Maple syrup ... first go

First year trying the maple syrup process. Satisfied with the results so far. Small scale stuff but should last us awhile

Looks great. Some day I'd like to give it a try.

Nice! That’s the size of setup I need, well done.

Nice!
That is pretty much how my cookers are set up only bit cruder. Who made your pan up for you? is it stainless.. I used steam table pans because having a stainless pan made like yours looks to be.. Would have cost more than what I wanted to spend. I do have the base pan out of the old steam table I bought. Decided not to use it because it leaked on corners..Roughly how many gallons is your pan?

Mac

looks awfully pale.

how do you test to see if its been boiled enough?

Grade A amber
7 degrees above boiling at your location or a hydrometer.

It is very light in color but is delicious. My understanding is that it is not out of the ordinary, it’s just a time of the year thing. Anyone have any thoughts on this that are experienced? I took it to 219 which is 7 above at my sea level

That early boiled sap is usually lighter and it gets darker as the season goes on. The lighter the better for me, but some prefer the darker stuff.

The very light amber color is the preferred and more valuable syrup. Usually comes earlier in the season. I prefer the later season sap syrup which is darker and has even more maple flavor. The candy and confectionary industry likes the very light colored syrup. We collected 194 gallons of 3.3 sugar content sap from about 300 trees yesterday. Left a bit more than that in the form of ice however. Looks good for Friday-Sunday, maybe a bit too warm middle of the week.

Bryce