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The sap is running in the University of Maine forest. At the Thomas J. Corcoran Sugar House, woodland’s manager Charles Simpson is working hard to turn all that sap into maple syrup.
“The last two years have been a challenge for us,” Simpson said. “We have had good seasons and have been unable to keep up.”
The sugar house is located on the Lucy Thompson Road, which is about a half mile up the College Avenue Extension in Old Town. Surrounded by maples, the tiny, weathered building is unofficially named after the late Dr. Thomas Corcoran, professor of forestry and former department head of the school of agriculture, forestry and natural resources. For about one month every year, Simpson, along with Robin Avery, operations manager at the sugar house, keeps the syrup pouring out. About a dozen forestry students give the professors a hand each year. This is the fifth season the sugar house has been in operation.
The evaporator is inside the sugar house, the heart of the maple syrup operation. Raw sap is boiled in the rear section of the evaporator, or flue pan and is then piped to the finishing pan, where it becomes syrup. Wood is continually fed into the firebox underneath the sap pans. But the evaporator is small and the operation is having an increasingly difficult time handling the increasing sap load.
“This is the smallest commercial evaporator made,” Simpson said. “Most evaporators have a metal covering that takes care of the steam. This one is open, so it’s easy to see what’s going on.”
Simpson says the reasons for the setbacks are recent weather problems and the inefficient equipment the sugar house has.
Simpson said the sap began running later in the season than normal this year but recent cold nights and warmer days have kept the sap running continuously. The steady sap run is almost more than the facility’s small evaporator can process. According to Simpson, raw sap cannot be stored at the sugar house for any extended time once the temperature gets warmer, because it will spoil. In addition to the weather, the potential of equipment breakdown threatens the syrup-making process.
“This evaporator was made to handle about 150 taps,” said Simpson. “We can gather 100 to 120 gallons of sap on a good gathering day and we’ve had some good days back to back. We’re getting swamped.”
Simpson said he would like to get a larger evaporator before next season. He also wants to purchase a pump, which would be a faster means of getting the sap into the holding tanks. Revenue from the department’s timber harvest pays for the sugar house equaling about $5,000 to $6,000 per year for upgrades. Simpson does not sell any of the syrup the sugar house workers bottle. It is given to forestry students involved in the project, and to forestry department faculty.
To make syrup, maple trees 10 inches or more in diameter are tapped. It takes about 35 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Workers then put the sap into 325-gallon tanks. Once back to the sugar house, the sap is strained and put into storage tanks. It is then piped into the evaporator, where the sap is boiled and sent to a finishing pan, where a hydrometer is used to test the density of the sap. The evaporator can process 20 to 30 gallons of sap per hour. The syrup is then filtered again, heated and bottled. The sugar house can make about four gallons of syrup in a day.
The wood used for the fire in the evaporator comes from scraps left over from the previous year’s timber harvest. “We have a good supply of wood,” Simpson said. “It is better to use it rather than have it lying on the ground.”
The sugar house is open to the public any day sap is being boiled. Workers place a sign out by the road to signify that they are open and boiling.
Each year the syrup makers invite local third grade classes to the sugar house for an educational tour. Simpson and Robin Avery give the students tours of the forest and the sugar house. They demonstrate how trees are tapped and how the evaporator works. The tour ends with a treat: a free sample of the finished product.
By Christopher Peary
For The Maine Campus
The sap is running in the University of Maine forest. At the Thomas J. Corcoran Sugar House, woodland’s manager Charles Simpson is working hard to turn all that sap into maple syrup.
“The last two years have been a challenge for us,” Simpson said. “We have had good seasons and have been unable to keep up.”
The sugar house is located on the Lucy Thompson Road, which is about a half mile up the College Avenue Extension in Old Town. Surrounded by maples, the tiny, weathered building is unofficially named after the late Dr. Thomas Corcoran, professor of forestry and former department head of the school of agriculture, forestry and natural resources. For about one month every year, Simpson, along with Robin Avery, operations manager at the sugar house, keep the syrup pouring out. About a dozen forestry students give the professors a hand each year. This is the fifth season the sugar house has been in operation.
The evaporator is inside the sugar house, the heart of the maple syrup operation. Raw sap is boiled in the rear section of the evaporator, or flue pan, and is then piped to the finishing pan, where it becomes syrup. Wood is continually fed into the firebox underneath the sap pans. But the evaporator is small and the operation is having an increasingly difficult time handling the increasing sap load.
“This is the smallest commercial evaporator made,” Simpson said. “Most evaporators have a metal covering that takes care of the steam. This one is open, so it’s easy to see what’s going on.”
Simpson says the reasons for the setbacks are recent weather problems and the inefficient equipment the sugar house has.
Simpson said the sap began running later in the season than normal this year but recent cold nights and warmer days have kept sap the running continuously. The steady sap run is almost more than the facility’s small evaporator can process. According to Simpson, raw sap cannot be stored at the sugar house for any extended time once the temperature gets warmer, because it will spoil. In addition to the weather, the potential of equipment breakdown threatens the syrup-making process.
“This evaporator was made to handle about 150 taps,” said Simpson. “We can gather 100 to 120 gallons of sap on a good gathering day and we’ve had some good days back to back. We’re getting swamped.”
Simpson said he would like to get a larger evaporator before next season. He also wants to purchase a pump, which would be a faster means of getting the sap into the holding tanks. Revenue from the department’s timber harvest pays for the sugar house equaling about $5,000 to $6,000 per year for upgrades. Simpson does not sell any of the syrup the sugar house workers bottle. It is given to forestry students involved in the project, and to forestry department faculty
To make syrup, maple trees 10 inches or more in diameter are tapped. It takes about 35 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Workers then put the sap into 325-gallon tanks. Once back to the sugar house, the sap is strained and put into storage tanks. It is then piped into the evaporator, where the sap is boiled and sent to a finishing pan, where a hydrometer is used to test the density of the sap. The evaporator can process 20 to 30 gallons of sap per hour. The syrup is then filtered again, heated and bottled. The sugar house can make about four gallons of syrup in a day.
The wood used for the fire in the evaporator comes from scraps left over from the previous year’s timber harvest. “We have a good supply of wood,” Simpson said. “It is better to use it rather than have it lying on the ground.”
The sugar house is open to the public any day sap is being boiled. Workers place a sign out by the road to signify that they are open and boiling.
Each year the syrup makers invite local third grade classes to the sugar house for an educational tour. Simpson and Robin Avery give the students tours of the forest and the sugar house. They demonstrate how trees are tapped and how the evaporator works. The tour ends with a treat: a free sample of the finished product.
Bangor Daily News