Sugaring: Amateur Style
(Page 5 of 6)
January/February 1975
By Bruce N. Coulter
Boiling sap brings out a surprising amount of foreign matter (some if it resembles fine beach sand). You'll want to remove these impurities when you draw off the syrup. A piece of flannel or a double thickness of dish towel material held with clothespins over the top of pail or milk can will serve very well as a strainer . . . or you can clarify the sweetening by leaving it to settle.
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To keep its flavor, syrup should be canned or bottled hot and kept in a cool place. It will deteriorate rapidly if exposed to the air.
Some people think, incorrectly, that thick, dark maple syrup is "the real thing". Tastes differ, of course, but the fact is that such sweetening is the product of late-run sap or juice from the wrong kind of maple . . . or of equipment that isn't overly clean. This subject is regulated by strict government standards: "Fancy" grade syrup is the color of light honey, "A" grade a little darker, "B" a shade darker than "A" and "C" the darkest of all. All grades are of standard weight or density.
Once you've made syrup, you may want to try your hand at maple sugar. The process involves further evaporation . . . and thus more firewood, patience and vigilance (plus, of course, the happy element of anticipation). A gallon of syrup minus three pounds of its water content will make eight pounds of hard or "cake" sugar. The contents of your kettle will reach this stage at about 242° F, 30 degrees above the boiling point of water. A softer product requires less reduction and is cooked to a lower temperature of 237° F.
A simple test for the hard sugar stage is to dip a spoon in the boiling syrup and let the liquid drip back into the pan. If it "hairs off" (forms a fine, spidery thread) I figure the batch is ready. I remove it from the fire and set the syrup aside to cool for a few minutes, then stir it with a wooden spoon to give the result a finer grain. When the mass begins to crystallize—a phase that comes on suddenly—I pour it into lightly greased forms and let it stand. I happen to own some antique tin sugar molds, but an ordinary muffin pan will do very well.
When the subject of making maple sugar comes up, quite often someone will talk nostalgically about "sugaring off" or "sugar on snow". If you'd like to taste this treat, fill a pan or bowl with fresh, clean snow. Thicken a supply of syrup by additional boiling as explained above, dip out a spoonful and spread it on the cold surface. It will sink in a little and congeal to the consistency of wax. Roll the blob up on a fork and pop it into your mouth to enjoy an exceedingly tasty confection. At sugaring off parties a supply of pickles and doughnuts is kept on the table for you to munch on at intervals to recondition your taste apparatus for another go at the "maple wax".
Most of what I've told you about sugaring has come to me by the trial and error method, and by talking with New England and Michigan friends who have been at the business for years. I've also learned from publications, in particular Helen and Scott Nearing's The Maple Sugar Book (originally published by John Day and recently reprinted by Schocken Books, Inc., of New York . . . available in paperback for $2.50 and in hard cover for $5.95). This work is not only a mine of information about maple products but an inspiring account of how two people learned to make their living off the land. Another excellent source is USDA Bulletin No. 146 (Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402). Information about sugaring equipment can be had from the Grimm Manufacturing Company, Rutland, Vermont 05701 and the Leader Evaporator Company, Saint Albans, Vermont 05478. These firms can, of course, supply you with the names of dealers in your area.
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