Food Thread: A Very Special And Sweet Guest (Muad'dib)

Commenter Muad'dib has graciously offered to chat with us about his hobby and passion....maple syruping. Y-not did the actual human contact part (yuck!), so a hat tip to her.....and a hat tip to Muad'dib for managing to get sex into a discussion about tapping trees for their sap. [CBD]

Maple Syruping
Muad'dib

One of my favorite times of year here in northern Wisconsin is the maple syrup season. My family and I live on a farm with several thousand maple trees, so it was natural that we would take advantage of the opportunity to make our own syrup. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's define what maple syrup is not. Aunt Jemima (or Condi Rice if you are a Democrat) is NOT maple syrup. The ingredient list for this stuff reads:

High fructose corn syrup
Corn syrup
Natural and artificial flavors
Caramel color
Citric acid

Real maple syrup is simply concentrated maple sap. Nothing is added. Research has identified over 300 favor compounds in finished syrup. Maple syrup flavor notes can be explained as caramel, vanilla, nutty, buttery, floral (honey), cereal, chocolate, and coffee. As is the case for most natural products, maple syrups have complex flavor chemistry to delight your sense of taste.

History of Maple Syrup

Native Americans were making maple syrup long before Europeans came to North America. They would tap maple trees with wooden spouts, collect the sap in containers made of bark, and then boil the sap in hollowed out logs into which they would drop fire heated stones. Whole villages would relocate to their sugaring area every year where they made both syrup and maple sugar. An
Ojibwa friend of mine calls maple syrup "The water of my people." In early America, maple sugar was the most commonly used sweetener by the colonists in the north because of its availability and cost relative to cane sugar.

Why Maple and Where

Maple trees have a very unusual wood morphology when compared to other trees. In the sapwood, there are fiber cells surrounding the sap conducting vessels. In maples, these fiber cells are filled with air. In other trees, these fibers are full of sap. Sap is an incompressible fluid, but the air in the maple fibers gets compressed and expanded by temperature changes in the wood.
As temperatures fall below freezing, negative pressure is created in the tree relative to the outside air. Sap is drawn in and downwards. As temperatures go above freezing, a significant positive pressure is created in the sapwood. A single hole drilled into the sapwood can yield over a gallon of sap on a good flow day.

To make maple syrup, you obviously need maple trees. There are 13 native maple species in North America. The most desirable is the sugar maple (Acer saccarum) because of its higher sugar content. Some people claim that the syrup taste complexity is better in sugar maples, but my palette is not sensitive enough to verify that. I have tasted syrup from all sorts of maples, including box elders, and it is all good to me. Besides maples, you need the right weather. The sap flows well when the nights are in the mid 20s F and daytime highs are in the 40s or 50s. Where maple syrup is made commercially, late winter and early spring can provide temperature cycles like this for several weeks to a couple of months. Geographically, syrup is primarily made in an area that starts out east in the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, the northeast US, and then westwards though NY, PA, the Ohio Valley, and the upper Midwest. In the US, The Peoples Republic of Vermont produces the most maple syrup. Overall, Quebec is the 800 lb gorilla of syrup making.

Sap Collection

The traditional, very high labor, way of collecting sap is to hang buckets on trees. A 7/16" hole is drilled about 1 inch into the tree and a metal spout is tapped in. The spout has an integral hook that the buckets can be hung on. When the sap runs, you go to every bucket on the trees and dump the day's sap into a larger transport bucket. On our farm, we strap a 35 gallon
polyethylene tank to the back of our ATV. We dump the transport buckets into that tank as we move through the woods. We run about 100 taps. On a good day, that means 100 gallons of sap weighing about 800 pounds.

Taps, buckets, and lids

Sap right out of the tree is crystal clear with about the same viscosity as water. Sugar content in the red maples (Acer rubrum) we tap here runs about 2% by weight. Sugar maples can have 3-4% sugar content. If you drink raw sap, it tastes like slightly sweet water. Sap is a delicate material that doesn't keep well. It is essentially a growth media. Every bacterium, mold spore, bug, mouse, squirrel, raccoon, and bear loves it. It spoils quickly so it is essential to keep it cold if you store it for more than several hours.

Crystal clear sap in the bucket

Large commercial syrup operations do not use buckets. They use tubing systems that tie all the tapped trees together. The tubing system is put under vacuum to increase sap yield. Sap is pumped from the tubing system through filters and an inline UV treatment unit to kill bacteria. They still have to manually tap the trees every year but the labor to collect their sap is minimal compared to traditional idiots like us.

Concentrating the Sap into Syrup

It takes 43 gallons of 2% sugar sap to make 1 gallon of 67% sugar maple syrup. So all we have to do is remove 42 gallons of water. Simple! For hundreds or maybe thousands of years, this has been done by boiling the crap out of the sap. Through the course of boiling, the sugars in the sap begin to get caramelized, which leads to that beautiful brown-gold color of finished syrup. In commercial operations today, they start by running the sap through a reverse osmosis unit that removes some of the water. And then they boil the crap out of it. When I made my first syrup out of a handful of taps, I put raw sap into a big pot on the stove and boiled it down, adding more sap as I went. I think I stood in front of that stove for 13 hours and made a couple pints of syrup. And then I was hooked. More on why later.

