It’s February in Minnesota, and we’ve already tapped our maple trees!
We typically do this in March, when the temperatures are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night—this is when maple trees typically begin to fill with sap.
This year we’ve gotten a taste of spring quite early! Hopefully, this will mean lots of maple syrup!
几年前,我丈夫和他的一个好朋友开始收集和煮枫树汁,制作枫糖浆。在那之前,我不想承认,但我们从店里买了假枫糖浆。就是那种其实是加了假枫糖调味料的玉米糖浆。讨厌的东西!
Now that I’ve become used to the real maple syrup, there’s simply no going back.
For those of you who’ve never tried real maple syrup, I pity you. For those of you who have, you know how good it is, but unfortunately, that goodness comes at a cost. Real maple syrup is expensive.
If you or someone you know has maple trees, it’s worth the time and effort to make your own maple syrup, and it’s not very difficult.
Tools You’ll Need For Tree Tapping
You will need some equipment. Head to the hardware store and pick up the following:
- A couple of steel spouts
- 5-gallon buckets with lids
- Clear and flexible plastic tubing
- A drill that can be used on plastic and wood
How To Identify Maple Trees
Hopefully, you’ve identified the maple trees in your yard when they had their leaves, as it will be a bit more difficult to do it in the winter when the trees are bare.
Here in Minnesota, we have a few different varieties of maple trees. The best maple tree to tap for maple syrup is the sugar maple. It’s sap’s sugar ratio is 40-1, meaning that for every 40 gallons of sap, you’ll get 1 gallon of maple syrup.
If you’re still not 100% certain which trees are true maple, check out thishelpful guide from the University of Minnesotato help you identify maples used for syrup production.
How To Drill A Taphole
Once you’ve identified your maple trees, you’ll need to drill one or two holes into the tree (for small trees make one hole, for large trees make two). Make sure that your holes are a couple feet high and a couple of inches deep.
Next, you’ll need to carefully hammer your spouts into the drilled hole. I say carefully because it’s relatively easy to split the wood and lose precious sap!
Once your spout is in, take a section of tubing and insert it into the spout, and then into the hole that you’ve drilled in the upper side of your bucket. Simple as that!
Keep an eye on your bucket. You’ll be surprised how quickly they can fill up with sap. Once a bucket is full, set it in a cool shady place until you’re ready to boil. Be sure to do so within a few days of the extraction.
Best Time For Sap Extraction
Once the weather gets warmer, the sap will begin to slow down and lose its flavor. This is typically when the extraction season ends. What you have is what you get! If you didn’t get much, you’ll have to wait for next year.
就我个人而言,我喜欢枫糖浆季节,因为它给了你一个外出的理由,让三月变得更加令人兴奋!
Turning Sap Into Syrup
In the past we’ve used a propane heater to boil our sap, however, this wasn’t very cost efficient. Last year my husband acquired an old wood stove which we set up outside. With a little help from a friend, we collected nice firewood and even had a buddy of his make a custom stainless steel boiling pan for the sap.
We really enjoyed being outside in the fresh air and sunshine, visiting, and keeping an eye on the sap. It took us a few weekends of boiling and a bit of boiling during the week, done by yours truly, to get all of it finished.
The syrup is ready to be put into sterilized mason jars once it reaches a temperature of 219 degrees. Make sure you strain the syrup through a filter as you pour it into the jars.
我们使用的是专门为此目的而制作的毛毡过滤器。你可以在网上订购。作为替代,你也可以使用网状厨房过滤器。当你倒入糖浆时,在罐子里用厨房漏斗也是很方便的。
The guys tapped at least 20 maple trees, but the majority of our sap came from just a couple of them. This is because some trees tend to flow better than others, any given year. We ended up with roughly 25 quarts of maple syrup. Enough for both of our families of six to last us until next year.
You Too Can Do it!
If you’ve been considering making your own maple syrup, I say go for it! Do it for your health! Yep, that’s right,maple syrup has some important vitamins and minerals(not just sugar). And if it’s consumed in moderation, can be quite beneficial to the body.
If not for your health, or its deliciousness, do it for the experience! It really is fun for the whole family!
Melissa Hartner ofblacksheepandhoneybees.com她和家人住在明尼苏达州半英亩的宅基地里。
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