very poor year, made about half of last year's total. The syrup was also darker, generally speaking.

Very sorry to hear of the poor season. That which has been a buck an ounce at my super market will surely increase in cost now.

Thanks for giving it your best and please try again next year. I haven't put sugar on my oatmeal for years, only pure maple syrup.

 

[Avondale]

Price may not rise at supermarkets as the Quebec region dominates (controls) the price due to a huge inventory/reserve program. Those of us doing Farm-Gate selling will always have to price accordingly.

 

[Baby Grand]

Our 3 trees quit producing about 2 weeks ago. Our first batch:



And the yield - about 25 gallons > 2 quarts:



Nice & dark and strong maple taste - the way I remember it from years ago in Five Islands, N.S. Sorry to hear it was a poor year for sugaring. Seems like a lot of good folks depend on that income boost.

Picked up some nickel rod and the plan for next year is to weld repair a cheap-o cracked Vogelzang that the previous owner left in the garage (it wasn't cracked when he left it) and use that and some of the wood that came down in the August tropical storm & the October NorEaster and leave the gas for cookin' meats.

 

[studor]

We just boiled off our last litre today -- way down from the output last year as you say - not sure if it is completely over but also not optimistic. In the week we went from light to dark amber!

 

[Dogballs]

Still going here in northern VT, at least on the north facing slopes. I don't sugar but I keep a close eye on a friend with around 10,000 taps.

He's at half his usual crop right now and expects to finish up at 3/4 of what he usually does.

 

[MIKE R]

Its still running up here in Northern Ontario. I collected about 40 liters today from my 30 trees. I am already over what I made last year from 20 trees. So far this year I have made about 6.25 liters and plan on ending up with about 7 liters total. I am now using a filter press instead of a mixture of pre filters and coffee filters and what a difference it makes in the clarity of the syrup. Good luck to everyone and have fun.

 

[MadJack]

Hey Mike, what filter press are you using? I'm getting niger/heavy sugar settling at the bottom of my syrup [in the jar] and it's driving me nuts.

Season is over for me as well, central Maine. Bottling the last of it today.

 

[Avondale]

Yes Mike, Please send more info on the press with pictures, where you got it, cost, etc. Thanks.

 

[MIKE R]

I am using a wine filter press. To pressurize the syrup it has a food grade tank similar to a pump sprayer. Then had the 2 filter plates inside a housing that the syrup is forced throught. It takes the heat from the syrup fine considering it is plastic. You can probably get one from a local food supply store or winery. I will get some photos on the weekend when I boil.

 

[Avondale]

Thank You, Mike, I will look into further.

 

[MIKE R]

On the note of the filter press. Another thing I like about the wine press set up is that the filter plates already have the diatomaceous earth on them so i don't have to mix filter aid into the syrup.

 

[MIKE R]

Here is a photo of the syrup going through the filter. Sorry it wasn't the clearest. Its hard to filter and bottle at the same time by myself.

I stopped collecting sap on Wednesday. It was starting to become bud sap.

 

[Avondale]

Mike. How does this work? Looks like a tube in and out but beyond that ...

 

[MIKE R]

Mike. How does this work? Looks like a tube in and out but beyond that ...

The system works by pressurizing the tank with the syrup in it. The line runs from the tank to the top and bottom plates that have inlets above the filters. Above the bottom inlet and below the top inlet there is a filter that the syrup is forced through. Between the two plates is where the filtered syrup comes out and is forced out the outlet through a line.

 

[Jstpssng]

The system works by pressurizing the tank with the syrup in it. The line runs from the tank to the top and bottom plates that have inlets above the filters. Above the bottom inlet and below the top inlet there is a filter that the syrup is forced through. Between the two plates is where the filtered syrup comes out and is forced out the outlet through a line.

Huh. I've seen my neighbors use theirs, but it's beyond the budget of this back yard boiler.

It was just starting to run here when the hot weather hit last year...we'll be having the cold nights warm days again all this week but I don't know what that will do to the sap.

 

[Avondale]

Mike; I am wondering how fast this can filter your tank and how big is the tank? Does it require electrics to run (I see your's is indoors but we do ours in the shack out back). Could your say if it is faster than the old fashioned paper/wool type filters?

We are expecting a return to syrup making temps but we packed our shack up because the buds are out and opened. The sap gets cloudy, yellowish and then stops. Not sure what the heat wave then return of winter will do to the enviroment (bugs, birds, plants, etc). We have flowers up and green things all over.

 

[MIKE R]

Mike; I am wondering how fast this can filter your tank and how big is the tank? Does it require electrics to run (I see your's is indoors but we do ours in the shack out back). Could your say if it is faster than the old fashioned paper/wool type filters?

The tank is a 7 liter. It doesn't require any electronics to run, you just pressurize the tank with the hand pump and the syrup is forced though the filters. I find it faster than running the syrup through a bunch of prefilters and coffee filters. It takes about a minuet to fill up a Liter mason jar. The only down fall I find with it is it leaks a little bit if pressurized to high, but the big cast aluminum ones also leak. That is why they have catch pans below them. It also waists a bit more syrup because some gets left in the filters. On the old style orlon filters you would end up wasting about the same unless you washed them back into the evaporator. I would never go back after using a filter press, even this cheap one, because of the clarity of the syrup it puts out. No Niter (sugar sand) in the bottom of the glass jars and the diatomaceous earth on the filters also takes any bacteria out of the syrup.