How to: Backyard Maple Syrup

Text and Images: Sam Graap

When most people think of maple syrup, they think of Canadian accents and expensive maple leaf shaped bottles in the grocery store. When I think of maple syrup I think of my father, beer in hand, cursing, standing over a large pot of boiling sap. . .

Here is how my dad and I have always made our Backyard Maple Syrup:

Supplies:

Power Drill
Drill Bit (With a bit attached. The size of the drill bit to be used is dependent on the type of spile you are using. Most spiles require either a 7/16 or 5/16 bit)
Tapping Spiles, hooks, buckets, and lids
Bayou Backyard Burner and propane (or built fire)
Large pieces of cheesecloth
Thermometer for checking sap temperature

1 Grab a beer!

Richie’s beer of choice for tapping is usually Stella.

2 Pick a tree!

The recommended order in selecting your maple trees to yield a higher sugar content is: Sugar, Black, Red, Silver. Select trees that are mature (at least 12 inches in diameter) and healthy. Pick a tree or a few, preferably ones that are hit with strong sunlight throughout the day.

3 Drill the tap hole!

Drill the hole at about 3 feet high. Ideally, the tap hole should be above a large root or below a large branch on the south side of the tree. Drill a hole 2 to 2 ½ inches deep. It may be helpful to wrap a piece of tape around the drill bit 2 ½ inches from the tip to use as a guide. Drill at a slight upward angle to facilitate downward flow of sap from the hole. The shavings from the drilled tap hole should be light brown, indicating healthy sapwood.

4 Insert the Spile!

Clear any wood shavings from the edge of the hole. Insert the spile into the loop on the hook (hook facing outward), and then insert the spile into the tap hole. Gently tap the spile into the tree with a hammer (do not pound the spile into the tree, as this may cause the wood to split). If the sap is flowing, you should immediately see sap dripping from the spile. Hang your bucket, pop the lid on, and wait!

5 Check on the sap!

Check on your bucket every few hours, the warmer it is the faster the sap flows! When your bucket is filled about ¾ you can remove it and replace with another bucket if you can. We recommend gathering at least 10 gallons to boil down. Feel free to take a sippy sip of some fresh maple water, or add some CO2 for a maple seltzer.

6 Filter the sap!

Filter the sap through cheesecloth into a large, steel pot. Place the pot of sap over a flame on a large, outdoor, gas burner (we use a Bayou burner). You can also do this by placing a rack over a fire in between cinder blocks… we tried that a few times. If you chose this method, the flavor may come out smokey. It also requires more supervision, and you’ll need a lot of wood to keep a fire going for hours.

7 Boil the sap!

You’ll need to boil the sap down until it’s a nice, light amber color. (Darker if you wish but you’ll need to continue adding sap until it boils down to your preferred color). We boil for about an hour per gallon of sap. Keep a close eye on your boiling pot! I like to sit with our boiling sap and play some Beethoven.

8 Transfer the sap!

Move the remaining sap to a smaller pot on the stove or an outdoor grill. Use a thermometer to monitor the sap’s temperature. Once the sap reaches 8 degrees above the boiling temperature of water (22º F), remove it from heat. This is as hot as the sap can get without burning!

9 Jar the syrup!

Filter your syrup one last time through some cheesecloth into a mason jar. Store in the fridge and enjoy!

15 gallons of sap will produce about one quart of syrup. It takes a lot of sap and a lot of time to make a sufficient amount of syrup, which explains why the stuff is costly.
So why not drop some money on equipment, cancel all your plans and watch sap boil? A little goes a long way when it comes to this tree juice, and something about making
your own just hits deliciously different. ✌

SAM enjoys long walks in the shower and longer walks with her son, axl rose. When she's not drawing hands she's making syrup with her dad, Richie!

I’d Tap That…