Jason got to put his rocket stove to use this afternoon when he boiled down the small bit of sap he collected over the past two days from our maple grove. The weather hasn't given us a proper maple syrup harvest yet, but we tapped a couple trees last week and collect the small amounts of sap whenever we get a warm day here or there. This way, we are learning the process slowly, and when the trees start to really run, we will already have a sense of everything and will be more prepared and organized. This is the first time we are making our own syrup, but like all other things in life, we tend to just leap in head first! You can learn a lot of things really fast that way!
So far, the syrup we have made has been AMAZING. It doesn't taste like any maple syrup I have had before; it is sort of smokey with a hint of chocolate to it. Really! So I am excited to harvest a whole bunch more.
Jason built this rocket stove from scratch, never having made one before. He modified it from his original basic design and when we put it to the test today, it was very efficient. It cooked that sap down super fast using just sticks! It is really quite amazing.
The important thing is that it is YOUR syrup, from YOUR trees! Canadian smokey chocolate maple syrup - hmm, I'm sure you can make a creative label to market that syrup!
ReplyDeleteI am in Ontario as well. ( A city though ). I tapped two trees in my yard and the sap is runny well on the odd warm days we have had. I am setting up my rocket stove too, and am looking forward to some syrup. Hope it tastes as good, and different as you say. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteGord.
Hi Gord! That's great that you're putting together a rocket stove too, and tapping your trees. I'm sure your syrup will be as good as ours. It's really so satisfying to make it yourself. Have fun! And thanks for stopping by (:
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