If anyone had any issues with the cost of syrup, they may now understand the reason for the cost a little better. Lots of sap makes a little syrup and the process is slow and laborious. It's called liquid gold for a very valid reason. Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
I farm bees. When someone questions my honey price I invite them to work bees with me. Only ever had two takers. Both quit by mid-morning and said at my price, I was giving my honey away!
I grew up making maple syrup on our farm. One season we boiled down the sap in a large shallow vat outside. It was misting rather heavily outside so my dad erected a tarp over the top of the vat with maybe an 8" gap over the vat. Well some of the smoke from the fire rolled under the tarp and got into the condensate on the bottom side of the tarp and if used itself into the syrup. This "happy accident" made for a wonderfully smokey maple syrup. We marked the pints and quarts to keep it mostly for family as we would usually donate a gallon or two to our church, Lions club, or any other community organization to raffle off.
Can you use the white sap in place of sugar and water in a recipe (like for cakes) to keep the color 'lighter'? Can it be evaporated in a dehydrator or oven into a lighter colored sugar. I'm guessing the heat from the cooking source is what changes the color (like when cooking sugar to make caramels) but what do I know? I"m just guessing.
You can use syrup as a sugar replacement in many recipes, but you have to be careful to calculate for the additional moisture and/or less bulk. The sap itself is not sweet enough…it’s more like water with a slightly detectable sweetness. The color does darken when overheated, however the color also naturally changes with the season and change in nutrients in the sap. The sap itself will take on a yellow color as the season ends, due to the additional minerals.
If you remove all the ice in one piece, your sap will be more concentrated. I have done maple syrup for almost 30 years. Although I never realized that Black Walnut produced sap that was quality enough to make syrup. We boiled outside under a fire and when reduced enough we finished on the stove.
Sir i grew up very similar and was taught the fine art of syrupy making and its a fun way to spend time with family. Unfortunately my children dont seem to be interested in learning they are stuck on technology. I so admire you and your family sir, and just in awe of your family values and the way you live the old ways. You are a true inspiration and should be a model for American family values. May god bless you and yours with life,Health,and prosperity.🙏🙏🙏🙏
WoW, Being an old guy raised on a family farm we did maple syrup, I had no idea of syrup from other saps. The absolutely best part of the video was everyone avoiding the electric fence. great vid!
I remember in my youth living in central southern Ontario we taped the sugar maple trees and we had a huge iron pot that we hung on a tripod over a campfire . Our job as children was to keep an eye on the fire and taste the syrup when dad would make Popsicles for us in the snow. We had a huge chunk of pork fat floating on top of the syrup so it wouldn’t boil over. I don’t remember how many gallons of sap it took to make a gallon of syrup but I remember it took several days of boiling before we got the sap. Throughout my adult life I have heard of several different trees being tapped for the making of sap. Thank you for showing us your set up. And God bless you and stay safe. 🇨🇦
You are the first person to mention the fat to prevent boiling over. I have gotten to where I drop in just a tiny sliver of butter at the end stage for the same reason.😁
@@ADifferentWay I think and probably believe that the fat or yes the butter would add a little more flavour to the syrup. Example maybe aunt Jemima’s buttery syrup?? God bless you all and stay safe 🇨🇦🥰
Good job! Like the music too! We've talked about tapping our trees for a while now, maybe next year. We're neighbors. K.C. gave you my number. Call anytime
Only 196 people want to get intouch with our wild foods we can forge for in various seasons, I feel that’s why we are sick we eat to much food that are out of season.
No, when you make syrup from Sap, you generally do not add sugar. It’s naturally in the sap. You simply evaporate most of the water out, leaving the sugar and flavor behind! Some trees, however, such as the Shagbark Hickory, use bark boiled into a tea for the flavor and then you add sugar to make syrup.
Great video's going to try it, can you put more than one tap in a tree. and how much sap can you get out of one tree, that's all I have but it's a big one. Thanks.
For a black walnut tree, you can put one tap for every 8 to 10 inches diameter of tree. The amount of sap is dependent on variables such as temperature, root access to water, sun versus shade, etc. Our best taps could give nearly 4 gallons a day during peak flow, while our not so great ones might give 1/2 gallon On the same days. You’ll learn which trees are best as you go.
