Well looks like it has been several months since my last post. Have been enjoying log cabin #6 and the treehouse. Interesting to see the scenery changes from the treehouse as it goes from summer to fall to winter. Also have been learning 3D printing and making some parts for use with KidWind teams.
Although it is a bit early to be thinking about making maple syrup this project has been on my mind for a while to build a smaller version of the sap cooker I have used in the past to make maple syrup.
You can see what I used in the past. That this unit is about 4' by 4' and made of several parts requiring assembly. For boiling off 400 gallons of sap to make 10 gallons of syrup (requiring 100 gallons of propane) this set up fit the bill. Then you have to consider tapping 25 trees, placing 50 sap bags and collecting 400 gallons of sap over a week or two and it becomes a job. Not worth the time and effort to just make a gallon or two. Where my idea now is just to have some fun and make a little syrup and be done.
Enter the MMSC (Micro Maple Syrup Cooker) A friend and fellow maple syrup maker got some equipment from me a few years ago to give making syrup a try. When I saw his set up using a turkey cooker I got this idea. Menards had a sale on turkey cookers so I bought one for $100. Here you can see the turkey cooker set up on it's stand. To the right is the sap feeding system connected by a pipe to the cook pot. The sap feeding system is a metal box with a stock tank float in it. The green hose connected to the stock tank float goes up to the sap supply resevoir. The float is set so that the level of sap in the cooking pot will be about two inches deep. Keep in mind that a deep liquid requires a lot of heat an time to boil. The best boiling takes place when the liquid level is about 2 inches deep. To do this manually you would have to stay by the cooker and add a gallon of sap every 15 minutes. My friend can tell you what happens if you let the level get to low and the pan burn. Yeks! With my system as the level of sap boils off and goes down in the cook pot the float sinks, opening the valve allowing sap to flow from the reservoir keeping the level of sap in the cooker at 2" at all times. With a 30 gallon reservoir supply of sap you are good to go for several hours. Just light 'er up and let it boil. But don't let the reservoir run dry!
Here is a picture of the sap feeding system. In the connections between the cooker and feeding system is a shut off gate valve and union fitting
(behind the green hose). The valve will stop valuable finished maple syrup (it take 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup) from coming out when the union is disconnected so the pot, with the finished maple syrup in it can be lifted up and dumped out for filtering and canning. Right now the system is sitting on a temporary base set up. A better more secure platform with a base will be made in the near future.
In the meantime I am just going to enjoy some nice home made maple syrup from last season on an egg pancake and think about the spring sap flow to come and using my MMSC to make some.
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