Tapping maple trees to make maple syrup requires not as much equipment as you might think. Here is a complete list of the supplies for maple syrup of what you will need to get you from start to finish.
This list is a budget friendly list and something that I would recommend to someone starting out. Maple syrup is a huge time commitment every year. I know when I first started I wasn’t sure I wanted to pour a bunch of money into the supplies if I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. The supplies list below is something to get you stared and if you end up liking it you are able to build on it. Whether that be getting more or upgrading what you have. There are so many options of what equipment you can use to make maple syrup, that is why I wanted to give you a starting point.
Supplies for Tapping A Maple Tree
The first thing you do when making maple syrup is to tap the Maple tree and collect sap. The supplies you will need are a tap, a hose and a bucket with a lid. This is the way I found easiest to manage especially with little ones running around.
For the tap I would recommend using a 5/16 metal tap. The metal ones hold up better than the plastic ones. The plastic ones can sometimes break when you are taking them out for the season. You will need a 3/8 drill bit to get the tap into the tree. We used 3/8 instead of 5/16 so it was easier to get out at the end of the season. We had no problems throughout the season of them falling out of the tree. Then you will need a bucket for the sap to fall into. I recommend a clean plastic 5 gallon bucket with a lid to protect your sap from getting debris in it. Lastly, for this portion you will need a hose to go from the tap to the bucket.
This is the set up that worked best for me. You will still get some debris in the bucket but not nearly as much as if you didn’t have the lid. The lid also protects it a bit if you accidentally tip it over you won’t lose all of your sap. How do I know that? Well a lot of our trees are on a steep hillside so I have dropped a fair amount when trying to climb back up. Another huge plus of this set up is I just bring one bucket to replace the other instead of having to dump it into a bigger one. This allows me to keep a larger bucket where I am going to boil the sap and not have to move it multiple times.
How to store your Sap before Boiling
To store the sap from the maple trees we used new garbage bins. This allowed us to stack them out of the way when we weren’t using them in the off season. Once Maple syrup season came around we would be able to un-stack them for use. They hold a lot of sap and you can get as many as you need if you decide you need more storage. Now I do want to let you know that these are temporary as you will need to boil the sap fairly quickly after you retrieve it as it can go bad.
Boiling and Finishing of Maple Syrup
Now it is time for the finale supplies for maple syrup! The supplies you will need for this step really depend on how much you want to spend. If you are just getting started and don’t want to invest a ton I would recommend getting cinder blocks, steam table pans and a fire.
First is the steam table pan. The reason you would use this type of pan versus just boiling in a pot over propane is the surface area. The more surface area you have the faster the sap will boil down. You can just get one pan if you would like to and do this as cheap as possible or get a few. I recommend the 6 inch deep pan as they hold more sap and you can refill less.
Next would be how you would boil. The most budget friendly option would be stacking cinder blocks parallel to each other leaving both ends open for the fire. Depending on how many steam table pans you have will depend on the amount of blocks. I recommend going three blocks tall and one block wide per pan. You would stack the cinder blocks just far enough apart to catch the ends of the pan and then build a fire underneath. This is the cheapest way I have found to boil larger amounts of sap at a time.
There are other ways to go about this as well you could use a propane tank and burner or even a wood stove that you are able to cook on. I would still recommend the Steam table pans for the wood stove. One recommendation is that either way you cook them outside due to the amount of moisture you are boiling off. However for the last bit of boiling you can take that inside on your stove to make sure to keep a watchful eye on it.
At this point a hydrometer would come in handy. Hydrometer is used to test the density of the sap to see when it is done. This is not needed if you don’t want to invest a lot of money. You can go off of taste as instead. The last thing you would need is bottles or jars for storing your finished product!
Supplies for Maple Syrup List
- 5/16 Taps
- Drill with 3/8 drill bit
- 3/8 Tubing
- 5 Gallon Bucket with Lid
- 40 Gallon Garbage Bin
- Heat source
- 6 inch deep Steam Table Pans
- Hydrometer
- Jars or Bottles for storage
There is your complete supplies for maple syrup list from start to finish. This is a great list for just starting out. Now it doesn’t include all the things that you probably have at home such as a tea towel to filter and a large pot for the finish boil.
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