Our next step up the boiling efficiency ladder was to buy a used 36x36" stainless steel pan, about 6 inches deep. I built a fire box out of concrete block and rigged a 10 foot chimney out the back and a front door out of metal barn siding. It was sadly not as efficient as I hoped. We could boil off about 3-4 gallons of water per hour. That means 10+ hours of watching water boil to make 1 gallon of finished syrup. The pan did not have a draw off valve so as we boiled off water, we had to add more raw sap to the partially finished syrup. Repeated concentration changes and longer boil times with a purely batch evaporation like this leads to darker syrup, which is less highly valued.

Our next step up in production was to purchase an actual purpose-built maple syrup evaporator. We chose a "hobby" scale unit. Because $$. In this case, hobby means efficient enough to help you not lose your mind during the boil but forget about ever making money doing it. This unit is 18" wide by 4' long and we installed it in an end bay of our machine shed. Dirt floor, open front, 3 overhead lights -- nothing fancy. The flat bottomed pan is divided into 3 channels. The raw sap enters at the rear right of the pan, flows down the first channel towards the front of the pan, flows through a hole into the 2nd channel, travels back down towards the back, through another hole and into the third and final channel. There is a draw-off valve on the left side of the pan at the very front.

As the sap flows and boils through the evaporator pan, the sap is concentrated from 2% sugar to about 40% sugar. The unit can evaporate about 12 gallons of water per hour so in the evening hours between when I get home from work and going to bed, I can make 1 gallon of finished syrup per day. Since this unit does not have a syrup pan, we draw off the partially finished syrup and finish it in a big pot over a LP burner. As the sugar content climbs, the materials become much more susceptible to foaming up and pan scorching. The LP burner provides the finer control needed.

Hobby evaporator
The pot in back has a valve that drips raw sap
into the start of the evaporator run.

Finishing the nearly done syrup in a pot over an LP burner.

Some of you are probably saying you are sitting around watching water boil for hours at a time? That's boring. You are partially correct but there is a lot more to it than watching. You are constantly adding firewood to the firebox to keep a
consistent boil. You have to keep a consistent inflow of raw sap -- done annually on a hobby unit. And you have to mind your sugar content and guard against pan scorching and boil overs. So, when you are not busy doing these tasks, yes, you are watching water boil. For the record, the old wives' tale that a watched pot never boils is BS. Trust me on this. I pass the time by blasting every CD I own and every song on my phone through a little BlueTooth player with impressive sound for its size.

Sometimes, even that is not enough. Time dilation is one possible solution. If you could move yourself at relativistic speeds leaving the evaporator at rest, the boil would appear faster to you. However, you'd need a larger evaporator to pay for the energy needed to launch yourself at those speeds. Ahem. No, the best and cheapest method of time dilation is the application of the AOS Life Style. And by that, I mean the application of alcohol. To me, not the evaporator. After a few Valu-Rites, things seem move along right briskly.

Bottling the Syrup

Before you bottle, you need to know when the syrup is concentrated enough. A syrup hydrometer and hydrometer cup are the perfect tools for this. They cost about $20. I can't give you a temperature that corresponds to the right sugar concentration because the boiling point of any given liquid is a function of the ambient air pressure. Not only the difference due to altitude but the difference due to weather related barometric changes.

Syrup hydrometer with cup down below.
Measures sugar content by measuring fluid density at a given temperature.

After reaching 67% sugar, the finished syrup is poured through a flat filter plate into a small rectangular stainless steel tank. We use 2 layers of syrup filter felt stacked with several layers of paper pre-filter. As the pre-filters clog up, we peel off a layer and let it go on. The finished, filtered syrup is batched up in this tank until the end of the season. Come bottling time, the tank full of syrup is heated up to 200F to kill any molds or bacteria and the hot syrup is carefully drained into glass or plastic food grade containers designed and manufactured for syrup. The hot syrup kills any undesirables in the bottles as well. After capping, we invert the bottles until they cool to ensure the insides of the caps are sterilized as well.

When the Democrats were in charge of Wisconsin, they changed the laws on the books regarding syrup. To be able to sell your syrup retail or wholesale, you now have to have your operation inspected by the State and you must meet certain guidelines. One of which is no dirt floors, so I can't legally sell my syrup. We give it away to family and friends. It's at least theoretically possible we barter it for other stuff. Theoretically.

Why Do It?

I get asked a lot why I spend 20-30 hours per week this time of year making something I can't sell. There are several reasons:

We have the trees here and doing things that have been done for hundreds or thousands of years - in a traditional way - appeals to me.
I have done this for the last 17 years with my sons. I hope to do it with my grandkids.
Sex. Or at least the potential of it. When you are spending 4-12 hours a day in the evaporator room you come in the house smelling like wood smoke and maple syrup. I have it on very good authority that many women find this smell to be an aphrodisiac. Sadly for me, my wife does not fall into that distribution of women, but YMMV.
I spend hours every evening I boil sitting in the tailgate of my truck, drinking an adult beverage, watching the evaporator and the stars. I see more stars this time of year than the rest of my year combined. On St Patrick's Day this year, we were treated to the rare sight of the Northern Lights at 45N latitude. It was an awesome Irish green. Sounds like a country song doesn't it?
Social life. When I am boiling, I let my friends and family know. I often get visitors who come to hang out, listen to music, have a few drinks and generally enjoy the Outside.
What else would I do? I love to be Outside. This time of year, ice fishing is done, regular fishing isn't open and turkey season hasn't begun yet. There is snow and/or mud everywhere. Maple syrup season fills a niche for me and thousands of others in this way.

