FrankG sent in how to make a syrup boiler from an old diesel tank, as well as the the more traditional steps required to make maple syrup – Link.
6 thoughts on “Syrup boiler”
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very cool, but why would you plasma cut holes, and weld on the exhaust port BEFORE BURNING OUT THE FUEL?!!! I mean, it’s diesel, but still…
I assumed that the fuel was so contaminated with water that it wouldn’t be an issue… Though it was in the back of my mind.
As it turned out, it took a few minutes of agressive flame from crumpled newspaper before it caught.
…fg
EXCELLENT writeup Frank. A pleasure to read.
I grew up in northern Vermont, surrounded by sugar maple trees. 40:1 is the sap/syrup ratio I always heard.
The darkness of the syrup was said to be a factor of the minerals in the sap, as opposed to the sugars. The early sap runs give a higher grade syrup, due to its low mineral content. (NOTE: This is ‘word of mouth’ info, told to me by farmers whose families could be traced to the late 1700/ early 1800’s in that area)
sunny days in the high 40’s (*F) and nights in the teens give great flow, with slow bud development, allowing a longer run of ‘A’ grade syrup. A week of warmer weather can put you down to a ‘c’ grade in a hurry. Good for cooking, not the select for waffles.
A guideline for how much sap you can extract without harming the tree: The traditional bucket was a galvanized pail approx. 12″ across, 1 gal capacity. It had a slide on “roof” to shed snow and debris, and the “tap” in the tree had a hook cast in that the bucket hung on. The number of buckets that would fit in a circle the size of the tree’s diameter was the safe number to hang. We had 4-6 foot diameter trees, so they were festooned with buckets.
The modern method uses a tap that connects to a plastic pipeline setup. the sap is transported to the tank at the bottom, eliminating much work! It is so easy, however, trees can be more prone to overtapping.
I had no idea there was so much Maple Syrup info in the noggin! Living on the beach in Florida now, so it doesnt come up as much. ;)
To those who dont get the fuss….if you have never had REAL maple syrup, not flavored corn syrup, find some for sale, cry at the price, and enjoy it on your waffles and/or pancakes. Little pat of REAL Cabot butter first..Mmmmmmmmmmmm I’m hungry…….