The Making of Maple Syrup...

FROM SAP TO SYRUP; THE MAKING OF MAPLE SYRUP

                                    By Sarah Nilsen

            Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to experience first hand the making of maple syrup, this past Feburary.

            It all begins with maple trees, taps and pails. A hole is drilled two inches deep into the trunk of a sturdy maple. A tap is then hammered into the hole. Sap will drip from this instrument into the pail; the pail will hang from a hook on the tap.

Both a tube and a tap, the blue thing is the tube, the whiteish thing is the tap.

            Sometimes, on larger maples, or groups of maples a tube is used. A tube is a long plastic or silicon hose with tap like attachments that are inserted into the tree in the same manner.  The watery sap will drip from each of these into the tube where it will drain in one place.

A better, wider view of the same tree.

            In order for the maple sap to run or drip it must freeze at night, and the temperature must rise above freezing during the day. The science behind this strange requirement is that when it freezes the sap flows downwards and freezes there, but when it thaws the sap freely flows upwards to the branches and leaves, it is then that the sap will drip out of the tap, or tube into the reservoir.

            Tapping trees does not hurt them, it is has been discovered that even after a ‘sapping season’ only a tenth of the tree’s sap has been removed.

            The ‘sapping season’ is short and limited, the tapping and collecting from the maples must happen while there is still snow on the ground, or when it freezes at night and thaws during the day as I have recently explained. This is normally in February to March, though it varies depending on temperature in the location, as some might experience the prime time to sap as early as December and January.

            Everyday after the trees have been tapped, those who are collecting go check the pails at the warmest time of the day. Most days sap is collected once, sometimes twice if the day is warm, and the sap is running.

And we must not forget the photo op...XP

            Collecting is hard work, but it can be fun! Every bucket on a tree requires one empty pail, though sometimes two buckets are needed to empty a very full pail.  The bucket on each tree is removed from its hook, and the contents of sap are poured into the empty pail.

Me, slaving away...haha LOL actually those pails were empty. 0.o

            In cases of the tube the barrel or large containment unit in where the sap is contained, a small pan is dipped into the sap and poured into each empty pail.

            The buckets are generally emptied into a large agricultural tank, where it is stored during the rest of the collection.

My Gradpa next to his truck, and the agricultural tank is the white thing in the back.

            Next, after all sap has been collected it is pumped into a large sink-like container behind the sugar shack where the sap is filtered then slowly drained into the largest of the sectioned evaporator basins.

The evaporator is inside the sugar shack which is a small typically wooden structure with plenty of ventilation.

My brother, Ben in the sugar shack. It's the best picture I have of it.

            A fire is made inside the brick lined woodstove, beneath the evaporator. The sap entering the evaporator can be changed by turning the faucet handle. A certain amount of sap must be in each of the three compartments at all times to insure a quality batch of syrup.

The boiler, and boiling sap inside of it. It was QUITE the steamy experience! 

            The sap must be brought to a full or rolling boil. The two smaller sections of the evaporator will be where the maple syrup is concentrated.

Another picture of the boiler. It was SUPER hot in there, the crisp winter air was refreshing after a couple hours in there!

            A candy thermometer is placed in one of the small sectors, and must be watched when temperature nears 218° Fahrenheit.

            When the concentrated sap reaches 218° it must be removed from the evaporator. And is filtered through a felt filter, which removes yet more impurities.

The felt filter, which was about the third or fourth filter the maple sap went through.

            The to-be syrup should be moved to a kitchen range for final processing. The sap must reach 220°, then be canned using the proper process.

...and silly me didn't take ANY pictures of the finished product, oh well, all of you probably know what maple syrup looks like :P