Don’t worry, we do not leave strings on our bales. What you were seeing in this video is a hay net, designed to feed hay safely, but slow the horses consumption of the hay to make it more natural for their digestive as system.
True story about a nice old glass double boiler: It was empty, sitting on my electric stove. Turned on the wrong burner. A couple of minutes later I heard an explosion. My double boiler had shattered and glass was all over the kitchen. Loved the walnut syrup vids. My neighbor has a black walnut tree & he's been trying to get me to take it down for 3 years. This spring I'll make syrup from that tree and see if he will let it stay.
They can also be ate (the walnuts) also if you soak their husks, the left over water makes a good emergency fishing pole (throw the water in their water, and it paralyzes the fish temp)... also they can be used to make a strong black/brown dye and many other uses.
my great grandfather had a maple farm in Wisconsin when he came to america. seems like if I remember correctly it took 10 gallons to make a gallon of syrup .see I was wrong 10 gallons to a quart of syrup
You can find it online from artesian stores, but be sure to read the fine print! Most “black walnut syrup“ is actually a mixture of black walnut diluted with maple to make it more economical and affordable. True black walnut syrup is going to be quite expensive. So, the best way and least expensive way is to track down some trees, tap them, and try to make some!
This is not a necessary step if you take each batch of sap to the appropriate boil/syrup temperature. We combine for two reasons. First, we just do not have the resources to have multiple batches going simultaneously. At times, we would need 3 to 4 separate batches. It’s just easiest to keep everything boiling and keep adding Sap to the syrup. After about 48 to 72 hours, we will go ahead and finish that batch. Secondly, like maple, the flavor and richness of the syrup changes as the season goes on. So, we choose to Store MOSTLY finished syrup at cold temperatures as we process, and then combine it all at the end of the season. We ensure it reaches the appropriate brix sugar level, and then jar it. This simply ensures that every bottle tastes exactly the same, rather than having the subtle differences that can occur over the weeks if the syrup is bottled each time. It’s really just a personal preference. Hopefully that clarifies!
Why do you have the holes of your cinder block faced out your losing all of your hot air going to take you twice as long to boil and three times as much wood all holes should be facing up besides for the very bottom on the two ends I would flip the holes so they face out for airflow to come up under the fire other than that they all should be up you're wasting all your heat and resources just a tip especially for when you make your actual Sugar Shack you're going to want everything optimized so you're going to want to think of your airflow and how you're trapping your heat
You are correct, but in our case, we threw this together in about 10 minutes to give us a quick solution, and we had a lot of scrap wood we were trying to clean up at the same time. Therefore, wasting wood was not a concern and we had plenty of heat for simmering the sap.
The amount of sap we take is minimal compared to what the tree produces. There are standards one should abide by when tapping trees. As a general rule, you only use one tap for every 8 to 10 inches diameter of a tree. Then, the tap hole itself is only about 7/16 of an inch. If we are getting 2 gallons a day from a 7/16 inch hole, imagine how much a 10 to 15 inch tree is actually producing! There is plenty of sap remaining to nourish the tree!
Have seen many maple trees tapped and don’t know if it was just how it was done in that area or my memory playing tricks….but I don’t ever recall seeing buckets that high up the tree before.Is there something that determines the height for you..or is it because it’s walnut not maple? Btw…this video seems more polished & gets a big thumbs up.CHEERS!
No, there is no rule. We put them high because the first year, we had an issue with our goats, cattle, and possibly deer knocking the buckets down to drink the sap. Apparently they really like the flavor! So now we try to keep them more out of reach.
Beautiful! I am possibly an extreme exception but I don't like Maple syrup but on a rare occasion. However, I love black walnut, hickory sounds good, and I can imagine how regular walnut may also taste great. Thanks and God bless you for sharing. BTW, down here in South Louisiana, we don't have a lot of maple but we do have black walnut and hickory. Our syrup experience here is sugar cane based. This also has me wondering if, "wild cherry" tree sap would yield a unique flavor as well?
I have heard you can get a syrup from wild cherry, though I would encourage you to do some research. Some parts of the wild cherry tree and leaves are highly toxic if consumed, the cooking may change that, and Sap may not be affected at all. I believe I recently also read somewhere that, much like Shagbark Hickory, you use the bark a wild cherry rather than the sap to make a tea, which you then mix with sugar to make a syrup.
