Harvesting Birch Sap & Making Syrup
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- Опубликовано: 29 апр 2021
- With rising temperatures, the birch sap harvesting season kicked off rapidly this year. We head into the boreal forest to tap Alaska Paper Birch trees and bring our collected sap back to the cabin to finally try our hand at making birch syrup over the course of several days. At the end, it may not have been worth the time and resources, however, we still enjoyed taste testing the rich and decadent syrup on French toast.
For more information on tapping birch trees: alaskabirchsyrup.com/backyard...
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- Eric & Arielle Illia
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It's one of those little wonders we rarely stop to take notice but it really hit me how absurdly great it is that I can sit quarantined in my small flat in Poland, and spend half an hour being comforted by tree tapping. Thank you for this escape :)
👍✌️
my mum grew up in Poland and was just telling me she did this with her grandfather at their farm :)
@@bradpolmateer4266 Pozdrawiam z Kanady
urodzile sie w Polska i my to robilismy na farm
Me too❤️best wishes to you in Poland from Belfast NI😊.
hang in there ! Same here in Western France... thank you Ariel & Eric for sharing all this and brightening my evenings during this pandemic... I miss traveling and being out in nature
You've never asked me for anything, and have never become greedy. You just provide genuinely quality content on subjects you are knowledgeable about and are interested in. Thank you so much. The very cream of RUclips. You've taught me a lot about a world that is totally alien to me. If you decide to produce a cookbook, I will be first in the queue! All power to you both.
They are pretty awesome, I agree!!
same here !
Gotta love ppl like this, I wish I had just 1 as wonderful, my family sucks!!!!
Hi
A cookbook, a picture book of activities and landscape per season?
I love that when you guys do videos about projects, you post the whole project in one video.
I prefer just drinking the sap water fresh from the tree. My hair and skin feel so soft after a week or so. It is a Scandinavian tradition to drink fresh Birch sap water every spring. :)
there must be Lots of Health benefits to the Birch Sap
Does it ever give you the shits like I've seen some say?
Possibly the best Homestead channel around. Never asking for anything and providing amazing content. Love it. Thank you Illia Family!
The way you use the environment around you is captivating. 💕 You show how easy it is to not only live off the land but to create delicious foods. Plus I love the honesty. You share the truth and that is what we need.
So I found out about them 2 or 3 days ago. I watched a lot of their videos and I suggest everyone to go and watch their old ones and compare them to the new ones. They have been loving this life scince the very begining even when things were so hard. I just think its so amazing how much they have grown.. I mean they currently own 3 properties, they know how to fish, how to hunt how to build.
Eric is like Phineas and ferb both in one he can do anything. And Ariel is just out of this world for me. I mean she is a complete badass. And they are so cute together too.. overall love this channel.
I've been watching them since the beginning before they moved and I absolutely adore them both. Love what they are achieving in their lives daily. They certainly enrich my life just by watching them live theirs. I have a major disability that prevents me from leaving my home unless it is to the doctors office, so watching their videos helps me cope when the pain becomes too horrendous to deal with. My favourite videos are when they harvest their gardens and when they go salmon fishing etc. Although I never miss a video no matter what it is because it is always educational and very entertaining. Michelle
Have you ever tried adding a little nutmeg to your French toast batter?
I dont understand what you are saying😂😅
Thanks for another wonderful video. Jonna Jinton, a RUclipsr who lives on the land in Northern Sweden, also taps Birch trees, it is traditionally drunk as a fresh water, for the mineral and vitamin content as an early spring tonic. Cheers!
As an outdoors hobbyist who's tried it a few times, here's how I found how to make sweet birch syrup that tastes just as good as Maple. You can't treat birch sap like maple, meaning you can't just keep adding to the same pot or you get that dark red "burnt" syrup. For golden sweet syrup use one giant pot to evaporate it down, then collect it after every pot. Clean it out and start again It is much more work but you get golden sweet syrup every time. Makes a very impressive topper for cheesecakes too.
Do you reckon if you treat maple syrup like this, it eill taste even better?
The first time we boiled down maple syrup in the house, the wallpaper came off the kitchen walls! 😂 Now we always do it outdoors. Loved your video, want to try birch syrup! ❤️
I do mine outside. I heard it will make all your walls inside sticky!
