Member Report: Making Maple Syrup

 

Maple Syrup

 

By Kevin Bezy

 

Like any other American child growing up in the ’60s, we always had Log Cabin syrup for our pancakes and waffles.  I can still see the log cabin on the label which I found out researching this article was selected as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln.  Log Cabin syrup was introduced in 1887.  As far as we knew, it was the best topping for our breakfast griddle foods.  We even used it on oatmeal.

 

In the early ‘80s, I went to a maple festival in Grayson County, Virginia.  This festival was established to raise money to buy land for a fire station.  Here is an interesting video about making maple syrup from the Grayson County website:  https://www.graysoncountyva.com/post/grayson-s-first-festival-the-maple-festival-march-30-31-2019

 

Needless to say, after I tasted the pure maple syrup I never went back to the imitation syrup.  Still, at restaurants, I am forced to use “table syrup.”  I am tempted to smuggle in the real stuff but I am too afraid of getting caught.

 

About 40 years ago I planted two sugar maple trees in my front yard.  At the time the street was tree-lined and I selected sugar maple for the fall color.   Sadly, I have the only trees left in the neighborhood.   A few years ago, I thought it would be fun to tap the trees and try to make syrup.  The problem is that I never thought about it at the right time.  This year in early February the idea returned.  I googled “maple syrup tapping kit” and found one on Amazon for $144.99 plus shipping.  In reading the description I saw that the kit came from a company called Tap My Trees.  I went to that site and found the same kit for $119.95 with the shipping included.  Easy decision.  Here is a link:  https://tapmytrees.com/product/starter-kit-with-aluminum-buckets/.  This kit includes everything one needs to gather the sap and prepare for the first boiling.

 

I ordered the kit and tapped my trees on the day before St. Valentine’s Day, 2021. The tree should be over 40 years old and be at least 12 inches in diameter. With one tap on each tree, I gathered three and a half gallons of sap on the day after I tapped the trees.  The sap looks like pure water.  Safe to drink straight from the tree, it tastes like water.  There is only a hint of sweetness and I wonder if that taste isn’t imagined. 

 

The sap has to be stored and it should not be kept for more than a week. After a week in storage, there is a possibility of bacteria growing.   I had a few gallon jars that I use for making pickled eggs and I asked a friend to give me some old gallon milk jugs.  After a day I found that storage was going to be a problem because I was harvesting up to four gallons each day.  I also used a 5-gallon water container and two large coolers.  It is important to use food-grade storage containers.  The literature stresses cleanliness in all stages of the process, including end-of-the-season storage of equipment.

 

I kept a relatively careful record of my collection throughout the process.  After 13 days I had collected 36 gallons of sap from the two trees.  The sap stopped flowing on the 12^th day because the nights had warmed up.  The ideal time for gathering sap is when the nights are below freezing and the days are above freezing.  I, completely by accident, caught the sap rising time perfectly this season.

 

I was overwhelmed with the prospect of boiling down the sap.  I boiled the first batch of sap after five days of collecting.  I started with three and one-half gallons of sap.  The manual included with the kit advised against boiling sap indoors.  I read other sources all of which agreed.   The concern is the inadvisability of adding a lot of humidity to the house.  So I got out my gas grill to use for outdoor boiling and found it was rusted and inoperable.  Having no other options I boiled the sap indoors.  I boiled the three and one-half gallons of sap for eleven hours and 30 minutes, adding as more would fit in the pot.  After the sap was boiled down to about one-half gallon I filtered it with cheesecloth into another pot to finish boiling.  After the final boil, I ended up with eight ounces of syrup.  The average yield is 1 part syrup to 40 parts of sap.  It should have yielded about 11 ounces from the amount I started with.  I probably boiled the sap too long.

 

According to the instructions, the sap is syrup when it reaches 219 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is seven degrees above the boiling point of water.  I never could get the temperature that high.  I do not trust my instrument or my ability to use it.  I guessed by examining how the product looked when pouring it from a spoon. 

 

Later, I found an old roasting pan that would hold about two gallons for the first boil.  In a total of seven batches, I boiled about 36 gallons of sap which yielded just over a gallon of syrup. 

 

This was an interesting project.  Changes I am going to make for next year:

1.     Find a two-burner propane cooker and use an old stainless steel cafeteria serving pan so that I can boil the first boiling outside.

2.     Improve the way I filter the sap.  The sap should be filtered before boiling and after the first boil.  The syrup should be filtered before bottling. 

3.     Use a digital candy-making thermometer.

4.     Borrow more large coolers to hold the sap.  Sap storage became a problem.

5.     Bottle the syrup using a hot water bath to lengthen the shelf life.  The syrup that I made this year will have to be refrigerated and used within a few months. 

 

I hope that this article will spark an interest in some of you.  While the syrup making can seem intimidating, it is quite easy to do.