Making Maple Syrup - Boil & Bottle

Today was boiling day (perhaps not the best choice with temps in the 20's).  
I spent the day adding wood to the fire and sap to the pot.
I maintained one open pot at a rolling boil and in a separate feeding pot, I heated the cold sap from the storage buckets.

Maggie kept me company.

The sap boiled down...slowly....

Once the sap was close to the correct temperature (boiling temperature plus 7 degrees--in Pawling 219 degrees), the final boiling was done inside where the heat was easier to control.

Eight layers of cheesecloth filter out solid particles. 

Boiling water sterilized the jars and bottles.

The taste?
Worth the effort!

Previous posts on Making Maple Syrup:

Tap Tap Tap - Making Maple Syrup

Making Maple Syrup - Day 5

Making Maple Syrup - Day 5

Sap nearly fills the bucket daily.

Thanks to my local deli and pizzeria, large food grade buckets help me collect and store sap.

Taking advantage of Nemo's bounty, the sap filled buckets are snow packed to keep them cold on warm days, until the sap can be boiled into syrup.   

Previous maple syrup post: Tap Tap Tap - Making Maple Syrup 

Tap Tap Tap - Making Maple Syrup

A friend of mine gave me a maple syrup starter kit as a gift over the holidays. Since receiving the kit, I read about the process, watched YouTube videos, and impatiently waited for the weather forecasts to predict daytime temps in the forties and nighttime temps in the twenties for an extended period. These conditions finally arrived this week, so I trekked out through the snow to insert my shiny metal spouts into three maples surrounding my house. The buckets now hang, collecting sap. I listen contentedly to the continuous dripping of the watery liquid.  

Mark the bit with a tape guide and drill a hole 2" into the trunk, 3' off the ground.

  Tap, tap, tap, the spout into the hole with a hammer and attach the bucket, capturing the flow.

The sap immediately begins to drip, as if  waiting to be released: "Tap, tap, tap." 

The cover protects the sap from foreign debris.

Our climbing tree now offers spring greenery, a summer perch, brilliant autumn color,
and sweet winter sap.  What more could we ask from our tree?

Tomorrow, I’ll set up an outdoor fire pit to boil the watery sap down into syrup; it will take at least forty gallons to produce one gallon of maple syrup. I'll keep you posted.

Resources   
Cornell Publication:   Maple Syrup Production for the Beginner

Maple Syrup Made Simple - Home Made Syrup