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The Iroquois Indians first developed maple syrup, and taught the process to the Colonial settlers, who used it as their only sweetener for many years. It's been a New England tradition ever since. If you think maple syrup is just for pancakes, think again! Ice cream, pudding, pie or cake, barbecue sauce, and candy are just a few of the many popular maple recipes. Maple syrup is sweeter than sugar, has less calories, and can be substituted for sugar in most recipes.
How It's Made
Sometime in February or March, when the days turn warm and the nights remain cold, the sap in Maine's thousands of sugar maple trees begins its journey from the roots, up through the trunk, and out to the ends of the branches, where it nourishes the buds before making the return trip back to the roots each day during the four to six week maple syrup season.
When the sap is about to run, sugar makers tap holes two to three inches deep into the maple trees, carefully avoiding old tap holes that are healing over. They immediately place a spout in the tap hole and connect tubing to each tap.
The maple trees must be at least 40 years old and 10 inches in diameter. A healthy tree will provide sap for 100 years or more. Each tree usually produces approximately 10 gallons of sap, which boils down to a quart or so of maple syrup.
Where the old-fashioned bucket collection method is used, a sap gathering tank mounted on a sled, wagon, or truck pulled by a team of horses, oxen, or by a tractor, is moved through the sugarbush as workers gather the sap using large pails which are dumped into the gathering tank. The tank is then taken to a storage tank at the sugar house, where the boiling takes place. If the tubing system is used, the sap drips from the taphole, through the spout, and into tubing that is joined to other trees, and eventually turns into a larger pipeline called a "mainline." The mainline carries the sap downhill to a sap storage tank at the sugar house. Once the collection methods are in place, the waiting begins. To have a good first run, Mother Nature must cooperate by providing a 15 degree temperature swing within 12 hours, from the low to mid twenties to the high thirties or low forties. As the snow melts, the sap runs. The best maple syrup comes from sap that is boiled immediately after it comes from the tree. This is especially true of the finer grades of maple syrup, like Light Amber, so as soon as there is enough in the storage tanks, fires are lit in the stainless steel evaporator used for boiling and concentrating the sap into maple syrup. The process of collecting and boiling down the sap usually continues for four- to-six weeks. Make Your Own
If you're really adventurous, and you have sugar maple trees, you can make your own maple syrup and sugar. Most of us will want to purchase our maple syrup from one of the quality Maine maple syrup producers, a few of which are listed below.
Maine Maple Syrup Producers (on the Net)
Bald Mountain Maple: Maine Gold
Other Maine Maple Producers
Other New England Maple Producers
If you'd like to check out maple sugaring in Vermont, Massachusetts, or elsewhere in New England, About.com's Guide for New England for Visitors, Kim Knox, has links to maple producers in the region.
Maple Recipes
Maple Taffy
Maple Recipes from Bob's Sugarhouse
Maple Recipes from About's Home Cooking Guide, Peggy Trowbridge
Maple Recipes from Maine's Department of Agriculture
Maple Tips from Bald Mountain Maple Maple leaf graphic copyright 1998-2003 by Deborah Fowles. .
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