Our family has been making maple syrup at our cabin since 2019. We tapped 140 maple trees this year! Once the bag is full, we dump it into a tank with a filter, so bugs and dirt don't get in. We carry the tanks on a trailer pulled by the four-wheeler. When the tank is full, we haul it back to the Sugar Shack. There, we use a generator to pump the sap into large storage tanks. It stays in those tanks until we've gathered enough to cook.
On cooking day, we build a fire. It is EXTREMELY hot so tending it is only a job for experienced adults. The sap is drained from the storage tanks into the cooking pan. The sap boils in the cooking pan for several hours until the sugar content is high enough to be classified as syrup. The syrup is emptied from the pan and runs through three layers of filters. We heat up bottles on a propane stove to make sure there are no germs. We fill the bottles, cap them, and lay them on their side to seal them.
This year we made 28 gallons of syrup! We will look forward to eating it on our waffles and pancakes all year!
