How to Make Maple Syrup in Your Own Backyard

Have you ever thought about trying to tap your maple trees to make syrup, but never have because you are unsure about what to do? Or maybe you just don’t want to spend a fortune on tapping kits and evaporator equipment. Today you will see how we make our own maple syrup without any sugar maple trees or expensive equipment.

[@donroo736]

You Sir are a gentleman and a scholar

[@Livin.in.abundant.grace...]

This coming season will be my first year tapping. I was looking for helpful videos and this was one of the best and easiest ones for me to better prepare. Thank you!

[@bobrockey7623]

A great video with good detail from start to finish. I also only have silver maples near Milwaukee WI and yesterday in my first effort boiled down 4+ gallons of sap to 1 wonderful pint of syrup in about 6 hours total. Next time will use tongs to hold my digital thermometer. Used cast iron skillet on stove for that final boil. Still collecting sap but will watch the trees budding closely now.

[@Tsav69]

Hiya farmer, great video! City chef here - The syrup overflows towards the end of the process when the sugar starts to crystallize while the moisture is still evaporating and it gets caught being raised up. When you lower the heat to a simmer, the evaporation is less rapid and allows the remaining water to be separated from the reduction without forcing the crystallized molecules to rise or be overheated.. If heat is continued to be applied after moisture is cooked off - the crystallized maple sugars burn very quickly as this entire process is essentially Just removing water from sugar! The more surface area you utilize when applying heat, the quicker the reduction process becomes! So by focusing on increasing width while reducing height, it lowers the cooking yield time, Increases production speed and overall profitability!

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

You have a good knowledge of maple syrup production! If I had more time and money I’d build an evaporator like my friend uses. It’s about three feet wide and 20 long. The sap is just a couple inches deep. That thing really gets rid of water in a hurry!

[@guyinpajamapants6892]

Uh. What?....

[@jamesmiller6555]

Great tip about the filtering the sand using gravity instead of filtering > I hate washing out cheese cloths. Will be trying in next spring.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

It has worked great for me. Let it sertle out in the freezer. Then pour the clean stuff off and put the muddy stuff in a smaller containers. Keep doing that until you have a little yogurt cup of sugar sand.

[@russpapazian1623]

Great video! Been a number of years since I’ve boiled sap with my folks, but it sure is a lot of fun! I’d recommend investing in a candy thermometer (I think they can be bought for less than $30), and they are very accurate for finishing your syrup. Also when boiling with kiddos, boil a little syrup into taffy and cool it for them as a treat. In Canada we just pour a little dollop in the snow! It’ll form a yummy treat they’ll never forget! 🙂

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Good ol maple snow candy!

[@joeangeloni1507]

Plastic itself is killing the taste.

[@guyinpajamapants6892]

I love “get to the point” videos! And this Sir, is an excellent “get to the point” video! Well done!

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Thanks!

[@cwolgamot]

Thank you, I probably got more from your video inclusively than any other single video. I really appreciated your methods as I do about the same. Without a larger cooking device, I’m using a Turkey gas single burner, I really felt more confident. Thanks for all your information!!

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Glad to hear! If you have any specific questions don’t be afraid to ask. It’s an exciting thing having home made syrup for your family and friends!

[@FatherOfTheParty]

Great video, thanks for taking the time to put it together. I've also heard that you can make syrup from walnut trees and the conversion rate is similar to what you report. Great to see you making memories with the kids as well, they'll remember those nights forever.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Thanks! I have heard of walnut syrup but I have never tried doing it.

[@stevencollin617]

Amazing video thank you for sharing !!

[@randialtman8407]

Excellent! We’re tapping for the first this year.

[@jimcox6687]

Nice video well done. We make our own sap here in Michigan

[@Buchnell]

Awesome my neighbor kid is out collecting sap and working it. Sounds great.

[@user-fr2io9hj2d]

@Joaquin Spragley wow not the place

[@Kathleen67.]

Excellent information and very entertaining, thank you! Where do you buy the taps?

[@extremepyro624]

Great video !!! Just did my first batch. I used a galvanized wash tub with a nice campfire under it. Cinder blocks around it to keep all the heat in an set a steel grate on. To finish I used a portable induction stove top. Crazy you can wrap a towel around the stock pot for insulation an don't go up in flames. Induction is sooo hot an instant too. I did filter it an your right is does waste alot. Gotta come up with a better thing than a wash tub though-- it leaks bad ! Thanks for the video , good job

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

There are so many ways to do it! Nothing tastes as good as maple syrup you made yourself 👍👍

[@billking5407]

Thanks for sharing ,great video

[@toddtomaszewski6820]

dude...you got a thumbs up for saying L.O.C.cleaner...😆 that's the best stuff.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Sometimes I shower with that stuff!