Yeah, the first time we made maple syrup we boiled it in the apartment we were renting... Oops. I spent days cleaning off the walls before we moved out 🤦🏻♀️
That’s too funny!!
Good to know. I didn't think you would need the heat that high
🤣🤣🤣 thanks for the laughter! That's a good way to get rid of the wallpaper that you don't like! Seems like an easy way and you end up with maple syrup as a bonus! Hilarious!
You two know how to tell a good story via video, so enjoyable. Thanks for taking us on this experiment. ❤️
I love the ending. You're honest. Things didn't go as planned but you were still laughing about it. What a great outlook on life. ✨
Mosquitos in the snow. That's crazy!
I love that Bandit and Bo are always available to supervise. Kitty showed up! He is a magnificent specimen. The birch forest looks surreal.
So cool people from around the world have tried Birch syrup and have commented, it's the simple things that bring us all together.
Great video.
I 100% believe you when you say the end result was not worth the effort. After all I watched you guys peel 200+ eggs for pickling! Love your videos!
Love birch tree sap ever since I was a kid. Greetings from Moscow, Russia.
Çok zor işiniz 💓
But in over time does it ruin the tree? And does mushrooms on it mean it's got a fungus and do u still tap it??
I'm glad you were honest about the end result not being worth the effort. Not every experiment is a success!
We bought birch syrup when we were in Anchorage and really liked it. Making it well is an art and must involve much trial and error.
Arielle is tapping the trees and the mosquitos were tapping her!
Birch sap lemonade. Squeeze 1/2 lemon into a qt. jar. Add a small knob of ginger to jar if desired. Fill jar with birch sap. Lid, ring, then process 15 minutes in a water bath. Grandma would open a jar to ease the symptoms of allergies and the common cold. Thanks for the video content.
Try making Birch Syrup salad dressing. 1 tbsp. syrup i tbsp. balsamic vinegar 1 tsp. mustard 1 tbsp. minced shallots 1 tbsp. oil that you would use for your salad dressing. Shake. Love your ending!
Would maple syrup work? Sounds delicious!
@@gracieshepardtothemax1743 I don't see why not.
That actually sounds good
@@gracieshepardtothemax1743 with the ingredients listed I think honey would actually be better suited than Maple syrup. In my experience Maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and mustard isn't a normal or common flavor combo, but at the same time one shouldn't knock it till they've tried it. Since I have not tried I can't say for sure but knowing the individual flavors I'm not sure how well they'd pair. 🤔🤷♀️
@@sierrafairbanks7776 I always use maple syrup with my vinegret, it pairs well !
I see it
I click it
I watch it
I like it
Yer not wrong!! ;)
Hey Guys. We do Birch Syrup as well, but on a bit bigger scale. We put it through our large evaporator after Maple season. Some of the ways we like to use it is, Yes definitely on fish. Delicious on vanilla ice cream, or plain cheesecake, in a salad dressing, caramelize your onions in it for a jerusalem artichoke cream soup, and in a marinade. Just thought I'd pass these ideas along. Our Birch are mostly yellow and our syrup tastes more molasses-y. We have tried others, we tend to think the location and birch type make a significant difference in flavour. Cheers!
We died laughing at your reactions to trying the birch syrup and then dousing the french toast with maple syrup! OMG! You two are the best! Also... Absolutely LOVE your footage! Great camera work, editing and music selection. You two are doing amazing!
Love y'all!
- Brian + Erin
can i say her bread always looks so good.
As usual a most delightful episode.... I can’t believe it takes so much sap to make so little syrup but you guys are the perfect example of actually trying something that you’ve never tried before and deciding if it was worth it or not! You guys are great teachers! I can’t wait to see what the spring brings for you guys… Looking forward to more wonderful escapades!… Give each other a hug for me! Sending you a ton of love from Northern California!❤️
LOVE seeing the side arm. Important to protect our family
Life is very peaceful, i love Alaska. ❤
I have read this so many times, and about to say it again... These videos are simple to the point and really give the awe feeling to someone who lives the town life. I love watching this channel to destress and relax, usually on Sundays before work Monday :) You two as a couple are awesome as well, compliment one another very well. Both are so good at cooking/baking too! Cheers
Thank you both for sharing your journey and experiences. There has been a lot more people tapping birch trees but you both did an excellent job of showing from start to finish and giving your honest opinion. Thank you😃👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Вы чудесная пара. Смотрю на вас и восхищаюсь вами. Особенно меня восхищает Ариэль, которая работает наравне в мужем и все умеет делать, в том числе и мужскую работу. Единственно, хочу посоветовать вам не увлекаться жареной пищей, потому, что с возрастом это выливается камнями в желчном пузыре. Когда то давно 30 лет назад мы с мужем жили и работали в Тюменской области, там такая же природа и морозы бывали больше 40 градусов по цельсию. Поэтому сейчас я смотрю ваши видео и вспоминаю свою молодость. Любите и берегите друг друга всю жизнь Божьих вам благословений.
