 Tap Mother Nature to Make Maple
Syrup
by Staff Writer
If you have access to maple trees with a diameter of at least 10 inches, why not
make your own delicious maple syrup? The process is simple and requires little
specialized equipment. Once the trees have been selected and the sap starts to
run, you are ready to tap your trees and begin collection. The accumulated sap
is boiled down until it becomes syrup and is ready for bottling. Do you have
what it takes to collect and boil 10 gallons of sap into 1 quart of heavenly
maple syrup?
So how do you know which trees to select and when to tap? All maple trees can be
used to produce syrup, but Sugar Maple trees are most commonly tapped. This is
because sap from the Sugar Maple has the highest sugar content -- typically 2 to
3 percent. Selected trees should be at least 10 inches in diameter, appear
healthy, and have a broad crown. Depending on your climate, sap flows during
late winter and early spring when the nights are freezing and the days begin to
warm. Starches in the sap are converted to sugars when the tree’s internal
temperature is between 40 and 45 degrees.
The tap is the only specialized piece of equipment that must be purchased unless
you choose to make your own out of wood or metal. Bore a 7/16" wide, 2" deep
hole in the tree at a slight upward angle. Exercise caution when pounding in the
tap so the tree doesn't split. Trees with a diameter of 10 to 19 inches should
only have one tap, 20- to 24-inch trees can have two, and trees with a diameter
of 25 inches or more can have three.
 Any type of container
can be used to collect the sap; plastic buckets, metal pails, and clean milk
jugs work well. Regardless of the container selected, it is important to keep
sap protected from rain and insects. Sap will sour if it gets too warm or is
stored for too long, so it should be collected daily and kept cold until
processing. Once you have a sufficient amount of sap saved, it's time to boil it
down into syrup.
Sap is boiled to evaporate water, thereby increasing the percentage of sugar in
the mixture. Because sap is 97 percent water, prepare yourself for many hours of
boiling. When the sap first starts to boil measure the temperature; this is the
boiling point of water at your altitude. As the water evaporates, continue
adding
additional sap and boiling. When the liquid begins to darken and thicken, you
are approaching the end of the process. Once the temperature of the boiling
mixture reaches 7.1 degrees above your first reading, the syrup has reached the
proper concentration of sugar -- 66.9 percent. Be prepared to boil 40 gallons of
sap to produce 1 gallon of maple syrup.
Now that you have made your first batch of tantalizing maple syrup, it needs to
be prepared for storage. It can be filtered immediately after removing it from
the heat and bottled in sterilized jars, or it can be allowed to cool and
settle. Once the sediment has settled completely, the syrup can be reheated to
180 degrees and bottled. Properly bottled maple syrup will last over a year
without refrigeration. If the sap was over-boiled, sugar crystals can form, but
this will not affect the flavor or safety of your syrup.
This article only covers the basic steps required to produce and store maple
syrup, but I hope it inspires your interest. If you don’t have maple trees in
your backyard, keep an eye out for real maple syrup products. There are numerous
family-run businesses that have been bottling syrup the same way for over 100
years.
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