[@toddtomaszewski6820]

shower with the soap and use the shampoo. wash your clothes with SA-8. Use ZOOM to disinfect. And don't forget Dish Drops and Scrub Buds. Love their stuff.

[@darrellbeam8053]

Grandpa had a whole grove of trees to tap. He built a trough down the hill to a shack. The trough dumped in a copper kettle and started the boiling. At about half done, he would transfer to a second pot to finish making syrup, then the first pot can take more sap. If they wanted maple candy, he transfer to a third pot for that.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

I love maple candy! I haven’t been brave enough to make any of my own yet. I’m afraid I’ll just ruin the pan and the syrup.

[@tnscubadiver]

Awesome love the LOC. Years ago. Just boiling our first batch in Northern Michigan

[@marlaheiman2387]

My new turkey frier is definitely going to be multi purpose

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

They work great!

[@svetlana7485]

merci beaucoup ! very interesting !

[@jerseyphresh77]

love mapling

[@jamesmiller6555]

When your sugar water foams up add just a 1/2 pat of butter and you can just keep on putting the heat to it. Great video.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Thanks!

[@GardengateDreamer]

Just like making jam/jellies

[@geoffoutdoors]

Great vid!

[@thezfunk]

On some of those bigger trees you can put multiple taps without harm.

[@2fast65]

Great video thanks.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Thanks for joining us!

[@nancykeslar7656]

When we made it we would also make taffy. It was fun pulling it. We also made “rock “ candy with a string on the lid of a jar. Gary Keslar-Ellsworth Ohio

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Nice! I should try that.

[@laurie5431]

When you take your syrup buckets out of the freezer, how do you bottle it? Do you reheat the syrup after you pour it out of the bucket to get the sugar sand separated? I’ve filtered mine and heat clean jelly jars in the oven to 250 degrees. Then pour the finished syrup that has been reheated to at least 185 degrees into the hot jelly jars with a hot lid to seal them. Flip them upside down to sterilize the lid and also help to seal them. After a few minutes, flip them right side up and you’re done! I like the idea of putting it in the freezer to settle the sugar sand! I might try that this year if I can make room in my freezer. Hope you have a good sap run this year!

[@arthurjennings5202]

From a guy in South Texas, we can get maple trees, but 20 - 40 weather? Don't got. So I guess I'll just have to keep buying the stuff if I want it.

[@PRRGG1]

Dang it. It's 11:30 at night, now I want pancakes and maple syrup!

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Me too!

[@patrickc8190]

Wow Neat ! My house has maples all around and never thought about trying to capture the syrup. And I'm not sure if they are sugar maples or not, but I'm up here in Canada, Prince Edward Island to be exact and a few people do tap trees. But I think temps are getting close to finishing i'd say, wasn't below 0 or 32F the last few nights so maybe next year. Where did you buy the taps? Amazon?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

www.bascommaple.com/item/lapssp516/spout_lapierre/ I hope you try it next year! But I’ll warn you. If you try it once you will probably never stop!

[@patrickc8190]

@@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206 I may just chance it !

[@donnazavitz1095]

Great information! Thanks. How much propane did you use if I may ask?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

I’ve never really figured that out. I’m sure if I knew that number it wouldn’t be worth doing, but I still enjoy it 👍

[@matthewrenshaw]

Great video! Any other homesteading projects?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Thanks! Does fixing your own barns and doing your own construction projects count?

[@YourSpeechCoach]

Thanks for the GREAT video. Today was our first adventure in making maple syrup. I think we overshot the "perfect" temperature. We didn't get a hug foam-up mess, but our syrup crystallized as it cooled. (Canyon Maples in Utah, 6000ft elevation) Can we rescue our syrup? Or do we just chalk it up to experience?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

You certainly can just add some water back to it! Nothing hurt at all.

[@steveadams4009]

You can also use just a little bit of cream to settle the foam.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Good suggestion!

[@dizbob6250]

That was so good l watched it twice🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Thanks!

[@carlieslongbottom2553]

What size drill are you using?

[@wilhallman2890]

Your trees are HUGE! Roughly how many gallons of sap do you get out of one of those big trees?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

I usually put two or three taps on each of those big trees. Each tap will often collect two gallons of sap per day. If I have a good stretch of weather I can get over 60 gallons of sap from one of those big trees.

[@wilhallman2890]

@@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206 that's awesome, thanks!

[@borhanuddinrubel1662]

This is life!!!I dun like Urban America.

[@keithmartin7831]

Gonna try next year God willing if the Creek don't rise.

