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Post by steev on Mar 12, 2014 21:57:48 GMT -5
Speaking of antique wringer-washers, my Granny's post-war 40's washing machine is long gone, but the first time I went to Mexico, in 1970, that model was for sale new, there, the machinery having been exported; it may be being manufactured still, somewhere.
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Post by Walk on Mar 13, 2014 9:20:47 GMT -5
I grew up using a wringer washing machine. I think they have too much "give" in the rollers to do much crushing of stalks. My cousin broke his arm in a wringer washer, but that was probably not a common occurrence. Maybe if the rollers were swapped out to something without rubber padding and were restricted from spreading apart? The top roller on a wringer has a "spring" to accommodate thicker fabric, also an emergency release handle on top that my cousin apparently didn't make use of.
The antique farmstead sorghum presses I've seen around here have more than 2 rollers, each being at least 6" in diameter and about 2' wide, from what I remember. They probably weigh well over 100 pounds.
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Post by reed on Mar 18, 2016 12:20:04 GMT -5
How many trees did that involve? Could you get a pint or two from just two or three trees?
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Post by steev on Mar 18, 2016 13:06:31 GMT -5
Wow! That's the beautiful dark stuff, not the piss-thin, pale "A" grade fobbed off on the unenlightened.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 27, 2017 12:11:21 GMT -5
so how's your sugaring season gone, toomanyirons ? Around here folks have had the best one (for volume of sap, at least) in a while. They ran taps in February, then it froze hard for several weeks and then it warmed up again, so they got a double run. You benefit from that effect, too? |
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 28, 2017 10:56:37 GMT -5
That's AMAZING.
And you use all your own firewood as fuel? I had wondered if you did that...but of course it makes sense. If you have a sugarbush that size, you've got the firewood to process the sap.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 29, 2017 13:42:18 GMT -5
so it's all silver maples? Is the sap/flavor any different than syrup from red or sugar maples?
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Post by Walk on Mar 29, 2017 16:22:57 GMT -5
[quote author=" toomanyirons" source="/post/121417/thread" timestamp="1490818962" This year for the first time I tapped four Box Elder trees to collect and process sap to see what their syrup tastes like. The syrup is okay, mapley and all that. Don't love it, don't hate it, but wouldn't tap any again unless I had to for some reason. Box Elder is considered the weed of the maple family but it is an excellent tree for wildlife and for quick screens, windbreaks, and woodland establishment, is fast growing so produces firewood quickly, and has a nice light, clean wood flavor for outdoor cooking. I love open pit grilling using Box Elder wood. If Box Elders are all a person has, they also make palatable syrup. Not bad for a "weed". Generally speaking, I would much prefer hard/sugar maples for making syrup but one has to work with what one has... [/quote] For many years (long ago) we used to make boxelder syrup. It was all we had for maples. I would have to say the flavor is lighter than regular maple but the major difference is that it takes more sap from boxelder, closer to 50:1 from what I remember. |
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Post by reed on Mar 29, 2017 17:56:12 GMT -5
I never knew you could use anything other than what we call sugar or hard maple. Hard maple is in serious decline here, all the big ones are pretty much gone in the towns. I have a few good sized ones but have never tried to make syrup for fear of injuring the trees and cause they are not easily accessible but I'v decided I'm gonna do it next year.
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Post by steev on Mar 29, 2017 19:18:49 GMT -5
We're short on maples in NorCal, but I'm told the native Bigleaf maples can be tapped for syrup. I'll not plant any such until I've got a pond, so I suppose the closest I'll get to sugaring is leaving the suggestion to my heirs; think I'd enjoy the trip, though.
No biggie; I don't much like pancakes and I've not been around a waffle iron much the past fifty years; even waffles were mostly covered with creamed chipped beef or tuna, for dinner, not breakfast.
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Post by steev on Mar 30, 2017 16:22:20 GMT -5
I'm not aware of sumac in NorCal.
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Post by steev on Apr 12, 2017 13:50:42 GMT -5
Awesome!
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Post by mjc on May 3, 2017 1:49:04 GMT -5
The weather here was too screwy for me this year...so I didn't get any tapped or boiled.
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