HOW TO MAKE & MARKET MAPLE SYRUP
(Page 12 of 15)
Guard against this accidental burning by establishing a
"danger line" depth in the pan (ours is two inches). When
the bubbling syrup solution boils down to the mark, add
more sap from the holding tank (keep a reserve in the
storage vat for just this purpose). If you ever
miscalculate and suddenly find you have no sap on hand with
which to dilute a panful of syrup that's in danger of
burning, quickly thin the boiling solution with water. It's
much more effective to dilute an endangered batch of syrup
with water than to try to bank and diminish the fire.
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Since wood fires are not easy to control, we found that we
had to start letting ours die down about three hours before
we intended to quit cooking for the day. We only boil sap
during the day, and we try to cook the syrup down halfway
in the large pan . . . that is, for every 20 gallons of sap
run into the pan (rough estimate), we expect to take off
one gallon for finishing. This rough-boiled syrup is then
taken to the house and cooked down by half again to make
syrup of the finished 40 to 1 ratio.
We soon noticed, as we drained off the half-cooked syrup
that a quantity of the sticky liquid stayed in the
sugarhouse boiling pan. Reluctant to waste this "gold", we
at first left it in the pan until the next time we cooked.
That approach didn't last long! We quickly learned that a
fire which looks black and cold in the evening can spring
to life during the night and bun such leftover sap to a
sticky mess by morning.
After one such experience, we put a plastic sheet over the
pan at night. Then if the sap started cooking, the steam
collected on the plastic and dropped harmlessly back to
dilute—and thus protect—the syrup once again.
Eventually, though, we dispensed with that idea and now we
just empty the pan completely at the end of each day. We
aren't always sure when we'll cook again and we prefer to
start afresh each time.
Every cooking operation will be different, and the general
guides I've given here are just pointers to help you in
setting up yours. Boiling syrup is a process that has its
own rhythm . . you can't rush it or force it, but only
discover and work with it. Above all, approach the task
with love and don't be discouraged.
FINISHING
Finishing is a delicate process and must be watched
carefully. How do you know when the syrup is done? For your
owe use, you can just boil the sweetener to taste . . . but
if you plan to sell some, the maple syrup should weigh 11
pounds per gallon.
Your syrup will have reached that density when it boils at
a Fahrenheit temperature seven degrees above the boiling
temperature of water. That is, both water and sap
boil—at sea level—at 212°F. As sap is
concentrated into syrup, however, its boiling point is
raised by its increasing sugar content. The sweetener is
considered finished (and will weigh 11 pounds a gallon)
when the concentrating sugar has raised the syrup's boiling
point seven Fahrenheit degrees. At sea level, then, when
maple syrup boils at 219°F (212 + 7) . . . it is
finished, standardized syrup.
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