Colina Verde

Somewhere above 35 Brix sounds like a good idea.

We look for 59 Brix at 209 F. The hydrometer comes in handy. It's best to favor the bottom of red line if it's at the top you may come up short of the 66.9 to 68.9 Brix needed after it's cooled to 60 degrees.

Some water may have gotten in our syrup. Boiling it down until we see small bubbles takes a couple of hours.

As a way to clean the pan, we run cold water at the end. Notice how it pushes the last bit of syrup.

This is when the first filtering occurs. We used to go by temperature but now we just have an eye for it. From here the syrup will be reduced further on the stove. Remember to use double filter!

Small bubbles start showing towards the end of boiling. At this point the coolers are empty and we bring the big pot out.

This little fan helps keep the fire going and the sap in a rolling boil.

The evaporator boils 7 to 9 gallons of sap per hour. If it rains or snow, we have our handy little tent up.

Setting up the evaporator