[@EtzEchad]

Very interesting. How much syrup do you get per tree each year?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

A good year would be a 1-1.5 quarts of finished syrup per tap.

[@greatnorthernviews3052]

I made 3 gallons this year so far. Wisconsin.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Nice! There is nothing like home made syrup👍👍

[@BrianMartin-zb4jn]

Where did you get the taps so cheap?

[@robertvanderhoof6082]

Propane’s not cheap that must be some pretty expensive syrup

[@kenrosloniec9546]

I don't have garage space. Can I just boil it in the kitchen? What are the down false of that.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

You can do a small amount in the kitchen, but if you do it for too long you will have sticky residue on everything from the steam. Good ventilation is key.

[@sheriashton6802]

How do you know how long the initial boil should be reduced to before your first filter?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Well filtering is something everyone does differently. I have gone to just letting it settle to the bottom and pouring the clean stuff off, leaving the sludge behind.

[@sheriashton6802]

@@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206 I’m speaking of the time from the raw sap to the first time you filter. I cant seem to figure out how long to boil. In other words, how much should the quantity be reduced to or by?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

@@sheriashton6802 I’ve actually found that it doesn’t really matter. Every time you get a boil going you will settle more sugar sand, so if you filter and then start boiling again it will just sand up again. I have gone away from filtering. I just let the stuff settle to the bottom over night and pour off the clean stuff.

[@redforman9217]

I burn it every year... this year not yet but I have been finishing during day not night time

[@ssergeant9682]

could you tell me how you know what temp it's done? I must have missed it. I saw that your water boiled higher than 212, but your sap was over 220 when done. I was told 219 is the optimum temp? I'm in NE Illinois.

[@thezfunk]

Yup 219. We are doing ours here in southern WI right now. A degree or two either way shouldn't cause big issues. The syrup starts to foam a lot at about that temperature. After you do it a couples times it will become obvious.

[@ssergeant9682]

@@thezfunk when you say to stop tapping when buds appear - I'm not sure how to know what buds? flowers ready to open or just the green little nubs? NE Illinois near Walworth. some of my other trees seem to have buds now. I'm boiling down sap as I write. I probably don't have the endurance to get enough for a gallon. I'm boiling down in batches. when I get close - then I'll combine and finish it. Between my bees and this - plenty to do around here. I just bought a few buckets from sam's club. running a clear line from the tap into a hole I drilled in the lid.

[@WastedTalent-]

Just buy a simple glass hydrometer (under $20) and take the guesswork out of it. Dump the syrup into the tube that comes with the hydrometer and pop the hydrometer in. It'll float and tell you what the density of the syrup is. Not all thermometers are calibrated correctly. I have several meat thermometers and most of them read differently out of the box.

[@tommcsherry8398]

Great- where do you get your taps?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

okhardwarestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18&products_id=2180&zenid=34a8abda3e1cba2feea66431373dc051

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

They have pretty much everything you could need

[@tst1200]

Where do you buy those talps?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

I get all my supplies from okhardwarestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4130 Their prices are very reasonable and they will have anything you need.

[@rdf7909]

First View! Boom!

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Nice!

[@chrisparker6384]

Fermented maple syrup I wonder if that’s possible?

[@leejoelay2584]

just add yeast

[@brianjonker510]

You must go thru a lot of propane?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

I wouldn’t use propane if I was making a lot of syrup. It would get expensive. I figured it up once, but now I can’t remember. It takes a certain number of BTUs to remove a gallon of water. I’ll have to work on that again some day.

[@brianjonker510]

@@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206 like a month or so when it is time to boil again

[@koreynousen1685]

How many trees you tap?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

This year I only did 9 taps

[@harvestmaid5669]

Have you ever tried egg white method?

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

No I haven’t... what’s that?

[@helensarkisian7491]

??? Clean, clean, clean - bangs in tap with a rust hammer - 🧐

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

It may have looked bad but it was washed and disinfected before I used it 😂

[@WastedTalent-]

Simple glass hydrometers are dirt cheap and not exactly "fancy equipment."

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

👍

[@andytrudell4889]

Great video but 2-2 1/2” is too deep. 1 1/2” is plenty deep enough. Good luck sugaring.

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Shoot I read somewhere that 1.5 inches to 3 inches was the acceptable range and that’s what I’ve always gone by. Guess I’ve been doing it wrong all along!

[@ThePlotthound2]

Agree, too deep.

[@toddtomaszewski6820]

pro tip....dont taste your buddy. Just sayin...thanks for sharing

[@keithmartin7831]

I thot you had to have sugar map trees. Duh

[@dodgebrothersfarmandranch9206]

Nope! I used to think that too. Any kind of maple will work.