sap evaporator

Spring is making small, intermittent inroads into the dreary snow and slush covered drabness that is Southern Ontario in March. But I know it is on its way because Hubs has spent the last few weeks or so tinkering around in the garage with his welding gear and an angle grinder. That means it sugaring season. Last year was our first attempt at sugaring off (and by 'our' I mean 'his') and it went pretty well, though we had to do almost all of the boiling on top of the stove in our house. Which you know, is not optimal. You have to boil down a LOT of sap to get a couple of jars of the good stuff and that makes for a very busy, humid kitchen. Plus also, it freaks me out to have something boiling on the stove at all times when there are toddlers around. We take all the precautions with using the back boiler and short handled pans and all that, but still, it's safer to keep it outside. 

And so, Hubs has MacGyvered himself up a sap evaporator. 

Its mostly a 50 gallon barrel he found kicking around the yard here somewhere, and two of the buffet size water pans that go underneath warming dishes that he bought from a restaurant supply shop, and then a piece of duct that he used for the chimney. 

See? He builds a fire inside it....

...and heats up the sap on top of it. 

Here he is skimming the impurities off the top. 

By the end of the day, he'd gotten it quite boiled down, and decided to bring the much smaller amount in to finish off on top of the stove.  Note the pan on the counter at the right with the napkin clothes-pinned to the top edge for straining the finished syrup through. Very resourceful this guy.

And here is the first bit of the finished product. Isn't that pretty? So satisfying to see it go from the watery nothingness that sap seems to be to this rich amber liquid. And I can tell that Hubs is very happy with the result in his quietly pleased kind of way. This will be the first of many batches to come I hope because we go through this stuff like crazy. Its my favourite kind of sugar of all, maple syrup is. Nothing beats the taste of the real thing and the added cherry on top (for me) is geting it for free. Of course, Hubs is paying for it in sweat (walking and tapping and hauling and chopping etc) but I love not paying grocery store prices for it. For a thrifty Dutch girl like me, it makes it taste even sweeter if that's possible.

Comments

[bc sil]

love it!

[Kate]

My grandpa was a syrup farmer and used to bottle it up in cut glass bottles that he would recycle from the legion bar. I remember collecting the buckets of sap from the trees as a kid and my grandpa, dad and uncles feeding wood to the fire in the sugar shack and stirring with a paddle on a long stick. Enjoy your homemade syrup...it's the best.

[Cynthia]

Love it! Hubs, you rock!!!

[Free Range Mama]

Love it! I wish we had those types of Maples here in BC. Marieke directed me to your blog, saying we have similar interests. We raise bees and have amazing honey, but wouldn't it be awesome to have maple syrup too! Good for you guys.

[Mary Griffiths]

Yum, Yum, YUm I have a new recipe for Pumpkin, Bacon pancakes I'd love to smoother with that Maple Syrup!!!

[Chris Van Meggelen]

My parents have a lone maple tree in the front yard of their Toronto home. My dad taps it every year, collects only a few gallons of sap, and boils it down on the BBQ side burner. We usually get about 1cup of syrup, which I'm sure costs more in propane than just buying it in the store, but it's made of awesome! Also, all the pedestrians doing double-takes at the lone tapped tree in the small front yard is excellent.

[fingerthumb]

Thanks so much for the great comments everyone. I had no idea that so many people were so into maple syrup making! I'm especially impressed with Chris' story of her dad tapping a single tree in their city front yard. And I love the sound of Kate's maple syrup filled childhood. Also, welcome to the blog Free Range Mama!

[Hannah]

So cool, Hubs!! you rock! I was just saying to Noémie this evening that I wished our lone tree in our skinny Mtl back lot was a maple so I could hang a bucket off it. And then I saw this. Too. cool.