Anyone into maple syruping?

[IsItFriday]

I was just checking or wondering if any of the fellow outdoorsman are into maple syruping. It has the perfect timing. No hunting or fishing that can be done and it takes place outdoors. Then the bonus it taste great. Pure maple syrup has so many uses. Please indulge on your uses.  Thanks for reading and replying

[kenhuntin]

I love the stuff the kids do as well however the Wife has to have the the kind bought in the store with the preservatives. Do you make it? I need a new supplier.

[DIRTBALL2]

I've made maple syrup in the past. The only caveat I can think of is the fact that doing so is very time consuming and labor intensive. However, the end result makes it worthwhile. First of all, the gathering of the sap. It takes 40 gallon's of sap to end up with 1 gallon of finished product. Then there's all the time it takes to boil down the sap. You need to tend it nearly constantly, making sure it reach's a constant temperature range for extracting the syrup. You need to use one of those floating type thermometer's like the one's used for candy making. Once you have it boiled down to the proper stage the last thing you need to do is run it through the filtering process. To do this you use a large funnel type filter that is made out of felt. And when you are finally finished with all this work, you get to enjoy the fruit's of your labor. I like to go down to Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream Cafe in Uptown and get some of their premium vanilla ice cream and pour the maple syrup over it. Ohmygawd for scrumptious! To kick it up a notch, take a tablespoon with a small amount of sugar in it. Then fill the tablespoon with brandy. Light the brandy on fire and while it's still burning, pour it over the maple syrup you just put on the ice cream. It is Ohmygawd all the way fantastic! Bon appetit'!   DIRTBALL2

[Tami]

I do I do
Infact i was just cleaning my pouts, today and putting them into buckets, for when the day time warms up and night gets cold, soon i tell ya soon the maple will be running...
I love it, the only thing i hate is the cook down, so much maple and so little syrup lol..
Just a few months... yay

[IsItFriday]

Where is your sugar bush at in MN. The days are getting longer and soon the sap will be flowing

[Tami]

On family land in Lily Wisconsin..