Here is a well filmed and edited video presenting the complete experience of producing birch sap and syrup from tap to french toast breakfast. This video is very pleasing to watch. I like the simply honesty of their descriptions instead of an overly scripted performance. Each step in the experience was thoroughly covered answering all inspired wonders along the way. It took me many videos to find this best of the best birch tapping videos. Most don't even attempt to describe the taste of bitch sap and syrup. Eric & Arielle conveyed to me an honest appraisal of the flavor. For me the flavor is the most intriguing motivator to make birch syrup. I wasn't looking for a new subscription but I've fortunately found one. Thank you Eric & Arielle.
the french toast look so good, now I'm craving some
Yesss 😋
350k subs. I'm so happy for this channel. It's great to see big happy dog in the videos!!!
Cheers from Arkansas!!
It's been great to watch them grow! Hello from a fellow Arkansan. 👋
Video of Ariel killing,and processing the moose is great,love you too Eric,ty guys
Skeeters in the snow. A hazard I have never thought about. Thank you for this very clear, organized and entertaining video.
It's morning here in the Philippines and your videos makes me still believe that everything in this world is for us, the people living in it. 2 people nurturing the nature. Love you guys.
Thank you so much for your honesty, I’m new to the whole syrup making thing.I’ve been doing maple for 3 years now and was thinking about doing birch, and I don’t think I will bother now ... thank you !!!
@ 8:40...Erik and his 7/11 big gulp!!
A lot of people are ecstatic about drone footage. I’m more a fan of close by camera work so I really loved the footage of the birch tapping with the nozzles and dripping. Beautiful. Thanks.
I giggle every time I see your dogs are involved in things you do 😆 they are so cute and fortunate that they belong to you, live in beautiful Alaska and being well cared by both of you
Love your videos fun and educational
It's funny you mentioned the propane. I kept thinking I sure hope they have extra tanks!
I really love how you guys are so honest with all you do. If it's bad you say so. Always learn so much for you two. Can't wait for the next adventure.
Live the honesty ya live and learn
Watching you from Maryland. Love when you document your “fails” or “yeah, not worth it” experiments. The important thing is you tried something & gave us your honest review. I’d love to try fresh birch sap someday. Keep it up!
Never would I have thought you could tap a Birch Tree for syrup. Thank you both for sharing this. Amazing what I have learned from you two Beautiful soul's. My Life has become more Enjoyable Thanks to you two beautiful soul's. Ariel and Eric Brilliant video. Kindest thoughts from Victoria Australia xoxo
We do palm trees like this in Tunisia 🇹🇳 🇹🇳 we get a drink called "لاقمي" "la-g-mi" it's very very sweet and healthy and yeah it's better fresh also.
Btw happy ramadan to my fellow Muslims ❤️
Greetings from North Pole. We like just drinking it better. We waited a couple of years before we made syrup and we didn't like it. Loved the experience making it though. Enjoyed watching you guys do it.
I broke my ankle and have had major surgery to repair it, but watching you guys for the last 3 weeks has been absolutely amazing, definitely want to visit Alaska soon, thank you and have a great New year
I'm in Michigan. My sister made Maple Syrup and Black Walnut Syrup. First time trying the Black Walnut Syrup. They were both wonderful It was a great year in Michigan for syrup. She had more sap that she has in quite a few years. Love your channel!
I love seeing you guys grow as cinematographers! So uniquely your own!
I love the soft music while scanning the area.
How sweet Mother Nature is
You guys look like your doing a form of rain dance. Birch sap rain dance 💃!
Love your channel. We “discovered” it about a month ago and are watching a few at a time from the beginning. You have given us the desire to try to make bagels from scratch and to get a pressure canner. Have only used water bath but we are looking forward to being able to can much more with this new way. Keep up the great videos!