It’s sweet and a very deep, rich flavor. Some people claim it has a slight butter scotch hint, while others say there’s a slight hint of nuttiness. It does not, however, taste like the black walnuts.
Don't know if this question has already been asked but does boiling/evaporating all that inside your home do anything bad to the air or residue on walls and ceiling?
Great question! We never had any problem with the smaller amounts we did indoors. Of course, we tend to have dry air in the winter anyway, and we typically ran the stove hood fan to remove a bit of the moisture while evaporating. In our climate, it literally doubles as a somewhat of a humidifier. The sugar tends to remain in the pot, so I never had an issue with stickiness. As we got bigger, we did the initial evaporating outdoors, so the indoors is just the final step.
@@ADifferentWay Wow thanks for the prompt response. I loved your video and that makes perfect sense about the heavier? sugar staying in the pot while the water gets put into the dry winter air. I'm about 75 miles north of NYC in Orange County so we are very dry all winter and run humidifier non-stop so I should be good too. Thanks again you and the fam are pretty bada$$!
Was my first time watching any of this family’s videos. As I was interested in the topic,I hung in there till the end.The original scene at the table as the video ends troubled me.I know not everything is really how it looks….but wow…that kid couldn’t have been blanked any worse if he was invisible. Kids will be kids it’s true….but when you change a video after a few comments…..it’s like trying to hide something.For me…much of that wholesome country goodness that’s portrayed became questionable with that edit.
Mike, I appreciate your concern. We only decided to edit it because the purpose of this video is to be an educational opportunity for those interested in making syrup. Unfortunately, a few second blip of one of our children in a bad mood caused a rash of inappropriate, judgemental, angry, and even threatening comments. Most were deleted so viewers were not exposed as we try to keep our page positive and educational. So, for that reason, yes we chose to edit those few seconds out.
@@ADifferentWay ..I guess when you put yourself out there on RU-vid,that is a risk unfortunately.I do understand why you edited the bit & had I not seen the original,would have just thought…well that was an abrupt unfinished ending.lol Would have made good outtake or blooper footage.But such is hindsight eh.Don’t worry about it. To be fair…I watched it cause I’d not realized there were other options for syrup & it perked my interest.( RU-vid suggested because I watched something else). Your video did satisfy that completely.I have much admiration for farmers,hard workers & those who do things a little differently.So respect earned there for sure. Do hope you & your family don’t let anything the internet says come between you. All the best from Ireland.CHEERS!
Thanks for the understanding, and the encouraging words! And you’re right, it’s amazing what little things you may hardly notice, but the Internet world will see! Welcome to our channel!
Many trees can be tapped for syrup, but you would need to research the details for each type. Wild cherry, for example, can produce toxins in the leaves and branches that can poison livestock. Whether or not that would affect the sap at all, I do not know. Pecan would likely work, but may have a very unique flavor. I encourage you to do a a little reading up on them, and see what comes of it!
The ratio is similar to maple syrup, 40 to 1. However, I found that the black walnut gives less syrup overall. Probably why the commercial industry uses maple. On a good day I can get 2 gallons from a single tap. But that’s not consistent. In a season, it’s more likely to get 10 to 15 gallons per tree.
When you strain the pectin, the stuff you were straining out is the jelly. There really is no further steps to take. You just have to determine how much you want to work that pectin to allow syrup to strain off, and that’s just dependent on your personal preference for sweetness and rich flavor. It’s really much simpler than making a standard jelly!
Unfortunately, our state does not allow us to sell it without lots of red tape. But, try to find a neighbor with a black walnut tree and see if you can tap!😁
@@ADifferentWay, we don’t have any this far north, too much winter in the UP of MI. If there is anything we know how to do though it is getting around red tape. How’s about a donation for a gift? 😂
You should be canning and list it for sale online... I bet it taste really great.... I love black walnut... I live in N. California and it is very difficult to find any products made with black walnut..... good job
We have a store called "Moore's Country Store" here in Virginia that sells local farmer preserves, jellies, & syrups. Some more stores in the parkway that sells molasses & ciders. Not going to find this stuff in Krogers or Food Lion.
