Comments on: Syrup in the City: Maple Sugaring DIY https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/ Crossing Paths with Farmers, Food and Doing Good Fri, 27 Feb 2026 21:20:30 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Andre Tillie https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-337 Thu, 22 Apr 2021 02:58:20 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-337 Quick question, I want to get into this for next year but I’m only doing one tree so would I be able to store my daily sap in the fridge or freezer for the whole season and just do one boil at the end?

]]> By: farmgirl https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-315 Tue, 23 Mar 2021 14:36:33 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-315 In reply to Bea.

Bea, we only tap one tree and get almost a gallon of sap- usually about 40-50 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of finished syrup ratio… If the freezing part is making it stressful- just skip it! But if you freeze- yes, make sure you let the ice melt to 1/3 to 1/2 of the total amount and then the boiling time will be quicker, meaning if you started with 40 gallons of sap, you could be down to 15 gallons to boil instead, which will finish faster. If this is your first season, just enjoy the process and enjoy the final delicious product!
-Michelle

]]> By: Bea https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-314 Tue, 23 Mar 2021 13:00:45 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-314 When using the freeze/thaw before boiling, how do you ever have 40 gallons left? We throw out so much more than we end up with, and then we’ll boil it? We’ve only tapped 7 trees and are hoping for a half gallon of syrup, but when I take off the frozen sap, I’m not left with much. And then I have to take off more, then boil off more? I just feel like I’m not doing the freezing part right. When I take it out of the freezer in the morning, can I leave it at room temperature until it’s soft enough to separate the ice?

]]> By: farmgirl https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-293 Tue, 16 Mar 2021 23:58:05 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-293 In reply to Anne.

Anne, I know some people do leave the ice chunks in the buckets- we drilled holes in a separate 5 gallon bucket to let the melting sap drain into a bucket below- but it shouldn’t really matter… I’m so curious! Best of luck making your liquid gold!
-Michelle

]]> By: farmgirl https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-292 Tue, 16 Mar 2021 23:55:45 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-292 In reply to Thomas.

Thanks for the questions Thomas,
I don’t know about popsicles- but I do know that frozen sap that is thawing releases most of it’s sugars in what melts first. The ice left behind isn’t devoid of sugars but contains much less sugar % than what melts first – you can even taste the difference! I like to think the freeze thaw cycles that starts the sap flowing also help us finish off the sap into syrup… I hope that helps you understand 🙂

]]> By: Thomas https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-291 Tue, 16 Mar 2021 23:08:13 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-291 I’m not sure how sugar can separate from ice using a freezing/removal or freezing/thawing process.

Sugar in solution freezes uniformly. It thaws uniformly.

Homemade popsicles (and melted popsicles) work this way…..I’m not sure I understand.

]]> By: Anne https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-283 Sat, 13 Mar 2021 19:25:45 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-283 In reply to farmgirl.

Thanks for the quick response! After completing the entire freeze-thaw-toss cycle, the remaining liquid did taste less sugary than the sap straight from the tree. It is interesting, because when I was first allowing it to thaw, the initial little bit of liquid I tasted did seem more sugary. But as I continued to let the ice melt until there was just about 2/3 of the ice block left, it seemed to taste less sweet. I’m not sure if it matters that I just left the ice chunk sit in the bucket with the thawing liquid (I didn’t transfer it to a bucket with holes that allowed the liquid to drain as it was thawing).

Anyways – this was just the first time I tried it, so I might have to experiment with another batch to see if I get the same result. I am really enjoying the learning and experimentation process! Thanks so much for responding!

]]> By: farmgirl https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-282 Sat, 13 Mar 2021 19:14:49 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-282 In reply to Anne.

Anne – I have no idea how that could possibly be! I love that you’re using a brix- we never do, but I wonder if you just got a funky reading? How does it taste compared to the sap straight from the tree? Keep me posted, curious!! Best of luck, enjoy the boiling 🙂 -Michelle

]]> By: Anne https://forksinthedirt.com/syrup-in-the-city-maple-sugaring-tips/#comment-281 Sat, 13 Mar 2021 19:00:22 +0000 https://forksinthedirt.com/?p=1301#comment-281 I’m not sure what I did wrong, but I attempted to use the freeze-thaw method to get a more concentrated sugar-sap liquid. The sap straight from my maple tree has a 3% sugar content (when measured with a brix scale). I froze a 3 gallon bucket of sap, then brought it out to thaw about 1/3 of its volume. I removed the ice chunk from the bucket and saved the remaining liquid inside. I then re-froze it and let it thaw again – this time 1/2 of its volume. I then removed that ice chunk from the bucket. When I measured the remaining liquid – it was now at only 1% sugar content! Eek! Any theories on what I might have done wrong?

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