Notes

If you can't buy maple syrup in your area or if you want to try your hand at syruping yourself, I recommend visiting Roth Sugar Bush. You can buy syrup, maple sugar, maple cream, and maple candy plus all the equipment and supplies you will need. The folks that run this business are fantastic people that have taught me a lot over the years.

Recipes

Everyone knows that pure maple syrup is fantastic on pancakes and waffles. Just be sure to refrigerate the syrup after opening. There are no preservatives in it and at room temperature in your cupboard, mold spores will be on your syrup faster than a progressive journalist on a fake rape story.
A very simple way to enjoy maple syrup is to put it on ice cream. I prefer it on vanilla but the sky is the limit.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy syrup is to further concentrate it and coat it as a maple sugar glaze on walnuts. Dry 4 lbs of walnuts on cookie sheets in the oven at 150F. Getting all the water out keeps the nuts crunchy after glazing. Put 1 quart of maple syrup into a pot with plenty of head room for some foaming. Using a candy thermometer, heat the syrup to 40-45F past the
initial boiling point. As the syrup concentrates towards sugar, you will observe foaming. It is helpful to have a little melted butter on hand. If the foaming starts to get out of control, just drizzle a little of the butter in the pot. The fats help to slow down the foaming by modifying the local surface tension. Once you get to the correct temperature, remove the nuts from the oven, put them in a large bowl, and pour the boiling syrup over them. Toss the nuts well to get them all coated. As they cool, they will end up with this fantastic glaze of maple sugar. This recipe will work on any nut you prefer.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:00 PM

Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Thanks to Y-not for asking and CBD for hosting me.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:02 PM (1XuuE)

2 Maple Syrup is a great marinade for salmon, too. Nice article.

Posted by: Stephen at April 12, 2015 04:08 PM (5holV)

3 Would pulling a vacuum help to make the syrup quicker?

Posted by: toby928(C) whom we shall call 'Toby' for purposes of publication at April 12, 2015 04:08 PM (rwI+c)

4 I get the Vermont Country Store catalog every season. I drool over the maple syrup but the smallest jar they have is 8 oz and that is $15.

My wife brought back a small jug of maple syrup from a trip she made. She didn't tell me how much see paid for it and I didn't ask.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 04:11 PM (wlDny)

5 Can you make it into booze?

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 04:11 PM (iQIUe)

6 A delightful read, thank you.

Posted by: Piercello at April 12, 2015 04:12 PM (QJCCx)

7 Pulling a vacuum would lower the boiling temp so you would get to a boil faster and use less firewood. However, assuming a sufficient heat input, the rate limiting step will be the area available for the phase transition from liquid to gas.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:13 PM (1XuuE)

8 My high schools years were lived in a small village where the Rotary Club raised money by making Maple Syrup. It was volunteer labor; kids and adults. I fell off the truck once. Knowing how to fall is an important thing for young boys to learn at an early age.

There is no substitute for maple syrup or maple sugar. The commercial substitutes are no comparison to the real thing.

Posted by: Zephyer Springhill at April 12, 2015 04:13 PM (Gti3x)

9 "Can you make it into booze?"

Here, we have a nice garden thread and you go asking something like that.

(Yes.)

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 12, 2015 04:15 PM (8bFjg)

10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2AHvAOKzkk

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 12, 2015 04:15 PM (AVEe1)

11 Maple Syrup.

Is there anything it can't do?

There is some whiskey out there that has maple syrup flavoring. My brother in law told me how dangerous this is to drink, because it is smooth and doesn't bite at all. And tastes really good, and can get you drunk really fast.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....on a Sunday afternoon at April 12, 2015 04:16 PM (+1T7c)

12 My 14yo vegan daughter will accept nothing less than pure maple syrup.She may be on to something here, but a quart costs me $18!

Posted by: Chris M at April 12, 2015 04:16 PM (6RZos)

13 Bruce J, you could throw yeast into it and it will ferment for sure. There is so much sugar in it that even wine yeast would die off prior to completion. I'd recommend diluting it 2-3x before adding yeast.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:17 PM (1XuuE)

14 Even at Costco the Maple syrup is about $15 a container and I'm not sure if adulterated or not. I know it's not the highest quality but it's better than aunt jemima.

Posted by: lindafell is Cruzin' at April 12, 2015 04:17 PM (xVgrA)

15 I love real maple syrup. Question, does taking the sap stunt the tree?

Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:17 PM (rEe5u)

16 Curse you pancreatic-normative bigots and your hate.

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 04:18 PM (yxw0r)

17 I have always wanted to coat my nuts with maple. Thanks for the recipe.

Posted by: Denver at April 12, 2015 04:19 PM (5+NlB)

18 I had also read that for the most flavor, get Grade B syrup

Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:20 PM (rEe5u)

19 Very interesting article and as far as "Why I do it"
It sounds great!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 12, 2015 04:20 PM (DXzRD)

20 >Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:17 PM (rEe5u)<

This has been studied extensively, especially since the commercial operators started putting all their sap lines under vacuum to increase sap yields. The research showed that the more sap was taken, the faster the trees grew.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:22 PM (TYUPH)

21 Yum! There's really no comparison between true maple syrup and "pancake syrup".

Posted by: Lauren at April 12, 2015 04:24 PM (MYCIw)

22 The research showed that the more sap was taken, the faster the trees grew.

Posted by: Muad'dib

Thank you.

