The next few nights went by in a blur... outdoor boiling, indoor reduction, filtering, storage, more filtering, final reduction, bottle and cap sterilization, more filtering, packaging. We learned through trial and error how to do filtering (not during the final pour into the syrup bottles - that just produces a sticky mess), and when to do it (when the syrup is nice and hot). We learned and refined things a bit more each time, and the final product was starting to show a corresponding improvement. We were starting to get very clear, clean, golden maple syrup.
Outdoors, the temperatures had started to stay above freezing, and we noted a reduction in the sap flow. Combined with our now-streamlined production process, we were now making good headway against our sap backlog. We were clearly going to blow by our initial estimates - in fact, by April 10, we had already produced about five litres of syrup!
On a final note, sap production had now reached an amazing total, one we could not have dreamed of. By the end of day April 11, my notes indicated that we had accumulated a total of roughly three hundred and thirteen litres (about 83 gallons) of sap. Breakdowns below:
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April 8: Silver Maple sap - 27L, Sugar Maple sap - 25L
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April 9: Silver Maple sap - 20L, Sugar Maple sap - 22L
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April 10: Silver Maple sap - 9.5L, Sugar Maple sap - 14L
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April 1: Silver Maple sap - 2L, Sugar Maple sap - 7L
Grand total for this period: Silver Maple sap - 58.5 Litres, Sugar Maple sap - 68L, Total sap 126.5L. Grand, grand total: a whopping 313.5 litres (-20 litres for the "incident" = 293.5 litres).
We have invited a bunch of friends and family over for a Sunday sugar bush brunch in the backyard. Our newly-produced syrup will be put to the test! Stay tuned for a further update.....
