Boils Law and the Physics of Cooking Maple Sap

A light rain is falling outside and the air has a decided chill; perfect time for me to come inside and have a cup of maple sap tea. All over the North Country people are boiling down maple sap to make maple syrup. Most of them probably have real sugar shacks, little sheds that enclose their fire and boiling pan. Not us. Our pan is in the open. Maybe someday we will get an authentic sugar shack but for now, the house will have to do. I can sit here in the living room and view the boiling process right outside the window. A few years ago we had a blizzard every weekend we boiled and the house made an excellent shack.

This is our first boil of the season. I had a bit of a late start because I had to set the cooker up this morning. Ideally I would have had everything already set but we picked sap nearly every night this week so I really didn't have any good time to get ready. I lost a bit of time this morning moving the concrete blocks that we use to surround the fire. Then I had to go to Fleet to get an elbow for the stovepipe. I probably had the fire going by 10 am and a good boil before noon. I have put over 60 gallons into the pan so far and have a bit more to add yet. At some point I will have to quit adding so the sap can cook down into syrup  and I would like to be at that stage before dark. Actually, before we go to the woods to pick the sap that ran today.

Cooking maple sap is not difficult, but it is demanding. You have to add more wood to the fire every few minutes to keep the boil going and every time you had sap, the boil slows, or stops; at least in our primitive setup. Once I am done adding sap, all I have to do is keep the rolling boil going until the volume is reduced. Then I am close to syrup. All this keeps me busy. Usually Karen and I do this together but she is in a workshop this weekend; both days from 9 to 5, so the boiling vigil is a solo effort this weekend.

This is probably a good time to address Boils Law as it relates to cooking maple sap.  Boils Law states: When one is in the process of reducing maple sap to maple syrup, a vigorous boil is required. In the beginning stages of the process, there is no such thing as a boiling action that is too vigorous. The corollary to Boils Law, known as Boils Over Law, states that when the sap has been reduced to a small volume and nears the syrup state, it is possible to have a boil that is too vigorous, resulting in a boiling over of the sap/syrup and the ruination of the whole effort.

I just came in from adding the last sap for today. Gotta' stop sometime. I think I have put about 90 gallons into the pan so far today. Now it is just boil, boil, boil. The rain has picked up. The firewood is covered  so the rain won't bother anything. Actually, we can use the rain to help keep the fire danger down. Last weekend our neighbor, our good neighbor Al, was burning a brush pile and the fire got away from him. Burned up the grass under his pines but not  much else. The DNR was called and put out the fire. Karen and I went over to help but didn't have much to do. Karen is afraid I will burn the rest of Al's grass with the sap fire so she made me promise to get the hose out and put a nozzle on it. Between the rain and the hose I should be safe enough.

 The wind chimes keep up a nearly constant song. The chimes hang from our prayer flag tipi; a frame of four poles set in pyramid fashion. The Tibetan prayer flags are all tattered and worn from the winter's wind and the small flags we added show plenty of wear as well. It was a hard winter in many ways and here at Whiskey Jack Flats, we all bear the signs of what was the toughest winter on record for us. But this morning I heard killdeers calling and yesterday Karen saw a woodchuck along the road; spring will have its' way.

Time to add more wood; can't forget Boils Law. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Peace and love to you all,
Mike