I was at a flea market in Wisconsin one time. Somebody was selling shagbark hickory syrup. Since I have them in my yard, I gave it a try. Not a strong flavor but nice. He was going on about how pure his product was. I bought some, but did not read the label until I got home.

Bastard put in HFCS.

Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:25 PM (rEe5u)

23 What the hell?

Posted by: Mrs. Butterworth at April 12, 2015 04:26 PM (F2IAQ)

24 Great article! Thanks Muad'dib, Y-not, and CBD.

Posted by: doug at April 12, 2015 04:27 PM (DTQXN)

25 OT - but where is the "federal government is taking that much of my earnings" thread. I feel like it should be an ongoing open thread for the month of April (er, year).

Posted by: SH at April 12, 2015 04:27 PM (8Hjvl)

26 Great, now I am jonesing for maple sugar candy and the odds of finding that in CaCa are slim to none. mmmmmmmm, best thing in the whole wide world, though, when it comes to sweets.

Posted by: Peaches at April 12, 2015 04:28 PM (EgOr3)

27 >Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:25 PM (rEe5u)<

Never heard of hickory syrup. I have had birch syrup up in Alaska. I wasn't thrilled with it.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:28 PM (TYUPH)

28 I hate maple syrup.

I like sauerkraut on my bran waffles, though it gives me gas.

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at April 12, 2015 04:30 PM (RpVHi)

29 I like sauerkraut on my bran waffles, though it gives me gas.

Posted by: Hillary Clinton

Answering the phone from a foreign country probably gives you gas.

Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:31 PM (rEe5u)

30

Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:32 PM (rEe5u)

31 When I bought my little acre in the north woods, there were Red Maple growing like weeds. I cleaned up most of the trash that I could, and thought about planting sugar maple. Of course I grew too old too fast. Farming is a young man's game, but I've never understood how a couple of kids just out of high school could afford to inherit the family farm, let along buy one.

Posted by: Zephyer Springhill at April 12, 2015 04:32 PM (Gti3x)

32 I like sauerkraut on my bran waffles, though it gives me gas.

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at April 12, 2015 04:30 PM (RpVHi)

And how.

Posted by: Huma at April 12, 2015 04:33 PM (yxw0r)

33 As a kid, we would make syrup for Saturday waffles from water and dark brown sugar. Boil the water down and add a pat of butter before serving. We thought it was pretty good.

Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:34 PM (rEe5u)

34
We did our own syrup when I was a kid. It was my job to keep the fire going, run sap in from the tree, etc.

Something to do, if there's snow handy, is pour off some of the finished syrup on it.

A maple sno-cone, if you would.

Posted by: irongrampa at April 12, 2015 04:35 PM (jeCnD)

35 I love maple syrup but you can still get authentic cane syrup from the IGA here. I like that on occasion as well. When I was a kid we used to get some homemade from a grand uncle who had a farm and an old grinding mill stone pulled by a mule where he would crush sugar cane he grew and make cane syrup.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 04:36 PM (wlDny)

36 I get to hang out in a barn...all day, cook stuff...make something that tastes good and get drunk?

This is why I smoke meats in the fall.

Posted by: Sam in Va at April 12, 2015 04:38 PM (bpLqa)

37 Well you learn something new just about every day here at the HQ. Great article (and funny). Good job Muad.

Posted by: HH at April 12, 2015 04:39 PM (Ce4DF)

38 As a kid my dad and I would eat cottage cheese with dark Karo syrup on it. I loved it then. Tried it a while ago and not so much.

Posted by: Bruce at April 12, 2015 04:41 PM (rEe5u)

39
Anybody make their own apple cider - alcoholic and/or non alcoholic?

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 04:43 PM (iQIUe)

40 Thanks HH!

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:46 PM (1XuuE)

41 No maple sap here in the Pacific Northwest but I am as I write this, sitting on my tailgate with a peppery Punch Rothschild and a delightful adult beverage.
Love me some Outside!

Posted by: Diogenes at April 12, 2015 04:47 PM (08Znv)

42 John Ringo made a great best-selling series based on how maple syrup saved the Earth. Well, the later books are a little more about free market vs. the Galaxy, but it starts with one man using his knowledge of maple syrup to save his planet.

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1439133328/1439133328.htm?blurb

Posted by: doug at April 12, 2015 04:48 PM (3AvPP)

43 The syrup must flow!

Hi Muad'dib!

Posted by: EC at April 12, 2015 04:48 PM (cJ1t+)

44 Hey EC!

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:50 PM (1XuuE)

45 Long time....

Got a new job that's a bunch of travel. That's why I haven't been around lately. Hopefully I still get time off!

Posted by: EC at April 12, 2015 04:51 PM (cJ1t+)

46 Like the new gig?

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:52 PM (1XuuE)

47 Thanks to all involved for this great thread. Maple syrup has always been a staple in my family. When I was very young we received a box with a few 1 gallon cans of maple syrup. A great or great-great, uncle made it up in Quebec. My Dad and each of his siblings got such a parcel. That was over half a century ago and the people and land are long gone. But I have those sweet childhood memories.

