I know what you were thinking (shame on you) This blog is about maple syrup production in the U.P. of Michigan. I have been working on this pictorial for years now and finally used this season’s gathering as a time to finish it. The following is a step by step process of how we gather and process our maple tree sap. Enjoy:
Welcome to our farm
The temperature has to be just right in order for the sap to flow. Basically warm days and cool nights.
Taps are drilled and placed into the sugar maples and flow lines are run from each tree
A gas powered pump helps gently move the sap along to a field holding tank
Sap is stored in a large holding tank in preparation for boiling
The next 3 pictures are of our evaporator. It is basically a large pan with multiple channels in which gravity separates the sap as it boils out the water. The first channel is sap, as it comes out of the tree. The last channel is syrup. Everything in between are all different sugar densities.
Mr. Phil uses aged wood to keep the evaporator boiling.
We use lots of wood…
Gravity feed the sap through the various channels
Steam rises up through a specially made roof on our sugar shack.
Mr. Phil carefully checks the sugar density of the syrup with a hygrometer. Sap temperature must be at 219 degrees on the temperature dial
When the sap reaches 219 degrees, Mr. Phil opens the spigot and empties the contents of the last channel. As he drains, he is paying special attention to the temperature gauge. When the temperature dips below 210 degrees, he cuts off the tap. The syrup is allowed to drain through double filter into a stainless steel pail.
After all the sap has been boiled down for that day, it is placed into a finishing tank and filtered yet again.
Then it is reheated to 219 degrees and the syrup is bottled in 1 quart amounts. We have specially made bottles with our logo. The bottles have a heat seal attached to the underside of the lid so when they are screwed in place the seal along with the heat from the sap creates an preservative seal on the bottle.
I hope you enjoyed this. It was my first time blogging with pictures. Ciao for now…..Ross
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Nice description. The farmer we help ran a length of line this year but without a lot of success. Then again, it looks like it is an “off” year. We gathered Tuesday, I think, for the first time, and it looks like the season is over already down here.
Most people don’t realize how much work goes into syrup production, especially if you are small scale and gather by hand. On the other hand, what better excuse to spend a spring day outside, especially after a long winter. And nothing beats that first sip of syrup being pulled from the tank!
Great blog and pics..always wondered about making maple syrup and maple sugar. In school we made raw sugar called muscabado from cane. Sure is different from tapping a tree. Thanks for this.
Oh ya now that I have seen it made where can I buy some?
Wow–really amazing blog with lots of great pictures!!! Thanks, Ross!
Ross, very nice, thanks.
Very cool Ross.
Thanks for posting this.
And yeah, where can we buy some?
Really interesting.
That evaporator looks like you could use it to make scotch when you get done making syrup:)
Can we buy it?
I’ve had this syrup - it is divine nectar; it is that good. Not too cloying, not too much maple, great consistancy. Just the way I like it. I have been doling it out with an eye dropper to make it last.
Drummond island, where Ross works, is one of the earth’s little slices of heaven. If you’re ever up that way, skip Mackinaw island and pay a visit to Drummond. You will not be disappointed.
Ross, if you get a batch of Grade B dark, I would be interested for my salmon. Gallons if you bottle it that way, if not a case of the quarts would work?
Great blog Ross!!! Makes me homesick and makes me miss my Grandfather but it is wonderful to see a way of life not to mention a food production process living on!
Grade B dark…oh how nice that sounds! Still say the Grade A amber stuff is for ripping off the tourists while those that know look for the B dark and the even more rare Grade C dark…
I’m with you FC - give me the bud syrup any day, the darker the better!
You did a great job, keep up the good work.
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