WHAT TYPE OF MAPLE TREE MAKES SYRUP PORTABLE

The spouts should be the type intended for use with buckets or bags (not those intended for use with plastic tubing, unless you are, in fact, going to use tubing).1 Homemade spouts can also be fabricated from a variety of materials, including some that are very traditional, such as elderberry stems which are easily carved and have a soft pith that can easily be pushed out forming the hollow center. A metal or plastic collecting spout (spile) for each taphole.

WHAT TYPE OF MAPLE TREE MAKES SYRUP PORTABLE

A drill (a portable electric works well) or carpenter's brace with a sharp bit the proper size for the spouts being used (e.g., 7/16-inch bit for traditional spouts or 5/16-inch for most small diameter spouts).Ģ. Equipment you will need to properly produce maple syrup includes:ġ.

You can also purchase anything you need on line if you have a computer and internet access. Check with your county State University Extension office, Maine Forest Service, or a local maple producer for the names of suppliers. Depending on the item, it might be made, purchased second hand from a maple producer, or purchased from a maple equipment supplier. Others, such as metal collecting spouts (called spiles), an hydrometer, collecting buckets or bags, and finishing filters, are unique to maple production. You may already have many of these items or can buy them at a local store. Maple syrup can be produced on a small scale with very little equipment, but there are some standard items required to do the job correctly. Once the trees begin to break bud, chemical changes within the sap cause syrup to have an unpleasant flavor, often referred to as a 'buddy' taste. Tapping season is also likely to be shorter when tapping red maple because red maple tend to break bud at an earlier date than sugar maple. Good syrup can be made from red maple, but it is more likely to be cloudy. Sugar maple usually has considerably higher sap sugar contents than red maple, resulting in less sap needed and less time and energy required to produce a given volume of syrup. Making maple syrup from sap requires boiling off water until the desired sugar concentration is achieved. Sap to produce maple syrup can be collected from any native species of maple, but in Maine, sugar maples are the first choice when they are available. It's easy, great fun, and a very educational family activity. If you have access to a few maple trees, whether growing in your yard or in a woodland, you can produce your own maple syrup and even enough extra to use as gifts for family or friends. Late winter and early spring is maple season, when commercial maple producers in Maine and other parts of northeastern North America tap trees, collect sap, boil it down to produce maple syrup, or further process it into maple sugar, fudge, nougat, cream, or other products.

What type of maple tree makes syrup