We would add it to oatmeal, ice cream, or stir it into milk. It was probably the inspiration for me learning to make the world's best pancakes, IMHO. (But it's true.)

By the way, we got some syrup from the folks mentioned. REALLY good stuff and reasonably priced compared to supermarket prices.

Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 04:53 PM (FvdPb)

48 So, Maud'dib, does the FDA, EPA, revenuers, et al, come by and check on you regularly?

Posted by: olddog in mo at April 12, 2015 04:54 PM (3eZI/)

49 42
John Ringo made a great best-selling series based on how maple syrup
saved the Earth. Well, the later books are a little more about free
market vs. the Galaxy, but it starts with one man using his knowledge of
maple syrup to save his planet.

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1439133328/1439133328.htm?blurb

Posted by: doug at April 12, 2015 04:48 PM (3AvPP)

Love that book. You should post that on the book thread. One commentor was posting that there was no good "male" oriented SF anymore. I recommend he check out John Ringo.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 04:54 PM (wlDny)

50 Old dog, no one hassles me since I don't sell it.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:55 PM (1XuuE)

51 Great read. Thanks for taking the time, Muad'dib.

Posted by: shredded chi at April 12, 2015 04:55 PM (l1iXB)

52 Thanks shredded chi. I had a blast writing it.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:57 PM (1XuuE)

53 Many new syrup machines.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 12, 2015 04:58 PM (W5DcG)

54 Nice piece.

When my folks were living in Vermont, there was a little general store near their place that used to sell maple butter along with maple syrup, maple candy, etc.

Maple butter on waffles ....mmmmmmm.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 12, 2015 05:00 PM (g1DWB)

55 that's the best of all the many articles I've ever read on the subject of maple syrup making! Ok, I haven't read very many, but still....

We used to make syrup at our high school as a kid, located in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio (though handy to lots of maples). Some of the parents got together and built a syrup shed with a nice sized hobby evaporator, and this time of year we collected sap in the stub-end of the afternoon and then making syrup on the weekends. Beer might sometimes surreptitiously have been involved. Nowadays, the cops would shut it down for unlicensed food packing and underage labor, not to mention the beer, but in those less government days we enjoyed ourselves immensely and all the parents got a little maple syrup out of the deal.

Posted by: MTF at April 12, 2015 05:01 PM (FCsIb)

56 >>>I like sauerkraut on my bran waffles, though it gives me gas.
Posted by: Hillary Clinton<<<

Great, Hillary squeaking her flappers is not a visual I needed. Ever.

Posted by: Fritz at April 12, 2015 05:01 PM (ty633)

57 Of course, now I'm in the mood for some of that Crown Royal Maple...
I also need to try that Royal Apple - ive heard it's delicious. Anyone tried that yet?

Posted by: shredded chi at April 12, 2015 05:02 PM (l1iXB)

58 I have frequently been known to risk offending southerners by adding maple syrup to grits.

Posted by: Just A Guy at April 12, 2015 05:02 PM (CGzAz)

59 How's it taste on fried chicken with waffles?

Posted by: olddog in mo at April 12, 2015 05:04 PM (3eZI/)

60 JTB, care to share the pancake recipe?

Posted by: FCF at April 12, 2015 05:05 PM (kejii)

61 I have a copy of the sugaring book by the Nearings. Free, so I picked it up. Haven't read it because I now know what raging lefties (and fibbers about their lifestyle) they were.

We have maples in the PNW--one in our front yard. But they are mostly big leaf maples and I don't think we get cold enough temps for a good sap flow. I just by the stuff whenever I can.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 12, 2015 05:08 PM (Lqy/e)

62 >>I also need to try that Royal Apple - ive heard it's delicious. Anyone tried that yet?

Posted by: shredded chi

Pretty good.

Posted by: Aviator at April 12, 2015 05:08 PM (sQzB6)

63 I know this is the food thread, but I just had to post this from the "Daily Mail"

"Clinton's press office left an embarrassing typo in its press announcement, saying that she had 'fought children and families all her career."

LOL. Whoops!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 12, 2015 05:09 PM (DXzRD)

64 I have a ginormous maple tree in the back yard that probably measures four feet in diameter at the base. At least 100 years old, I bet.
Always wanted to try tapping it & making a small batch of syrup.
Does any kind of maple tree work?
Don't have a clue what kind this is - leaves turns yellow in the fall, and the wood makes for good smoking is all I know.

Posted by: shredded chi at April 12, 2015 05:10 PM (l1iXB)

65 One of the very few things I miss after moving to Israel. We had a few 100+ year old sugar maples on our land in MA and did a 3-4 gallons of syrup every year.

For the low budget aficionado, you can use a 1 gallon milk jug instead of the tin bucket. Just cut a small hole under the neck to slip over the tap. I would put a large stock pot of sap on top of the wood stove and just do it slowly over the course of a week.

The first tap (usually the lightest) would come out looking like scotch and tasted just about as good...almost makes me miss snow and chipping ice out of the goats water buckets...

Posted by: John at April 12, 2015 05:10 PM (bdPQK)

66 Syrup? Wisconsin?

Come to Vermont and we'll show you how it's done.

Posted by: Captain Ned at April 12, 2015 05:11 PM (WI6nT)

67 Shredded chi, any maple will work. You could put 4 taps in a tree that size.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 05:11 PM (1XuuE)

68 When my mother was growing up, someone spilled a bottle of Mapleine (a flavoring used to make imitation maple syrup) into a drawer in the kitchen. We always had real maple syrup because of her aversion to the fake stuff. Of course, it was too expensive to use every day.

