Old-fashioned Maple Syruping

It would be natural to wonder why my brother-in-law, Ron, is adding wood to a woodstove set up in his lawn, when everybody knows they are designed to heat indoors, not out.  I could say that Ron sometimes marches to the beat of a different drum, but that would only partially explain this strange behavior.  Taking a second look at this photo you may note there is a pan atop the stove merrily boiling away.

The second photo shows what the inside of that little wood stove looks like when it is being properly fired.  That’s a fairly hot fire, but has to be fed regularly to stay that way.  A pile of wood can disappear into the maw of that thing more rapidly than one might think.

In this photo you can note the results of that fire under the pan.  A slow rolling boil sends clouds of steam into the atmosphere slowly condensing the maple sap in the pan into maple syrup as the water dissipates.  The piece of metal leaning against the side is ward off the slight wind from that side as an aid to boiling.

I can tell you may be wondering where that sap comes from.  It is from a sugar maple tree.  Usually a person uses a battery drill to make a small hole in the tree trunk.  A small tap with a tube is snugly set into the hole, which then has a container attached to catch the resultant flow.  The temperature must be above freezing, and it helps to have bright sunny days to insure the sap will flow freely.  This jug is nearly full and ready for collecting.  Careful observation will show the railroad tracks some 100’ away.

This is Ron collecting a full jug and pouring it into a pail which will be placed in the back of the waiting Polaris Ranger for transport to the boiling area.  Once back at that point, with fire stoked, and pan filled, it’s time for a break.

We happily retire to the break room, a past garage converted to a man cave, where a friendly game of eight ball can fill in a few minutes before the next tending of the fire must be performed.  The entire syrup making experience is considered no more than a good time with the happy result of two or three gallons of fine syrup at the end of the season which may last a month or so.