Well it is that time of year when I make maple syrup. Such an easy thing really. I am syr-prised not too many do this as the reward is wonderfully delicious. All there is to it is this:
- drill a hole in the tree
- pound a “tap” acquire from a store or online (cheap, like $2 each and reusable every year)
- put a plastic milk container over the tap (or use a bucket as the purists do)
- when container is full, boil the sap down to syrup
That is it! The only problem is finding enough maple trees. 40 gallons makes about 1 gallon of maple syrup. Any maple tree will do, does not have to be a sugar maple.
This morning I had a waffle with homemade maple syrup, that is living large.
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4 Comments
Any maple tree will do??? Even the ones down south? I’ve never heard that before; not that I want to try the process, but I am thinking this is some well kept northern secret that you have just blabbed. Time for some research on my part.
I have to admit, homemade maple syrup does sound delicious. I wonder what my neighbors will think about the taps and buckets adorning their maples. I suppose if the milk cartons are tastefully colored it would be just fine.
Skip
Yep skip, all maples have a high sugar in there sap. Heck, you can even make a molasses like syrup from the sap of box elder trees. They are from the maple family, so they also have sugar in their sap. Come to think of it. I have sugar in my sap, if I’m in the right mood.
Oh yum! We had a yard full of maples growing up and tapped them. Then let it cook down on our stoves. I don’t know what they call those stoves but we had two that heated the house with an oil tank on the back and a big tank in the cellar. Anyway, we’d just cook it down there in an old metal dishpan
SO you know the drill on the maple syrup… so yummy. I now use one of those deep fry turkey things to boil the sap down… easy… just add to it as it boils down.