Fenugreek can be used to make imitation maple flavoring. I never tried to introduce fenugreek in any form to my mother.

Posted by: KT at April 12, 2015 05:16 PM (qahv/)

69 Where's the gum tree thread?

Posted by: Tootless Geezer at April 12, 2015 05:17 PM (ervJW)

70
This year I was going to make my own syrup. That was before four consecutive weeks of snow storms whose drifts prevented me from getting to my shack which has the wood stove.

The one to forty reduction explains why the stuff is so expensive. The energy to boil off so much water costs a small fortune.

Posted by: Levin at April 12, 2015 05:18 PM (6pgRO)

71 Amazing shit. I remember as a Boy Scout in NJ going through all this.

I was amazed at how much you had to cook off.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 05:18 PM (0FSuD)

72 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 04:54 PM (wlDny)

That was probably me. I've read just about everything John Ringo's written.

But he's a proven source. I'm more reluctant to try new authors because so many are "tainted" and it costs too much to make a mistake.

Like wine. I love wine but don't buy much because so much of what I've bought sucked.

Plus there just about aren't any book stores any more and what there are don't stock much SciFi and what they do stock is 70% fantasy and and and and

But I used to buy a book every week or so. I read a LOT. That started to slow down when the choices became limited or unappetizing.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 05:18 PM (zRby/)

73 Speaking of gardening, TB fragged the main drive belt today just as I got started mowing. $30 of partstree.com but I'm a gonna have to tear the seat, sitting deck off and re-install. Done it before.

Now, to weed eat swaths of the yard so it's not totally out of control.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 12, 2015 05:22 PM (8bFjg)

74 Fun to learn how the real stuff is made. I remember reading a story as a child about a youngster left alone in the sugar shack with boiling sap that began to boil over.

Attempting to scoop some of it out, she used a pitcher which. to her surprise, contained a little cream. The cream stopped the boil-over, youngster was a hero. Cream in maple syrup is tasty, too. I imaging you couldn't sell the syrup after adding cream, though.

Posted by: KT at April 12, 2015 05:22 PM (qahv/)

75 So, if one was so inclined to inquire about trading 'things' for some of your maple syrup...

Interested in mahogany?

I have various widths, thicknesses and lengths with planed finishes to 4x4 posts. Some of the bigger pieces might be problematic to ship and I still have tools that I can use to cut to specified dimensions.

I'm not sayin' this stuff is from Brazil but I remember wandering around on the dock in Pensacola where they were unloading logs off a freighter from Brazil and selecting several, then taking them to a sawmill to have it cut. This was back in the dark ages, better known as 1973.

PS... That sure does sound like fun, nothing better than staring at the stars and sipping a few beverages while making it.

I can be found in the Yahoo group where all the cool kids hang out.

Posted by: Gmac- Pulling in feelers in preperation... at April 12, 2015 05:23 PM (4CRfK)

76 I remember all night boiling parties at a friend sugar house. Drinking beer and boiling eggs and hotdogs in the sap. I had an acquaintance who used to make sap beer. Tasted moonshine made from sap recently. It's true it goes down easy. Maybe too easy.

Posted by: deepred at April 12, 2015 05:26 PM (xv5cf)

77 72 Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 05:18 PM (zRby/)

It was Rolf.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 05:28 PM (wlDny)

78 Interesting and good post. I adore real maple syrup. One of the ways I love to use it, besides pancakes, is to drizzle it on my cold cereal. Tastes a whole lot better than plain sugar. But then again, I could eat real maple syrup right off the spoon.

Posted by: Lady in Black at April 12, 2015 05:29 PM (ff2V2)

79 Over in the part of the Wisconsin northwoods where my cabin is (and the lake ice is totally disappearing today) we got to every farmer's market and local fair we can find all summer to but just tow things: Local maple syrup, and raw, unfiltered honey. We have a treasure trove of both stashed in a closet.

Great Lakes Distillery in M'waukee makes a rum that is finished with real maple syrup. It is very smooth, too smooth, in fact. It goes down so easily that two hours half of the bottle is gone and you can't get your feet synchronized.

Thanks for the great post.

Posted by: Michael Haz at April 12, 2015 05:30 PM (HjVfL)

80 60 ... FCF, I start with the standard recipe in the 1981 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, page 88. Probably every household has one.

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsps. sugar
2 tsps. baking powder
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
1 tbsp. cooking oil (I use canola)

My variation:
3 tbsps. sugar
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk
2 tbsps. cooking oil
freshly grated nutmeg (to taste)
a sprinkle of cinnamon
a tbspn. of GOOD vanilla extract

This makes a thinner batter which is what I want. I ladle the batter into the preheated pan and gently swirl it to make the equivalent of a thick crepe. They cook quickly and completely this way, never any raw batter taste. The thinner cake lets the other flavors come through.

The same recipe has a variation for buckwheat pancakes, which I love. I follow the same procedure but substitute 1/2 a cup of buckwheat flour for part of the AP flour.

Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 05:32 PM (FvdPb)

81 Muad-dib, thank you for writing this. Absolutely fascinating, and appeals to my sense of "take care of ourselves-ism!" It's also awesome to keep this skill alive, in an environment that wants to technologically enhance everything. Some of the old ways are pretty okay.

