I've been interested in collecting sap for making maple syrup. Does anyone do this? Where can a person get the supplies needed? What is a minimum diameter tree needed? Can you share your experiences?
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
South Central Region Headquarters - Madison
3911 Fish Hatchery Rd Fitchburg, WI 53711
Phone: (608) 275-3266 TDD: (608) 275-3231
For Release: February 28, 2005
Contact(s): Derek Duane, MacKenzie Center, Poynette: 608-635-8100
Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers: First Tapping Event At Mackenzie Center
POYNETTE – The Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association, in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources and the Friends of MacKenzie Center, will be hosting the annual ‘first tapping event’ at the Center starting at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 15.
“This event doesn’t typically take place this far south because most maple syrup producers are located in the northern half of the state where sugar maple trees are more abundant,” noted MacKenzie Center supervisor Derek Duane.
‘First tapping’ signals the official beginning of the state’s maple syrup season. Wisconsin is the third largest producer of maple syrup in the United States. The Maple Queen, along with Alice in Dairyland, will be on hand to assist with tapping the tree.
The public is invited to witness the first tapping ceremony which will take place near the main parking lot in an easily accessible location.
The MacKenzie Center is located two miles east of Poynette on County Highway CS. Watch for the large DNR sign and then follow the large, green maple leaves to the parking area.
Approaching spring means Maple Syrup making at the BNC is coming too. This year should be especially nice. Thankfully, the new Sugar Shelter has survived two winters and two hunting seasons. It’s a great structure some of you have yet to visit. Come out to help us collect and cook sap March 25 & 26th. Mark it on your calendar now so that you don’t forget.
It’s fun to be out in the woods making maple syrup. We’ll even have samples to taste. This year will be even more exciting than usual for us. The television show “Discover Wisconsin” will be visiting and filming maple syrup making at the BNC for a future telecast. We’re delighted that more people in Wisconsin will discover what a phenomenal nature center we have right here in our own backyard.
If you would like to come out to learn about maple syrup making with a class or group, call (756-3591) or email the BNC bnc@brillion.k12.wi.us. We’d be happy to make special arrangements for you and your group.
we use to have a group of people who made homemade syrup in somers,wi
people would go around collecting sap, and freezing it till we were ready to boil. then we had a large wood fired boiler we used. i wouldnt call it a pot because it was a stainless steel tank, specifically modified for this purpose.
we would start about 800am one day, party all night while boiling 100's of gallons of sap, and have a huge pancake breakfast the next morning. the guys who set it all up would take some of the previous years syrup and use it in homemade sausage for the breakfast. it was a great time.
unfortunitly, the guy who organized and made everything happen quit doing it. looks like no syrup this year. his wife would get so upset with him partying and all the time he put into it that he finally gave up. to be fair though he was like obsessed with making the stuff. it was like liquid gold to him. she probably had good reason to get upset.
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I had a hard time finding a place to buy supplies. I asked around until I was told about Roth's sugarbush. I went there and bought taps with plastic hoses on them. They're cheap, and they work great. You might try finding a sugarbush in your area.
Tips: Don't tap trees under 10 inches diameter. Drill holes 2 to 3 inches deep, at a slightly upward angle. Don't put in more than one tap per trunk. Sap will flow when daytime temps are above freezing; especially if nighttime temps were below freezing. A breezy, sunny, 50 degree day is ideal. Use covered containers to keep out bugs and debris. If your sap freezes, drain the liquid out of the ice, and toss out the ice. The ice will be mostly water, but the leftover liquid will be concentrated. There's a lot more to learn about it, so ask people who have done it. Also, cook some chicken in boiling sap. Add salt, carrots, celery, onions, etc. This is absolutely delicious! Enjoy!
even though i never really paid much attention to what he was really doing, i was more there for the breakfast. but i do know he use to collect the sap in a 5 gallon bucket with the lid on it. a hole of the right size for the hose was drilled in the top, and the hose inserted. then he/or others would ride around with empty/clean 5 gallon buckets collecting the sap. i don't know anything about the sap separating like you said, it was always frozen solid when we dumped the bucket. (kept in several different chest freezers till than.)
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"An adventure is just misfortune properly reconsidered,"
Yeah, I guess freezing it solid will preserve it 'til you are ready to boil it. I meant if it's partially frozen, it will be the water part that freezes before the sugars do. Last year, some of my buckets froze overnight. I pulled up the big ice core, and tilted it so it would drain back into the bucket. Then I took the ice out. I got about 1/2 the sap I started with, but it was noticeably sweeter. I read somewhere that discarding the ice is an old native american trick used to reduce boiling time.