Typically, by the time the taps come out, the tree has already begun to seal the hole itself. It will always leave a small scar there, but we’ve never had an issue. It’s more important to ensure the drillbit and the tap are clean when putting them in initially.
What are those screens you use to filter it called and what microns are the 3 you use? Really enjoyed the video and I will give making black walnut syrup a try!
We just used honey strainers. The smallest is a 650 micron, and requires a bit of working to keep the syrup running through. I’ve found it’s perfect for separating out the pectin though!
The general ratio found is 40:1, but we found, when we do some tracking, but it’s closer to 30:1 from our trees. We didn’t actually track the volume this year, so that ratio is from past years. One note is that you will find much more watery sap from trees close to water sources, and more concentrated sap from trees away from water sources. We have had some Drought times the last few years, which probably gives us The more concentrated sap and our lower ratio.
Unfortunately, our state does not allow us to sell syrup without special licenses and permits. That said, it was a very popular Christmas gift each year! 🤣
I just purchased a property with about an acre grove of black walnut trees. Why does the fact that they are all close together (define close?) limit their ability to produce enough sap to make syrup? Not sure I have the energy ya’ll do to collect 40 gallons for 1 gallon ( tho that would last me a long time!) Just found your channel when trying to learn what to do with this mountain of black walnuts. Great content! I see lots of stuff I need to investigate!
I’ve not heard the theory that trees close together cannot produce enough Sap. However, a tightly packed group of trees generally grows straight up, with very few lower branches. The sap that is produced and stored in the roots, is for creating new buds in the spring. A tall thin tree, with no lower branches, and a small canopy in a tightly packed forest will not have nearly as many buds as a tree in an open field or spaced far apart. That could explain less sap.
When the sap stops flowing, the hole has begun to seal itself. At that point, we remove the taps. Because we remove them as the hole has started to seal, we never treated in any way, however, there are antifungal/antibacterial treatments you can apply if desired. We just allowed the tree’s natural processes to seal and scar over the hole. You should not use the same hole again. Rather, move at least a few inches away the following year.
What's the average yield of syrup per gallon of sap? I grew up in Massachusetts and my Grandfather used to make Maple Syrup and Maple Candy every year. I really regret not spending more time with him to learn his processes.
We found there tends to be a lot of variables with the black walnut. For example, trees closer to water and in the sun produce far more Sap than trees down in the forest deep in the shade or away from a water source. That said, overall it produces somewhat less sap than a maple, and the yield of the processed syrup is a lesser ratio. I believe maple is usually around 40 gallons sap to 1 gallon syrup, but on average, we found it took about 60 gallons of black walnut sap for a gallon of syrup.
@@ADifferentWay Great info thanks! I was thinking about tapping a tree or two that I've seen in the woods while out hunting. Unfortunately, at a 60 to 1 ration, if I only get a gallon or two of sap, it would yield somewhere in the 2 to 4 oz range which makes it tough.
True, only a few trees makes a lot of work for a little product, but we started by tapping only a few. It’s not a difficult process at all, just a bit lengthy. But the result is oh so worth it!
Inquiring minds want to know... What does THIS stuff taste like, compared to maple or birch? What do you do with the pectin? Can you do this with pecan trees as well? What else can you tap? Beech? Holly? I'm really intrigued now.
It has a rich butterscotch flavor. We use the pectin for black walnut jelly, no further processing required. You can gather sap from almost any tree, although my sycamore sap was not agreeable at all. Haven’t tried any other trees.
Thank you! This was a huge blessing. On the final stage of our first batch now. Had to make a run for extra virgin olive oil, my brix refractor came way off. It was reading 84%! Thought I ruined it lol
Are you sure that is black walnut syrup that you boil down until it's sugar? The last time I boiled down black walnut syrup too much it burned. I don't think you can boil down this syrup that way
Yes, it's black walnut sap. We make syrup every year and in fact, we just tapped our trees this week! That said, it is, indeed, VERY easy to burn. Once it hits boiling, we monitor it closely, regularly checking it on the BRIX refractometer. That allows us to get it perfect !
@@ADifferentWay do you know a good boiling temperature for black walnut. The last time I boiled at 210 it burned. I was trying to take it to 219 like maple but it burned before I made it up to temperature. I should have took more readings with the refractometer however I'm not sure you can actually make Walnut sugar out of this because it burns too easily. Thank you for your response.