Posted by: Moki at April 12, 2015 05:33 PM (x303I)

82 Mapleine, why can't you be true?

Posted by: KT at April 12, 2015 05:40 PM (qahv/)

83 Sadly, we diabetics have to make due with the sugar free phony stuff. Great article - thanks!

Posted by: TexasJew at April 12, 2015 05:41 PM (hpmES)

84 Hillary has fought syrup all of her life.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 12, 2015 05:42 PM (W5DcG)

85 I made maple syrup at home many years ago.

We had a sugar maple on our property.

Took all day and didn't get much, but it was the best syrup I ever had.

Just fantastic.

Posted by: eman at April 12, 2015 05:42 PM (MQEz6)

86 82 Mapleine, why can't you be true?

Posted by: KT
-------------------------
Hah!
Get out of my head! I've been singing that for half an hour.

Posted by: shredded chi at April 12, 2015 05:50 PM (l1iXB)

87 Oh lordy just found a can of V8 juice that I had forgotten about. Expiration date?

2010.

Not sure if I even want to open it to dump it down the drain.

Posted by: HH at April 12, 2015 05:50 PM (Ce4DF)

88 I love the fact that you were able to work sex into that.

Posted by: joncelli at April 12, 2015 05:51 PM (ENczY)

89 Thanks JTB, will try that out! I normally cheat and use krusteaz mix most of the time. I cook meat and veggies great but bread types are rough for me. NOONE will let me attempt biscuits or bread anymore!! Lol

Posted by: FCF at April 12, 2015 05:52 PM (kejii)

90 'Oh lordy just found a can of V8 juice that I had forgotten about. Expiration date.'

Be careful. I had a can of V8 blow up on me. I thought for a second I had been shot.

Posted by: Munchkins everywhere at April 12, 2015 05:53 PM (JdEZJ)

91 Off tiny sock

Posted by: freaked at April 12, 2015 05:54 PM (JdEZJ)

92 The taps in my sink run hot and cold maple syrup.

Posted by: Elizabeth Warren at April 12, 2015 05:59 PM (XrHO0)

93 Yes, thank you to all for this great article! Really interesting and now I want waffles and bacon. One of my favorite chapters in Little House in the Big Woods was sugar maple time. I so wanted to pour the syrup in the snow like Laura and Mary and make soft maple candy. When we would go up to WI for vacation when I was a kid they sold maple sugar candy in the shape of pilgrims and Indians. Doubt they do that now!

Posted by: Gem at April 12, 2015 06:01 PM (c+gwp)

94 Oh lordy just found a can of V8 juice that I had forgotten about. Expiration date? 2010. Not sure if I even want to open it to dump it down the drain. Posted by: HH at April 12, 2015 05:50

Last month I made rotel dip with can dated 2009. It was fine (still alive.) Just lost some color.

Posted by: olddog in mo at April 12, 2015 06:01 PM (3eZI/)

95 >>>this has been done by boiling the crap out of the sap.

I've been grilled, but never boiled.

Posted by: Joe Biden at April 12, 2015 06:04 PM (XrHO0)

96 Great post on maple syrup. Muad'dib, Y-not and CBD!
I recalla lot of maple syrup-related itemswhen I attended the Quebec City Winter Carnival, such as maple syrup snowcones (yes, REALLY yummy).

Posted by: Lizzy[i/] at April 12, 2015 06:06 PM (2TN4k)

97
Can you make it into booze?
Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 04:11 PM (iQIUe)

Yes, there are places on the internet that talk about it
or
You can always buy Sortilege which is a Canadian Whiskey/maple syrup liqueur.

(Only 60 proof. too. Quebeckers must think we drink for the taste)

Posted by: Kindltot at April 12, 2015 06:06 PM (t//F+)

98 Food thread ha? I'm still in Portsmouth and I'm headed to Virginia Beach for dinner to git me some fish

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 12, 2015 06:10 PM (plDPx)

99 OT Alert

Air Brushed pic of Hilllary at Huffpuss

"Hillary Goes All In "

That would be Sloppy Seconds After (Jug Ears) with a Giant Strap on for Mr Public

Posted by: Sloppy Seconds After obozo at April 12, 2015 06:11 PM (/WmRg)

100 Hillary's logo points from left to right. Is that symbolic?
https://twitter.com/jtLOL/status/587349251706916865/photo/1

Posted by: docweasel at April 12, 2015 06:13 PM (0r/VP)

101 Posted by: olddog in mo at April 12, 2015 06:01 PM (3eZI/)

All things considered, canned food does indeed last far longer than the printed outdate. Just not sure about this. And it's the large one.

Speaking of which, I can't believe how Lays has pushed down the size of their potato chip bags. Just the other day I wanted to buy some BBQ chips, and the normal size that I used to buy is now 'Family Size'. And the normal size? Half the size of what you used to get.

Man this is getting bad...

Posted by: HH at April 12, 2015 06:14 PM (Ce4DF)

102 Sorry about the Mapleine, chi.

Here's a tune to replace it: The Maple Leaf Rag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fagH03fxY7c

Posted by: KT at April 12, 2015 06:15 PM (qahv/)

103 Great post, Muad'dib!

So if I read that right, there is some hope that the spindly red maple in my front yard might produce a teaspoon of syrup someday. Down here in LA... ;-)

Posted by: Spun and Murky at April 12, 2015 06:17 PM (4DCSq)

104 101 Man this is getting bad...