From a medical POV, each time you double dip, triple, quadruple dip, the same spoon into the syrup, you introduce bacteria into the jar. Don't be surprised if you see mold growing in the syrup the next time you go for it to use in a recipe.
From a Woodworking POV, YOU HAVE BIRCH TREES!!!! If you work Birch on a Lathe/wood turning machine, you get gorgeous bowls, Vases, and other products. Take a look at some videos on RUclips,and you will see some wonderful items. Keep up the great work guys! I'm addicted to your channel!!!!
Never knew this, I thought only one kinda tree. Thank you, so much. The more you can eat off God's earth, the more healthy we are. I just loved this video. Looking forward to many more. ..
You both are Amazing!
I appreciate learning so much from your videos, Thank You!
I also appreciate seeing Beautiful Alaskan Scenery ☺❄🇺🇸🌍🌲
Yall are just the best! I love how yall give tips and advice and show us new things. I love watching you two!!
dudes, I'm happy to see u living so close to nature, i just enjoy to see your living, more or less to always want me to get back to my summerhouse (really will live there 100% one day). Not in Alaska, but this is in Ukraine with awesome nature, forrest, wildlife, fresh air.
I watched this as we have birch sap cooking down. Lol! We too, are transplants to Alaska and trying new things. We don’t run a channel, but still enjoy the life. We learn from others that do share their life and experiences though, so many many thanks for that.
Our sap is cooking on an outdoor barrel stove. Junk wood mixed with better stuff for the fuel. Clean up winters mess and make syrup! 😉
We figure we have to try it at least. Maybe this will become an annual thing and maybe not, but we won’t know unless we try!
Hey guys, when you start harvesting apples from your orchard you need to make boiled cider. We make it, it’s better than maple syrup! It makes everything taste great. I use it on pancakes and French toast, also in desserts and generally in place of sugar wherever you want an apple flavor. It’s great in oatmeal and yogurt too!
Love your channel!
Can you make it with apple juice fresh pressed.
@@stephaniefagan1736 I’m not sure what you mean...cider is apples that are pressed, it’s unfiltered and not pasteurized.
I don't live in a snowy environment like this, so it's so fascinating to see you guys do this! 😄👍 you got a subscription from me 😊
I’m just chuckling over here waiting to see your reaction! It’s an acquired taste but a lot of work. Drinking the sap is best, and so refreshing! Kudos for sticking it out and being transparent.
Thank you, I helped do Maple syrup a few years. Taping trees and cooking it down at night. On outside fire pit. Then working during the day. Emptied the buckets twice a day. Made quarts for three family’s. One tie we were fixing breakfast sausage over the fire and some of the grease got into the maple syrup that we were cooking down. An in the end of the syrup had a taste of sausage in the syrup. Everyone like it on flap jacks.
I love this channel, they make me wanna move to Alaska
My wife I came up there in January and visited Anchorage. My dumb A$$ decided that I was going to hike back to hidden lake in 30 degree weather, which I know for you guys is warm, but we're from AR and OK, it was cold. After hiking about 45 minutes in 30mph winds and snow fall, stepping off the trail and going waist deep in snow, not having data on phone for All trails map, I decided to turn around and be done. I failed to reach my end destination, but had an AMAZING time.
I went to Birchwood Elementary near Eagle River, Alaska. We were forced to move when Mt Redoubt blew in 1989 because an asthmatic + volcanic ash = lol no. Been stuck in the Lower 48 ever since and I would give EVERYTHING to go back home.
As a homesteader, thank you for your videos, as well as a bittersweet flood of memories!
You guys always do something new, where do you get this energy 😁💪
Best channel ever 💕 so so relaxing and interesting aswell. I literally didnt know some of the things you guys do exist. Greetings from germany 💕
The birch sap is a springtime treat. Good for your immune system. Put in beans.
I can’t even imagine birch syrup on pancakes. 🤭 That first tree produced a good amount!
Hi from Scotland 🏴. Love your videos 💕
We use ours for fish and Moose meat in the smoker. It also keeps the flys off you meats if you dry meats. Dont think i would make syrup out of it. Use it on your Salmon this spring, you will love it!
Really amazed at the amount of sap collected with such a simple process.
I appreciate that you try new things and take us along for the ride, even if they don't work out
We bought some birch syrup when we visited Talkeetna a few years ago and to us it tasted sorta like burnt sugar. It is a hard taste to describe. The flavor grew on us but yes, we prefer maple for pancakes, etc.
