Fresh Maple Syrup

We're working on it.

Lisa got up around 7a Sunday and started the boil on the old propane grill. I got up a couple of hours later, and we went out to collect more sap. Still a bit cold, so we only had a total of 17.5 gallons to work with, kept in a 32 gallon plastic trash can.

(We asked the folks at the feed store if there were any problems with keeping the sap in a plastic trash can, and one of them said, "Not that I know about," while jerking his right arm up and down. Real comedians in our part of the world).

Ideally, the sap is ready when it's at boiling temperature plus seven degrees. Of course, boiling temperature depends on altitude and barometric pressure. Our boiling point (we guesstimated) is about 209.5 degrees. And it ... took ... for ... freaking ... ever to get there.

Again, we were using a propane grill, stock pot, and three metal casserole dishes from Wal Mart to transfer cold sap to warm sap to hot sap to boiling sap, so it took a bit more time. Here's one of the bigger problems with using a propane grill, even a big one -- the flame just isn't close enough to the pot. We easily went through seven gallons of propane through the day.

Resolution to self: Over the summer, we need to build a big stone evaporator that can double as an outdoor grill. And think hard about a sugar house. There's a good reason people in Vermont have sugar houses. They keep the wind out. And they're warm.

Beyond that, I'm not so sure.

Anyway, approximately 14 hours after starting, Lisa had the sap boiled down to one gallon, which she took inside and put on the stove. The reason why she didn't do this earlier? If you boil sap in your house, you can expect three things to happen. None of them are good:

1. The steam should clear around July.
2. No matter how careful you are, you'll be left with stickiness until August.
3. Any wallpaper you have will fall down. Guaranteed.

I was exhausted, for no good reason, and went to bed around 11p. Lisa boiled until midnight, when she decided she'd need a felt strainer to get the last bits of gunk out of the rapidly solidifying sap. Alas, there aren't any 24-hour maple supply places open on Easter Sunday in our neck of the woods, so she's off to get some today.

And people wonder why the stuff is $50/gallon.