History

It is no surprise that the Native Americans had been making maple products long before the early settlers arrived and we are all grateful the process was shared. One can only speculate how the Native Americans discovered this sweet treat; possibly from eating a maple "sapsicles," the icicles of frozen maple sap that form from the end of a broken twig, some evaporation of water may have occurred and these sapsicles mostly likely had a faint sweetness. Personally I like the theory in which the sap was used as a cooking liquid and thus it was discovered that the heat of cooking caused not only evaporation of the liquid but the necessary caramelization of the sugars resulting in what we know now as maple syrup.

It was discovered too that further evaporation and cooking resulted in maple sugar which was the product most prized by the Native Americans and the early settlers. Maple sugar is much easier to store and carry with you. It was not until the late 1800’s that maple sugar was replaced with white cane sugar. This is where we get the name Sugar Shake or Maple Sugar House and even the verb sugarin’.

It was also not until the late 1800's that the modern style evaporator pan was invented. A Vermont man built what he called a maple sugar "evaporator." This specially designed flat pan had channels for the sap to flow through as it boiled, more efficiently capturing the heat of the stove as well as allowing fresh sap to be added to one end of the evaporator, and finished syrup drawn off at the other end. Maple syrup is still made in an evaporator with much the same design.

Basics

The Tree: The most common and best tree to use is the sugar maple (Acer saccharum). In some regions it is also common to tap the black maple (Acer nigrum).

All of the 13 native maple species are to some extent used for syrup making but the ratio of sap/syrup is less than ideal in many of them, requiring additional boil time. For the hobbyist with lots of time the results maybe satisfactory

The tree should be at least 40 years old, have a minimum diameter of 10" and be in good health. Smaller trees can support one tap and very large diameter trees can support up to four taps. Each tap may supply you with as much as 10 gallons of sap within the four to seven week season. Properly tapped trees can safely be in production for a hundred years.

The collection: A tree is tapped. The traditional tape is metal and about 7/16" wide. A 7/16" hole is drilled about three inches deep about waist height and not too near last year's hole. The tap is gently “tapped” into the tree about three inches. A traditional metal sap bucket is suspended from the tap. Many large operations use somewhat smaller plastic taps on which plastic tubing is installed> The tubing often runs long distances to large collection vessels, some which are located right at the sugar house.

We use mostly the metal tapes and metal buckets but for some off site trees we’ve used the tubing and run it through a hole drilled into the top of a new plastic trashcan. In ideal conditions the quantity of sap often exceeds the volume of a traditional bucket and the use of the trashcan is ideal. We usually gather sap once a day, maybe twice if the sap is really running or the warm temps are in danger of spoiling the sap (needs to remain quite cool).

Not having the luxury of a network of tubing running right to our sugarhouse we collect our sap into a large 250 gallon plastic water tank. A small pump and regular garden hose transfers the sap from the large receptacles to this tank. Buckets of sap are simply poured into it. The same pump is used to pump the collected sap into a 75 gallon plastic holding tank installed above our evaporator. It feeds into the evaporator via gravity and flow into the evaporator is regulated by a float valve. As sap evaporates out fresh sap trickles in.

When: The actual date changes each year due to the weather conditions of that year but in Massachusetts it is approximately President's Day to early March and runs about a month from that date. The temperatures must be below freezing at night and rather warm in the daytime with forty to fifty being ideal. Nights that are too warm and days in which it fails to thaw will stop the sap run and can literally stop production for as long as two weeks. Ah maybe that’s why syrup is so pricey.

Boiling

Sap becomes syrup as the result of evaporating enough of the water out to leave behind a sweet syrup. But it is not just the function of evaporation that makes the sweet liquid we all love but also caramelization of the sugar due to the “cooking.” Simply evaporating out the require liquid while it would result in a sweet syrup it would lack the warm brown maple taste.

With perfect attention to one ‘s fire (ours is wood fired) you can expect to evaporate 10 to 15 gallons of water an hour. To empty our holding tank it takes us seven to 10 hours, never wandering far from the stove for it must be consistently fed. The ratio of sap to syrup is approximately 40 to one. So these 10 hours net us slightly less than two gallons of syrup. Ah, maybe that’s why it’s so pricey.

Syrup

Sap becomes syrup at 7° above boiling. For most locations this is 219°. We’ve found it’s easier to achieve this exact temperature by finishing the syrup in small batches outside of the evaporator. I have a propane stove and finishing pan in the sugarhouse that I rarely use. I instead do what is always cautioned against - I finish it on my kitchen stove. I imagine the excess steam is not ideal for the walls of my kitchen but it does make for a less tedious task. Finishing can take me anywhere from one to four hours (per batch) depending on the density of the not-quite-done syrup I start with. Boiling syrup cannot be left untended for the minute you turn away it will boil over; what a sticky mess. So I watch my kitchen TV or pop in a video and enjoy the process. My thermometer, while invaluable, is not the only tool I use to test the done-ness of my syrup. I also use a hydrometer. This tool tests the density of the syrup. It floats in the syrup and when it floats on the proper red line the syrup in finished.

Bottling

In large operations I am sure bottling is a rather quick affair. The hot syrup is run through a filter and into bottles and quickly whisked into the gift store. That’s not quite the technique at Green Hill Farm. While filters are available for small operators the approximately $1,000 price tag has precluded its purchase.

Syrup contains a harmless sediment called sugar sand. Filtering out the sugar sand results in the gleaming amber liquid we are used to purchasing in shinning glass bottles. Not wishing to bottle cloudy syrup I simply use time and gravity to clear my syrup. I place my syrup in an odd collection of glass bottles for a few days to a week and let the sand collect in the bottom. I decant the clear syrup into a pan and reheat it - one, for sanitary reasons and - two, I need the heat to seal the special caps on my syrup bottles.

The bottles or jugs can be purchase online at a number of maple supply houses links of which can be found at the web page provide below.

CSA

A taste of syrup (if supply allows) is part of our membership and has been a generous eight ounces for most of the past seven years. We have found that most members upon visiting the sugarhouse buy a bit more. We are also open to the public and sell a few gallons (divided into the above mentioned smaller bottles) each season. I also give private tours to small groups such as Cub or Girl Scouts if requested.

You don’t need to be a Farmer

Just as we started as hobbyist, so can you. All you need are cold nights, warm days, a few maple trees, a few taps (found online), some collection vessels (which can be clean milk jugs or small plastic buckets), a flat pan and a means to heat it - preferably outside. While I admit to finishing my syrup in the house, attempting the process in its entirety on your kitchen stove may result in an entire household of peeling paint and wallpaper.

So whether you go whole hog and set up an actual sugar house or dabble in a bit of syrup making in your back yard, or simply purchase a tasty sample from your local producer (or online if syrup in not made locally), enjoy this the first sweet taste of spring.

Link

Find equipment suppliers and more in depth history and syrup making instructions and recipes at:

Almost Homemade Maple Baked Beans

(if you don’t tell they won’t know)

Buy a can(s) of your favorite baked beans (Boston style). To it add approximately one tablespoon of maple syrup per 12 ounce can, more or less to taste. Add some chopped onions cut in random sizes to add to the homemade look. Optionally, add a squirt of ketchup and mustard. Bake at 350° about half an hour, or until bubbling.