Bill's Sugar Shack

After spending three seasons cooking maple sap into syrup out in great outdoors, my husband Bill decided it was time to create a bit of shelter from the rain and wind.  Using salvaged metal beams for the supports and hail pitted metal siding (from the neighbors) he patched together his very own, "sugar shack".

Bill's sugar shack on a cloudy spring day.

The shack worked well as rain protection for both the bubbling sap and the wood that fueled the fire.  Bill's hard work and creative use of salvaged materials made a functional shelter with just a small investment of cash. 

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Sides, roof, and beams are all made of metal.

The main objective of this structure was to create a roof to prevent rain or snow from falling into the boiling sap.  Spring winds blow strong in our neck of the woods, and the metal sides provided protection from the gusty winds.

A stack draws smoke up and out.

With flame resistance in mind, the shack was constructed completely with metal. To guide the rain down and off, the roof was built at a slight angle and the screw holes were made water tight with caulking.  The roof extends past the front opening and the back wall to create a drip edge that helps to keep the water out of the shack.

Food grade plastic buckets store sap until cooking time.

The shack is big enough to hold the barrel stove, with left over space for kindling and firewood.  Keeping the wood dry makes fire starting and maintenance so much easier.

After 4 seasons the barrel stove is looking pretty old.

Whether a door should be added or not, is a question that has not been answered yet.  A piece of plywood worked fine for enclosing part of the entrance, while leaving room to get in and out to tend the fire and stir the boiling sap.

An extra piece of metal siding under the stove protects the concrete.

Every spring is different in terms of sap flow.  The years with long weeks of 40 degree days and below freezing nights yield the most sap.  

The color gets darker as the sugar concentrates.

This spring was particularly warm and the flow was slow. But we were happy to end the season with roughly 6 gallons of syrup.

A glowing fire cooks the sap and is nice to stand by on a damp spring day.

Six gallons of syrup!  Who can eat that many pancakes!  We don't eat pancakes all that often, but use maple syrup in so many other ways.  

Many of the desserts I make feature maple syrup as the sweetener.  Bill uses it in his coffee and love blending it into plain yogurt.  

If a recipe calls for honey, I have had good luck substituting maple syrup. Cooking honey kills many of its beneficial enzymes, so I save our honey for use in recipes that don't require heat.

Check out these recipes that include maple syrup;

Chocolate Maple Beet Pie

Coconut Banana Macaroons

Roasted Beets with Apples and Onions

Basic Salad Dressing

Broccoli/Bean Sprout Salad

Interested in making maple syrup?  Check out It's Maple Tree Tapping Time,
Maple Syrup, and Sugar Trees