Those last few warm days we had produced a couple cups of sap from my test tree. The ground must be too frozen yet. Now we got a big snowstorm coming. Should be good in a couple weeks.
The birds have waited all winter to sing in the trees at Ledge View Nature Center in Calumet County.
The branches may be bare, but the trunks are full of life.
It's life that Jean Haack knows how to tap into.
The Assistant Naturalist has walked the forest for nearly 20 years, and on Sunday, she shared her syrup secrets.
Maple syrup season officially starts Thursday, but more than the calendar, a successful "sap" depends on the weather. Sunday was a perfect day for gathering sap: below freezing at night, and above 40 degrees during the day.
"It's a difference of pressures; negative and positive pressures with the difference in temperature," Haack said.
Collecting sugar water isn't easy. We started with a handheld drill. Then, as soon as we hit two inches, sap started to flow.
It will take roughly 29 full buckets to make one bucket of maple syrup. That means syrup producers should be ready to wait, and wait, and wait.
What comes out of the trees is 97 percent water, meaning the sap needs to be cooked.
"The whole idea is to get a lot of the water off in the big evaporator...in the evaporating pan," Haack said.
"Then it drains...(and) gets consecrated into syrup."
Ledge View Nature Center is hosting "Maple Syrup Sunday" on April 1.
From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., you can collect sap, then enjoy a pancake breakfast.
Ledge View Nature Center:
W2348 Short Road
Chilton, WI 53014
Phone: (920) 849-7094
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If you talk to the animals they will talk to you, If you do not talk to them you will not know them. And what you do not know you will fear. What one fears,one destroys. ~Chief Dan George. (1899 - 1981)
The sap has been running for the last few days. Some trees were running good, others not so good. Wish I had more time off work, and a better place to tap trees and cook syrup. It was a lot of work, especially with the deep, wet snow, but I made about 2 quarts. Mine turned out extra smokey this year. VERY tastey stuff!
Now is still a good time to collect sap. Even if you only get a small amount of sap, it makes a refreshing drink right out of the bucket, a really good pot of tea or coffee, or use it to cook chicken, pork, carrots, beans, sweet potatoes, etc.
To cook with it, the sap should be boiled down for a while first, so it sweetens up. If you like candied yams at all, try boiling some sap until it starts turning brown, then toss in large chunks of sweet potato. Simmer until they get real soft, and the liquid is getting thicker. YUUUUUUUMMMY!
After opening the container, keep in the refrigerator if possible. Should the syrup start to ferment or have mold apperar on top of the container, do not be alarmed. Skim off mold and heat syrup to the boiling point immediately. In most cases this will restore the syrup to good flavor. The flavor of syrup that has been kept for a long time can often be restored by heating.
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If you talk to the animals they will talk to you, If you do not talk to them you will not know them. And what you do not know you will fear. What one fears,one destroys. ~Chief Dan George. (1899 - 1981)
Collecting the sap in the spring is the best part of maple syruping. Tromping through the woods is a refreshing change from the cabin fever winter blues.
...Them's got ears, let them hear
Them's got eyes, let them see
Turn your eyes to the lord of the skies
Take this airline plane
It'll take you home again
Processing maple sap into syrup is actually very time consuming. The temperature of the boil must be watched closely, and the foam, created by various impurities in the sap must be skimmed as the sap boils. A bitter flavor will be present if this is not done. I have an uncle, and a cousin that process sap every spring.
I might be really bored, but I think syrup making is a good time.
Processing maple sap into syrup is actually very time consuming. The temperature of the boil must be watched closely, and the foam, created by various impurities in the sap must be skimmed as the sap boils. A bitter flavor will be present if this is not done. I have an uncle, and a cousin that process sap every spring.
I might be really bored, but I think syrup making is a good time.
Thanks for the quick lesson! I will have to ask my grandmother if any of our family makes it fresh as well... so I can sit in next time.
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MMMMM!!! I have never made my own or watched the process but, I prefer 100% real maple syrup.
Actually when my kids were in a younger grade the classes went on field trips in the very early Spring to see how they make maple syrup. They always had a lot of fun.
MMMMM!!! I have never made my own or watched the process but, I prefer 100% real maple syrup.
Actually when my kids were in a younger grade the classes went on field trips in the very early Spring to see how they make maple syrup. They always had a lot of fun.
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