Last Updated on February 20, 2021 by Michelle
Why do I throw away the ice in my sap buckets? Read on for the full scoop.
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Weather for a Sugarmaker, Not a Farmer
It’s been a great week in our neck of the woods. Well, not as far as farming goes. When I started writing this, there was still about a half a foot of snow on the ground and under that there was a layer of slippery ice. So maneuvering to get to the chicken coop and the cow stable twice a day, down a slope, was no easy task. Thankfully we have a water pump by the cows’ stable, and their hay supply is in the stall next to them. Then we keep the chicken’s food in a storage bin in the coop. So there’s no need to try to cart water or food down the slippery slope. Just ourselves, trying to stay in one piece.
Mind you temps did warm up a few days this last week to even give us a tease of springtime…. so much so that we saw the bare ground in many places… before another snow storm swooped in. But I’m not complaining. I’ll take a few more weeks of long winter nights by the fire, now that I have my list I shared last week of 9 Perfect Things To Do On A Long Winter Evening, especially if that evening includes the soothing sounds of the RO filter humming along and filtering our sap. (Yeah, I realize most of the world is moving into spring, so you may want to just pin that inspiring list for next winter.)
But the best part of the week? Finally, temps have started to rise, and it’s perfect weather for sap to slowly start to dance through the trees in our sugarbush.
Working Towards Our Dreams
My favorite sugarmaker and I were out repairing lines and adding new ones last weekend. Honestly, there aren’t too many things I’d rather do.
After a long cold winter that you think may never reveal green grass again, what a joy to hike up the woods with your favorite guy and work towards a few sweet dreams of…
… rows of amber syrup in our root cellar
… jars of maple switchel in our fridge, and
… amazing maple cream churning in my kitchen aid.
We’ve upsized our operation again this year. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to convince my husband to NOT upsize at least a little every year. Once you get the hang of the cycle of sugaring, you’re addicted and need more.
Our first year? 12 taps. Year two? 24 taps. Year three (aka this year)? Drumroll please… Or at least envision me tapping some twigs on a sap bucket lid… 75 taps and counting.
Why I’m Excited to Have Ice in my Sap Buckets
As we add taps (and work!), I’ve recently learned a little tip that is saving us a little effort and a little money with our syrup-making efforts.
Every day as I do my rounds to collect the sap, I’m excited when I discover a nice, smooth, solid chunk of ice floating on top of a bucket here and there.
“Why?” you might ask. Because, believe it or not, that block of ice saves us some time and effort. You see, the ice acts as a natural reverse osmosis (RO) filter. I wrote here about our homemade RO filter and exactly how you can make one.
Read all about how we saved hundreds in our backyard sugaring operation last year when we built this homemade filter for our sap.
Or you might like to read about the step-by-step process of how our family makes backyard maple syrup.
Frozen Sap is a Natural Filter
It turns out that when the sap freezes, it’s a natural filter–yep, ice acts as a poor man’s RO filter. Because pure water freezes before sugar water.
If the ice is solid and smooth, floating on top, it’s all water. Or close to it. Yes, it does have a minute amount of sugar content but, in my opinion, it’s just not worth the energy to filter or boil it.
When I was curious if this theory is legit, I melted a piece of ice I took off the top of the sap. It had a sugar content of less than half of one percent. The sap in the same bucket was 3% sugar. Mind you, if I find a slushy chunk in my sap , I keep it. But solid, smooth floating ice chunks get tossed. So do the solid rings of ice that form around the inside of the bucket. They easily slide right out, leaving a higher concentration of sugar in the remaining sap.
Not convinced? Cause, yes, I know sugar water DOES freeze solid… I think Chris Kelsey, a backyard sugar maker in Connecticut, said it well when we were having a heated discussion about this topic over in my facebook group, Maple Syrup Making: “Sap Ice is mostly water. So throw it out if you’re short on time or money. If you have the extra fuel and prefer to have a few extra beers by the fire then leave it.”
