So I thought a quick update was in order, and I'll be relatively brief. We collected almost an entire cooler full of sap over the weekend when the sap was running like crazy. The temperatures dropped like a rock on Sunday, but it kept dripping through about midday. I was glad for the reprieve to research the next step better. That would be the "boiling". You are a bit at the mercy of the weather - the sap will run when it will run, and it won't when it won't, basically. If the temperatures don't go above freezing, it still might run a little, depending on whether or not it is sunny, and how to close to freezing it is. Fortunately for me, it was WELL below freezing and only began running again last night/this morning as the temperatures have started to rise. That's two and a half days to think, borrow, beg, and make decisions.
We decided to borrow a propane stove (two-burner camp stove variety - and actually have two in hand). I am learning how to boil today, and the sap is going to run like crazy, so I am in earnest. I skimmed ice off the top of the cooler the past few days (sap/sugar/syrup doesn't freeze so anything truly frozen is water - though you have to "shake it out" since the ice crystals actually work kind of like honeycomb...) and probably dealt with about a gallon or two that way. I have no idea if I really increased the sugar content of the rest in so doing, but I'll assume so since that sounds better and more encouraging. Frankly, I'm feeling a little daunted at the moment, so encouraging is good.
I need to somehow deal with my cooler full of sap today since over the next two days it looks like it will fill again. So here goes nothing. I know how to boil water, so that's a start. I even know how to light a propane camp stove. So far so good. Pictures and stories to come. Here goes nothing!
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