I'd often heard that the official state bird of Alaska was the mosquito and that they could haul off small babies, lol. After the shot of the two on Ariel's back, holy cow! I guess those stories were right!
The first ones after winter are fierce, but in this area of Alaska (southcentral which is where Eric & Arielle live), they die back and then aren't USUALLY as bad as they get in the interior! :)
Lol we say the mosquitoes are our state bird to in Wisconsin... you feel them land on you as they touch down on ya and always in swarms
When I became a farm to table chef our school had a restaurant and the first time I tasted birch syrup, it was there. This year I tapped birch trees for the first time, I was drinking it fresh and couldn’t drink as much as my trees gave me. I ended up finally dumping about 25 gallons because I just couldn’t drink anymore and I was afraid to try to make syrup because I heard it took special systems to do. I’m glad you made syrup, I like the taste and I would have a customer base for it if I could make more than I would use. You’ve also shown that’s it’s not too complex a project. Great video. Thanks for sharing. I’m sorry about your having mosquitoes already. I haven’t seen one yet here.
☮️-Kirsten
Those mosquitoes want to taste that syrup too. 😆
When I was a kid I always thought snow shoes allowed you to literally stand on top of snow, despite its consistency, without stepping into the snow at all.
Oh me too! Like floating on top of the snow! I grew up in Texas, so my experience was limited.
Me three. I grew up in Eastern North Carolina where it rarely snows. If I could talk my wife into it I'd move north in a minute.
The ‘real’ snowshoes worked a lot better then the ones that are sold at stores, what their wearing. Watching this video made me realize I’m not buying those metal ones. Go for the wood and catgut. You pay more but at least you’ll be on top of the snow.
The camera twirl at 12:30 with the music was so visually pleasing!
Love your videos, lifestyle, photography, dialogue, location and values....super couple...watching from Perth, West Australia ❤️
Damn,Ariel photography is awesome as usual,ty,all that college paid off!
You guys are like the Chip and Joanna of Alaska! Love the energy and relationship between you. The time you spend on producing the video is evident. Great videography! Also, very informative.
Wow I cannot believe all takes that much to make what little syrup that was enjoy your videos keep up the good work I love you guys
I am bit slow of this sap? Only sap i knew is from trees was, rubber, making shoes...,well i nice to invented new syrups homemade.. you two so great inventors..good work., and alway have ideas..thank you for sharing and i learn a lots from your survival creations..God bless always.🐝🐝🐝🌻🌹🌾💐🌴🌵🤗🤗🤗
We had some caramel made out of this when we visited in July 2021. The caramels were amazing. I loved the depth of flavor without being too sweet. Sooo good. It was a store on the road to Talkeetna
I meant to add this to the video where you seasoned your cast iron but never got around to it. If you want more of a nonstick surface you can take an orbital sander to the inside surface of the pot/pan. This can get the inside super smooth even before you put the seasoning on, it really helps keep things like eggs from sticking.
We do maple syrup in Atlantic Canada. The boil ratio is 40-1. Always boiling outside with a wood stove.
I understand ;less is more,but more daily vids would be greatly appreciated,love you
looking like a great mosquitoe summer ahead, cant wait
Hard to believe that a year has gone by since your last post on drinking this sap neat!!!! Thanks.
Bob
When the frozen sap isn't that tasty anymore after defrosting, you still could make ice cubes and store it for the warmer season so you still benefit a bit from its qualities. (:
Love you' ! T ! shirt, bought one on Amazon .Going to order 3 more Carhartt !T! shirt's.With all you'r other gear they should sponser you guy's.
Loving the work kids from your neighbor
I think you should fry some flour tortillas then drizzle some of the birch syrup on them with a little cinnamon and sugar. Or tortilla chips. Kind of like a churro.
Oooh that sounds delicious!
''at then end "Can I have some of that MAPLE syrup" :) --- I'm with you on drinking it fresh/not-reduced! so much energy and time to get such a small yield!
Yes we learned too, lol. Now we drink it fresh and freeze it for drinking throughout the winter
Growing up we tapped trees on our farm for sap in Minnesota. Fun to watch all you guys do
Really enjoyed watching this process, glad you did it at least once 😃
It wasn't wasted time hopefully since you got a RUclips video out of the whole experience! 😊