5 Reasons to Use a Turkey Fryer to Make Maple Syrup

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1. Question about a 5 gallon turkey fryer! If you have 10 or more gallons of sap, is it more efficient (quicker to boil and less niter production) to boil and finish 5 gal at a time or to continually add the remaining 5+ gallons of raw sap to the turkey fryer as the sap level is reduced by a gallon or more. This is our 5th year using a turkey fryer and we’re still uncertain which is the most efficient way to go . Thank you for thoughts!

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   1. Great Question! In my experience (having done both methods), I find it is more efficient to continually add the remaining sap. The time it takes to heat the sap from ambient temperature up to the boiling point takes about 10-20 minutes, during which time there is not much evaporation occurring. By continually adding, little by little, you can minimize the time that the sap is not boiling (evaporating).

      In terms of niter production, I think you end up with the same amount either way, though I haven’t explicitly tracked that. One area where you do save time is only needed to clean up once, rather than multiple times. Rinsing the filters and washing the pot can take a little time, so only doing that once it helpful.

      That being said, one nice thing about the turkey fryer method is that you CAN easily start and stop if necessary!

      All the best, and happy sugaring!

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2. Thanks for passing this info to me. your method worked great!!! first time ive ever made a big batch of syrup. thanks

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   1. I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing, and I hope for many more years (and fond memories) of making lots of maple syrup!

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3. This is exactly what I was looking to try. I’m curious how many propane tanks (approximately) it takes to boil 40 gallons of sap down to 1 gallon of syrup. Propane tanks are about $20 around here, so I was trying to figure cost/benefit. Thanks!

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   1. Hi!
      Based on my experience, to boil down 40 gallons of sap will take about 2 or 3 20-lb propane tanks. The variation depends on things like boiling efficiency, wind, how full they filled the tank, even altitude, but that should get you in the ballpark. I usually plan about 1 tank per 20 gallons of sap.

      The 20 lb propane tanks I use hold about 4.6 gallons of propane. I recommend that you take them somewhere to be refilled, as opposed to exchanging the cylinders, since exchanged cylinders typically are filled to only about 3.5 gallons (for safety purposes).

      I run through more calculations like these on my Maple Syrup FAQ page located here:

      https://practicalmechanic.com/2020/04/10/faqs-on-boiling-maple-syrup/

      Good luck and thanks for visiting!

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4. Thanks for the article! Are you finishing on the turkey fryer also? I have a decent cinder block / wood fire setup I like for the bulk of the evaporation, but i need better heat and control for the finish than our kitchen electric range.

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   1. Thank you!
      I usually perform the finishing boil on the kitchen range with a candy thermometer and a refractometer to get the sugar content exact and consistent.

      Over the years you begin to develop a sense for when it is done based on the size, number, and motion of the boiling bubbles. I used to boil for up to 30 minutes or so on the stove, but now it is down to about 5-10 minutes just because of the increase in experience.

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