Want to Know More about Making Maple Syrup?
Go here for step-by-step directions on how to make syrup, or take a listen to the podcast episode I recorded all about the 8 Steps From Sap to Syrup. (Or go here for a link to listen on your favorite podcast player.)
And grab a copy of my book, Sweet Maple, or my course, Making Maple Sugar, if you want to know every detail about all things maple. Remember to snag the $155 worth of bonuses that come with Sweet Maple (see the list of bonuses here) & take advantage of the $53 worth of special bonuses that come with my maple sugar course as well. (See that list here.).
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Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Psalm 96: 12
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My husband and I collected maple sap last year and froze it in blocks until we had enough to cook down. They were STICKY in the freezer. Anything that touched them had an ultra-thick clear syrup smeared on it. When thawing the blocks, we tossed out the last 1/3 or so of each one as it SEEMED to be only water, with the real sugary stuff already being in the basin.
We cooked it down without a thermometer and canned it for the cold room. It’s delicious, lighter than commercial maple syrup and has white grains in the bottom. Is this because we didn’t have a good filtering system?
I enjoyed it immensely, burnt one batch and canned the rest.
Interesting that frozen sap is so sticky! It was probably lighter (and thinner?) than commercial syrups because you didn’t boil it at quite a high enough temperature. There’s a wonderful thing called a hydrometer that accurately measures the sugar content (or brix) of the sap so you know just the right time to take it off the heat and bottle it for amazingly perfect syrup. And, yes, the white grains (some call it “sand,” the official term is “niter”) disappear with the right filtering system… except unless you’re a pro with a high-tech press you will always be fighting the sand. Are you tapping again this year?
My great grandmother used a similar method for making hard cider. She hung her wood kegs of cider in the apple orchard and waited till mid winter to take them down (during a super cold spell – “when the rhododendrons are tight”).
The swaying of the trees kept mixing the cider early on, then the cold froze the water before the alcohol. She pulled the cork and inserted a hot poker to make a hole in the outer ice and the hard cider could be poured out, fines (egg shells), filtered and bottled (really, jugged).
I loved sitting on her porch after dinner and chores were done.
Oh my goodness! I’ve never heard of such a thing, but you’re right, it’s the same idea as tossing the ice in our sap! Fascinating! (And such a fun memory.) What part of the country did your grandmother live in?
Another year( our 3rd) on our tiny village property. Still a huge adjustment from our 32 acre. Off grid organic farm. We had a 500 tap pipeline vacuum system. Over the years we bought all the goodies. Top notch evaporators, filter system, propane finisher,etc. Yes, throw out the ice. When it formed in our bulk tank my husband scooped it out. We now have 3 front yard trees. My husband hung the buckets this year. Very short year. Less snow again here in upstate NY. He made about 8 pints. We use a propane fish fryer. Orlon filers. Bottle in canning jars. I used to sell at events and farmers markets. We also sold bulk. Miss our farm horribly. Making our little village property a minifarm. Have an orchard and gardens.
I’m sure you are bringing much joy and inspiration to your little village. But I’m also sure it’s very hard to go from your fabulous sugarmaking operation down to a few buckets! Thank you for confirming that throwing out the ice is always a good thing. 🙂
I have sap that I left in a bucket outside from a warmup two weeks ago that we then went into a deep freeze. It is probably 85% still frozen. The question is, do you think it would still be good or should I throw out the whole 5 gallons? This is my first year making maple syrup and Wednesday will be my second boil.
Thanks!
I would definitely pass on the 2-wk-old sap. If it had been all frozen the whole time that would be fine, but otherwise I’d hate to see it ruin your syrup.
Thank you, thank you…. I was thinking about the ice in my buckets and wondering if removing it would be economical and time-saving, but not wanting to waste any of that precious sap! Loved this article and can’t wait to read more from you….now just to find the time!
maybe you can read more around the boiling sap one night soon. 🙂 (And you’re very welcome.)