Boiling time

We filled three garbage cans (holding 30 gallons apiece) full of maple sap and started boiling.
After about 45 gallons the sap scorched and we had to sart over. It's tricky to boil the sap. You have to babysit the fire all the time, and check the liquid level in the pan almost constantly. With the first batch, the fire got too hot and as it got warm today and the ground thawed and got muddy, it caused the cinder blocks to settle a little so the pan wasn't level. It has to be level to work properly.

This has been so interesting for us to learn.
We ended up with about a gallon of syrup, but we will keep collecting more sap this week (despite Becky's sore arms from carrying heavy buckets full of sap while Jake was in Utah!) and boil again next Saturday.

Someone asked if the trees were in our yard, and the answer is no. All of this is being done on a 4-acre property that belongs to a couple in our ward. It's a great property--the kids LOVE running around and playing, and the owners are very kind about letting us and our kids run all over the place!
It was fun. For dinner we roasted hot dogs and bratwurst and then had smores over the fire with the air smelling of smoke and pancakes.