Supplies and Equipment for Making Maple Syrup

Equipment List for Making Maple Syrup

The following is my recommended list of all of the equipment you need in order to harvest, prepare, boil, filter, and bottle your own Maple Syrup. In short – if you have everything here, you will be perfectly suited to become a small-scale Maple Syrup producer!

Harvesting Maple Sap

Boiling Maple Syrup

  • Propane Boiler – This is a 200,000 BTU unit capable of delivering a lot of heat very quickly and evenly. Great for boiling large quantities of sap.
  • Dual-Burner Propane Boiler – This boiler has dual burners which is good for rectangular boiling pans or evaporators.
  • 44 qt Boiling Pot – Large boiling pot with tall sides. Great for Maple Syrup, but also multi-purpose is it works well for boiling sweet corn, pasta or gumbo. Anything that would otherwise steam up the kitchen and is better cooked outdoors.
  • Boiling Pan – Good pan for increasing the evaporation surface area of your boiling maple sap. Increased surface area decreases the amount of time spent boiling.
  • Evaporator – For faster, more efficient boiling, a dedicated Maple Syrup evaporator gets the job done.
  • Wooden Stir Paddle – Used for stirring and keeping even heat.
  • Skimming Spoon – A skimming spoon is helpful for removing any debris that might fall into the sap as it is boiling. Also useful for skimming off extra layers of foam that have a tendency to develop on top of the sap.
  • Long Thermometer – When boiling lots of sap, it can be helpful to have a long-stem thermometer so that you don’t have stick your hand into the hot steam. This one has a clip to attach it to the side of your boiling vessel to constantly monitor the boiling temperature.
  • Candy Thermometer – A candy thermometer that goes up to the temperatures needed for Maple Syrup.
  • Refractometer – This tool is invaluable for making sure that you know exactly when your Maple Syrup is done and at the correct sugar content.

Filtering and Bottling Maple Syrup

  • 5-Quart Boiling Pot – It is good to have a good size (yet manageable) boiling pot when you are performing the finishing boil.
  • Digital Thermometer – A digital thermometer is nice because you can quickly read off the temperature without the extra step of interpreting the needle position.
  • Canning Jars – Good for canning/bottling Maple Syrup for longer term storage.
  • Extra Canning Lids – Be sure to use new canning lids to ensure a good seal.
  • Maple Syrup Bottles – It is fun to bottle Maple Syrup in cool Maple Syrup bottles with the little pinky-hook (or “nip”). Gives your Maple Syrup that official flair.
  • Syrup Filters – These are the non-woven filters that are good for getting debris out of your Maple Syrup. Also work great as pre-filters before the final synthetic filtering step.
  • Synthetic Filter – This is a very fine filter for getting the sugar-sand (or “niter”) out of your syrup. If you have had cloudy syrup in the past, or if you tend to have silt in your syrup, using a synthetic (“Orlon”) filter will remove it.
  • Filter Stand – Stainless steel filter stand to hold your filters while pouring syrup through them.
  • Food-Grade Funnel – Good for when it comes time to bottle your Maple Syrup.
  • Refractometer – Used to measure the sugar content of your Maple Syrup to make sure it is not too watery or so thick that it will crystallize.
  • Hydrometer – Another method for determining the density and thus the sugar content of your Maple Syrup.

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