We are semi traditionalists when it comes to maple syrup production, We use traditional buckets (with a few plastic collection bags) for collecting the sap, but a more sophisticated evaporator for evaporating the sap to get syrup.

Step 1: After making sure we are starting with clean collection items, a sharp drill bit and hammer, we drill a slightly downward facing hole about 3-4' above the ground about two and a half inches past the bark, through the phloem and slightly into the xylem. We then gently hammer the spile (spout) into the hole and hang the bucket and attach the lid.

Step 3: Using the evaporator, we boil the sap, condensing it until it becomes near syrup. The sap travels through the evaporator through four flues. It starts out a plain sap from the preheater, which we constantly fill with sap from the barrels. As it travels along the flues, it pushes older more dense sap along the flue system and concentrates the sap to near syrup by the time it gets to the end of the last flue in the evaporating pan.

Step 2: We regularly check the buckets for sap, and if there is any, we collect it from all the buckets and filter it into a 55 gallon barrel. Some trees can produce more than two gallons of sap in a good day, while others may produce little. Sap goes bad quickly so it has to be processed relatively quickly or it will spoil. Fresh maple sap out of the tree is clear, cool, refreshing and has a slightly sweet taste.

Step 5: After filtering the syrup, we heat the containers to 190 degrees and the syrup back up to between 185-195 degrees, and then bottle the syrup using caps that will seal the container. Once the bottles cool enough, we then put State of Ohio required labeling on each bottle as well as marketing labels as we see fit.

To learn a little more about evaporators, click here

Step 4: Typically we "finish" the near syrup into syrup inside using an induction plate where we can accurately monitor and control the temperature of the soon to be syrup. By the time we bring it in, it is pretty close to syrup, very sweet and boils at several degrees above that of boiling water. Concentrated sap become syrup when the temperature reaches 7 degrees above the temperature of boiling water. While some syrup makers stop there, we typically use a State of Vermont tested hydrometer to determine when our sap becomes "official" syrup, which is between 66%-68.5% sugar. Once the sap becomes syrup, we then pour the syrup through a two filter system to remove any solid particles, resulting in the clear syrup you would expect from maple syrup.

How we make maple syrup