Question about maple syrup spiles

[Slackbunny]

I figured at least a few of you guys must make your own maple syrup, and given that most of us here like to make our own things, I figured a few of you might know about this.

Do I need stainless steel to make homemade spiles or can I use copper? I ask because most sites say that everything should be food grade, and I don't know if copper fits the bill. I'm worried that it might corrode and add contaminants to the sap.

[gstoneberg]

Mine were galvanized.  But, and I probably shouldn't say this here, I only used metal a couple years and ran all plastic spiles after that with hose down into the buckets.  I got so sick of ants getting into everything.  With the plastic pipe I could drill a 3/8" hole through an ice cream or 5gal bucket lid and everything would be sealed.  I did use stainless steel in the boiler pan though.  I do miss making maple syrup since moving to Texas.  I probably have some old pictures if you want to see my setup.

As for your question, I don't see why copper wouldn't work.  It will oxidize but I don't see why that would hurt the sap.

George

[Slackbunny]

Yeah, I'm looking in to the plastic thing too. I'm gonna compare prices. I am leaning towards copper right now cause I know just exactly where to go to pick it up. We'll see how things work out when I visit the hardware store.

[Lemos]

I could be wrong but I thought I saw in the knife forum about there being lead in copper. Might be worth checking into.

[stickbender]

     Just my two cents, but I have read that they use copper pots, and tubs to render the sap down to syrup.  Also you can buy all copper pots, and pans for gourmet cooking, for candies, and such.  If you are going to make your own spiles, I would be sure to clean your copper very well, as it may have a preservative coating on it, and that could cause some problems.   Other than that. I don't think you will have any issues.   Besides, what is the still, and coil tubing of a moonshine still made of?
And some of the War between the states, canteens, and cups were copper, as were some of the Fur Trade items.
                                           
                                                  Wayne

[Slackbunny]

Thanks stickbender. If I buy copper I'll be sure to clean it really good. Thanks for the tip.

[Buffalogobbler]

My guess is copper is OK to use, the moonshiners use it for thier stills all the time.

Kevin

[gstoneberg]

My maple syrup boiler was confused as a still many times.  I put an input 15gal container up on a board across 2 6' step ladders and ran 3/8 copper tubing from it, around the stove pipe of the boiler a few times and then let it dribble into the pan.  The valve on the input bucket could regulate the inflow so it came in at about the same rate as the evaporation from boiling.  The sap often had a skim of ice on it so it was very cold.  By the time it made its copper journey it was warm as it entered the pan.  I tried quarter inch copper but it would restrict the flow so much the sap would come out as steam which defeated the purpose.   I could stoke the fire and go back in the house for an hour and let the boiler run unattended.  I used to work from home on boiling days, set a timer for 60 minutes and sit at the laptop working between visits to the boiler.  It helped that I gave my boss a pint of syrup every year for Christmas.

In my experience, mold was a bigger problem than corrosion.  Once I tried to store sap too long and it fermented.  I figured the alcohol would boil off and made a quart syrup to see.  Yuk!!!!!  Dumped that batch of sap out.

George

[Outbackbob48]

I bought a few elderberry sap spiles at a flea market, Don't know if they were food grade or not.

[Hunts with stone]

I'm not up on all this but putting copper into a tree will kill it at some point if left in it.

[Slackbunny]

I'm not up on all this but putting copper into a tree will kill it at some point if left in it.

Noted. I ended up buying like a crome plated copper tube for about 2 bucks and got cut three spiles out of it. It was a little flimsy, i wouldn't go with that again, but it will do for now. I'll make sure I remove them from the trees when I'm done.

[richardzane]

the plastic spiles work good. they are tapered so you can tap them in a bored hole till they snug up.
a cheap "bucket" can be made from recycled water jugs you can hang it from the hook in a slit on the jug handle.
these you have to check regularly so you don't waste sap if it starts overflowing...rarely happens here in OKl.

[stickbender]

My maple syrup boiler was confused as a still many times.

George
[/quote]

     George, are you sure, it didn't uh..... serve a dual purpose?

                                                     Wayne

[gstoneberg]

     George, are you sure, it didn't uh..... serve a dual purpose?

                                                     Wayne

Nah, but it had parts that for sure could have served dual duty.  I boiled in the front yard when we lived in a Chicago burb and I had a cop slow drive by 3 or 4 times staring at it.  Never did stop and ask though.  My neighbors sure came over, of course I had most of their trees tapped too.

George

[TRACY]

My limited sugaring experience started with SS spiles at first with clean milk jugs for collection and then evaporating in cast iron and aluminum pots over wood fire and propane.

As for making spiles, I found Tonkin boo sections were perfect and extremely affordable. Just whittle the ends to fit and bore out the nodes. My neighbor uses tulip poplar sapling and limbs sections drilled out. Copper would work if you have a bunch already, but wouldn't purchase for the principle of doing this simple and cheap. Good luck and have fun!


Tracy