It’s a delicate process. If you don’t monitor it carefully it can quickly burn. However, as the boiling temperature goes up we turn down the heat to prevent burning. We also use the clad bottom pots which spread the heat better. We find the syrup typically hits about 225*F when finished on the BRIX. We have not tried to make sugar out of it, just syrup.
@@ADifferentWay thank you for your response. I think next time I'm going to calculate my temperature based upon the elevation my elevation is around 3200 feet and I think this really affected my results.
@@WildernessCall Boiling point is quite sensitive to elevation and somewhat to atmospheric conditions. Test your thermometer in a pan of boiling water WHILE you are boiling down the sap. Then go 7 degrees F above the boiling point of water at THAT location on THAT day.
Oooof... I was worried there at the beginning that you were boiling that all down inside, which is comfortable and fun until the drywall falls off the walls!
High or low-tech, at least turn the top course of blocks on their sides to prevent the heat from escaping. Probably on to bigger and better things by now, though. :)
Awwww, I was hoping you were going to let us have a taste of it. LOL I have several black walnut trees, but this looks like it's too time consuming for me.
Our livestock certainly thought so! That’s why we hang our buckets so high. If our animals can reach them, they would knock them down and drink them! We tried it, but it tastes mostly like water with a very slight hint of sweetness.
We have an English walnut tree and we collected sap today. The sap was light golden. I boiled down the 1/2 gallon until it was obky abiut 1 or 2 tablespoons left. It smelled really nice, but when I tasted it it was very bitter without any sweet flavour at all. It felt syrupy between the fingers and it had some brown residue in the dark brown liquid. Any idea what i did wrong? Did I burn it? Why wasn't it sweet at all?
This certainly isn’t the season for collecting sap unless you’re in the southern hemisphere. It’s odd that the sap was light golden, ours was as clear as water. I’ve never collected sap out of season, that may have something to do with it. I don’t think burning it would necessarily make it bitter, it would most likely just caramelize. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
My guess, without knowing all details is that you collected too late in the season. The sap and sugar really flows early in the season, when the nights are below freezing and the days in the 40’s and 50’s F. I have seen our sap take on a yellow color right at the end, and we stopped. Since more nutrients also start flowing as the leaves start to bid, I can imagine it would take on a more bitter flavor. Try earlier next year and see if you get better results.
Sugar will crystallize when frozen, which lowers the quality of the syrup later, when thawed. Additionally, we don’t have the freezer space for permanent storage. So, we only freeze the syrup that’s waiting to be mixed in at the end of the season for canning. Since it’s going to be reheated anyway, the crystals are not a problem. Then, we go through the standard canning process for long-term storage on a shelf.
Awesome video, you have such a wonderful family! I grew up in the city but retired in the country and learning as much as i can with what i have, to be more self sufficient. Bless yall!
Thank you for the video. I noticed you are boiling the syrup in the house. Does it not make your walls sticky?? I watched Maple syrup videos and they warn against it. Please let me know, I just purchased a property with black walnut trees and would love to try making syrup this spring. thanks again and God bless
We never had a problem with the stickiness from the steam or boiling the sap. Filtering could get a little messy, from splash or just from the residue getting on your hands and utensils. But, it was never a big problem and anything wiped off pretty easily. I’m sure if you were doing a huge quantity, it would be best to do it in another setup, like a sugar shack, but to get started, I have no hesitation recommending the basic home kitchen. Enjoy!
I live in ne Texas. I have 3 or 4 black walnut trees. 1. Is that enough trees to bother with? 2. How would I determine when the sap is ready to run in my location.? Ty for the video. Making my kids watch it for a learning experience.
3 or 4 trees won’t produce much but it’s also not much work especially if there close to each other. The fresh sap can be refrigerated for several days so you can wait to boil until you have a few gallons. Additionally, if the trees are over 18 inches you can do two taps per tree. As far as timing in Texas, I haven’t a clue. We wait until nighttime temps are freezing but daytime temps are 30 to 40. Usually late February up here.
What strainer is that you used at the end? It seemed to be perfect for the pectin. It’s my first year tapping walnuts and I need to order something like that. Thanks!
