Marie, I have been wanting to tap a few of my maples for a long time. I am going to see if I can find the stuff I need to finally do it.

Question, tho. Once I tap the tree and collect the sap, how long can I keep the sap refrigerated before it has to be boiled down? Or does it need to be done ASAP?

Do you boil yours on your kitchen stove or elsewhere?

My main concern is how it will affect my electric bill to have the stove going for hours on end. We pay exorbitant electric rates here as it is.

Linda

I understand you can get all the kit now at Fleet Farm! :) And you want to boil it OUTSIDE unless you feel the need to re-wallpaper your kitchen. We use a cheap two burner propane stove and get a tank which just about does a season with two taps on one tree. You finish the syrup off on the stove but only once it actually has started to thicken a little outside. There are great resources online describing the "aproning" you want to see when it's done. It can take days to boil down if you only run during the day - two pots going - one with fresh sap, one with the "boil down" in it that you keep topping up with the first until you run out of sap or start to curse and give up :) I've kept it in the 'fridge for a couple weeks with no trouble!

-M

Is your two burner stove like a camp stove? Or could you do it on a gas grill, maybe?

We have a 20lb and a 100lb propane tank. how much propane do you use to boil the sap from your one tree? And how long does it usually take for that much?

Do you leave the stove going/sap boiling while you sleep and/or go to work?

Linda

Cheap camp stove and a 20 lb propane tank! And it varies year-to-year depending on how much sap we get. I'm home all day so that's when I tend it. We shut it off right before bed and put it on the following morning. I have friends that do it in bigger wider kettles on a gas grill over the weekends, starting when they get home Fri night - they take it in shifts overnight so they can get it at least to the point of finishing inside by Sunday eve.

-M