Making Maple Syrup | Episode 7 | FoxFire Off-Grid Adventures

Did you know you can tap ANY Maple tree to make maple syrup? Some species of Maple trees have less sugar content in the sap than Sugar Maple trees - it just means you will need to boil the sap for longer to get it down to the yummy stuff.
This is our first time ever making maple syrup! We were surprised at how easy it is to make small batches. It just takes a looong time! We tapped a total of 7 maple trees, 2 of them we suspect are sugar maples. You will need a metal spile, a bucket and a lid (to avoid rain getting in) to collect the sap (+drill for the hole). There are other ways to collect sap, this is the way we went. We decided to boil the sap over a fire, but also tried it over a propane burner - both are very effective. It took most of the day to boil it right down. If you run out of light/time - you can just pick up where you left off the next morning. We strained it and put it through a filter a few times. Once it starts to get dark and bubbly you know it's time to take it off the heat. A quick trick to check "doneness" is to pour the hot sap onto a super cold plate (freezer temp), if it gets gooey it's done! We didn't have a candy thermometer - if you do, stop when it reaches 219°F.
It was a fun and very rewarding experience. Maple syrup tastes way better when you put a lot of work and love into it.
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