The Red Brick Times

Making Maple Syrup in Ohio
We are near the end of the time of year in this area when maple sap flows for syrup making. Sap flow requires freezing nights and warm (but not hot) days. These must alternate and be in long enough series to allow the sap to move in the trees. The sugar bush in the Cuyahoga County Metro Parks Rocky River Branch just finished their evaporator run today. This year they produced only about 4 1/2 gallons of syrup, a record low. The previous low yield was 8 gallons, and they have seen over 20 gallons in a good year. We have had precious few days that alternated day temperatures in the high 40s with nights below 30. There have been single days in the 40s, and yesterday was in the 50s, but the nights and subsequent days have ben back in the 20s or below and stayed there for a week's time.

Tapping involves drilling holes 7/16 of an inch in diameter, about 3 inches deep, into the wood which carries the sap. The maple tree must be a least 10 inches in diameter and in good health before it can be tapped. It usually takes about forty years before a tree will reach tappable size. The hole is usually placed about waist high on the tree, and not near previous tapholes. Larger trees may take as many as three or four taps, but only if they are healthy. A healthy sugar maple can provide sap every year for a hundred years or more. Throughout the 4-6 week sugar season, each tap hole will yield approximately ten gallons of sap.

Maple sap, as it comes from the tree is a clear, slightly sweet liquid. The sugar content rages from one to four percent. An hydrometer can be floated in the sap to determine the exact sugar content. Sweeter sap is favored because less water will have to be evaporated to make maple syrup. It takes forty gallons of sap to evaporate down to one gallon of maple syrup. About one cord of wood or sixty gallons of oil are used to reduce 800 gallons of sap into 20 gallons of maple syrup.

The evaporator pan is divided into partitions, so that the sap is continuously flowing through the pan. Fresh sap enters at the back of the pan, where a float valve keeps the sap about an inch deep. At the front of the evaporator the boiling sap turns a golden color as it becomes maple syrup. When the temperature of the boiling liquid is 219.5 degrees F (seven and a half degrees above the boiling point of water), it has reached the proper density and is maple syrup. Another way of checking for the proper density or sugar content is to place a scoop into the boiling syrup. If the drops along the bottom edge of the scoop begin to hold together like a sheet or apron, then the syrup is done. Coming from the tree, maple sap is approximately 98% water and 2% sugar. When the syrup is finished, it is 33% water and 67% sugar. After filtering, the syrup is bottled and is ready for consumption. Sugars (mainly Sucrose - see comment appended) make 50 Calories per Tablespoon for Maple Syrup. Honey and Karo Corn Syrup are both 60 Cal per Tbsp, and Molasses is 40 Cal per Tbsp, for comparison.

The length of the sugaring season is dependent upon the weather. It may last a few, or as long as six or eight weeks. As the days become warm, and the nights rarely get below freezing, the buds on the branches of the maple trees begin to swell, marking the end of the season. Chemical changes take place within the tree as leaf buds burst and phototsynthesis and transpiration begin. The syrup made from the sap then tastes bitter, in comparison with the earlier production.
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Maple Syrup Grades:

Grade A Light Amber, is very light and has a mild, more delicate maple flavor. It is usually made earlier in the season when the weather is colder. This is the best grade for making maple candy and maple cream.
Grade A Medium Amber, is a bit darker, and has a bit more maple flavor. It is the most popular grade of table syrup, and is usually made after the sugaring season begins to warm, about mid-season.
Grade A Dark Amber, is darker yet, with a stronger maple flavor. It is usually made later in the season as the days get longer and warmer.
Grade B, sometimes called Cooking Syrup, is made late in the season, and is very dark, with a very strong maple flavor, as well as some caramel flavor. Although many people use this for table syrup; because of its strong flavor, it's often used for cooking, baking, and flavoring in special foods.
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I was able to sample the final output this evening at a naturalist's and volunteer's gathering in the park marking the end of the sugaring-off season. The day's product was still steaming when we dipped it from an insulated cooler, and drizzled it liberally over home-made vanilla ice cream. It doesn't get much better than that.

Posted 10:11 PM by Andy (0) comments

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