Maple Syrup

Maple Syrup

Native Americans were the first to collect the sap from maple trees and boil it into a smooth, tasty syrup. Long ago, sap was harvested by drilling holes into a maple tree, inserting a spout, and catching the fluid in a bucket positioned under the spout. Newer methods eliminate the buckets, instead utilizing a network of plastic pipelines attached to the trees. The pipeline carries the sap, a clear, almost tasteless, water-like liquid, directly to the sugar house, where it is boiled down. Sap is collected in the late winter and early spring during the few-weeks when the days are relatively warm, but the nights are still cold. Vermont, New Hampshire, northern New York, and parts of Canada, where the dramatic rise and fall in spring temperatures trigger the flowing of the sap, are ideal for maple syrup harvesting.

The flavor and color of maple syrup develop during the boiling of the initially colorless sap. Government standards specify that maple syrup must contain at least 65.5 percent sugar among its other ingredients, such as acids and salts. Maple syrup is graded and sold by color and ranges from light amber, or Fancy, to the darkest color, known as Commercial. The darker the color, the more pronounced the flavor. The lightest colored syrups have the most delicate flavors.

Since it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of maple syrup, most “maple syrup” sold today is blended with corn syrup and/or cane sugar syrup. Many companies add artificial maple flavorings to foods, but real maple syrup has a unique flavor and smoothness not duplicated by substitutes. Pure or blended maple syrup is commonly poured over pancakes, waffles, and French toast or added as an ingredient in maple butter, cream, and candy.

Maple sugar is a product of maple syrup. It is made by further boiling the syrup until most of the water evaporates and the sugar crystallizes out of the syrup. About 8 pounds of sugar are produced from 1 gallon of maple syrup.