Posted by: HH at April 12, 2015 06:14 PM (Ce4DF)

Everything is doing that. I keep track of calories and cholesterol using a cookbook program. I am having to re-input sized and weights for most of the products. Also, I have three different versions of the famous Betty Crocker cookbook. It is interesting to see the changes in standard can sizes over the decades.

But there is no inflation.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 06:18 PM (wlDny)

105 65 One of the very few things I miss after moving to Israel.
Posted by: John at April 12, 2015 05:10 PM (bdPQK)

Why did you move to Israel?

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 06:19 PM (iQIUe)

106 Tasty glazed maple pecan cookies:

http://tinyurl.com/kq24dm3

Posted by: Lizzy[i/] at April 12, 2015 06:20 PM (2TN4k)

107 105 Bruce J

> Why did you move to Israel?

Why not?

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

Posted by: speedster1 on the ipad at April 12, 2015 06:21 PM (1brdf)

108 But there is no inflation.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 06:18 PM (wlDny)

*********

It's all part of my plan to eliminate obesity.

Posted by: Moochelle Obama at April 12, 2015 06:23 PM (cIoI4)

109 FCF, Hope the recipe works for you. One advantage of the thinner pancakes is they soak up less syrup. I have mild diabetes and can't drown stuff anymore but my thick crepes let me get plenty of flavor with a lot less syrup. I also warm the syrup so it goes farther.

A lesson from my grandmother. She was the last generation of nearly 300 years of Quebec farmers. (That must have been a tough gig.) In season, she would put a layer of fresh blueberries between each pancake along with a pat of butter. Then each stack would be topped with a fried egg, sunny side up. I can assure you that it still works.

Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 06:23 PM (FvdPb)

110 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 06:18 PM (wlDny)

I was over visiting my sisters this morning, and talking about it. One of them pulled out a box of fig-newtons and I couldn't believe how small they were.

We were also talking about eggs, and they both said that in a couple of years a carton of eggs will be 10 instead of 12.

No doubt in my mind.

And yeah, no inflation...

Posted by: HH at April 12, 2015 06:25 PM (Ce4DF)

111 "Hillary!!! She wasn't *quite* ready for that 3am phone call from Benghazi... but this time... She is!!!"

Posted by: goatexchange at April 12, 2015 06:26 PM (C+vOU)

112 Hillary still as sexy as ever.

Posted by: Harold and Muade'dib at April 12, 2015 06:28 PM (XrHO0)

113 nood

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 06:29 PM (wlDny)

114 Bruce J, I press my own apples for juice. I borrowed a press and I am looking at making my own. I don't brew cider.
I can it in quart jars, but I am in the process of picking up a couple-dozen syrup bottles from a cafe to see if I can bottle it in 750ml bottles with corks.

The jars are free, and I can bum a corker, and if I fail, well, my problem is shortage of jars, not apples.

I do the unmentionable and just hot-water bath can for about 10 minutes instead of carefully bringing it the pasteurization temperature to avoid activating the pectin, but what the heck, it just stays cloudy.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 12, 2015 06:31 PM (t//F+)

115 So, where is Usul, the Muad'dib, the mouse? We are truly doomed. It is by will alone that Hillary sets my mind in motion. I think that her name is a killing word. Better plant a thumper, soon. What a Harkonnen she is. Just go ahead an pull my heart plug right now, you dirty witch.

Posted by: goon at April 12, 2015 06:32 PM (A53Jp)

116 Half the size of what you used to get. Man this is getting bad...

Posted by: HH at April 12, 2015 06:14 PM

Boiling frog and all that.

Posted by: olddog in mo at April 12, 2015 06:33 PM (3eZI/)

117 Posted by: Kindltot at April 12, 2015 06:31 PM (t//F+)

Shdn't you have some fermented for, you know, medicinal purposes?

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 06:35 PM (iQIUe)

118 Bruce, I don't really drink anymore. I even quit smoking.
I have been talking with a friend who is working up a business plan to make a craft distillery because I was trying to get him interested in making applejack or calvados.
But personally, no, I only drink cheap rum, and that sparingly.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 12, 2015 06:41 PM (t//F+)

119 "When the Democrats were in charge of Wisconsin, they changed the laws on the books regarding syrup."

Democrats. Is there anything they can't f-up?

Posted by: AshevilleRobert at April 12, 2015 06:42 PM (Wo9OY)

120 Oops I'm late to the party but thanks Muad'dib for this great post!

Living here in the People's Republic of Illinois Commies and Crooks, we are blessed with an abundance of Wisconsin's real maple syrup. And raw honey. As someone mentioned above, we do the same thing in the fall and drive to the roadside farmstands for both.

Posted by: Boots at April 12, 2015 06:51 PM (l9mF2)

121 Good tip on refrigerating the syrup. My sister brings us some from VT and my better half insisted it should not be refrigerated. A few months later. Voila! Growing all kinds of cool stuff. He learned his lesson.

Posted by: keena at April 12, 2015 06:52 PM (RiTnx)

122 1 Muad'dib at April 12, 2015

Thank you so much. And the recipes are great. Looks like I can now make some even better pancakes.

I officially deny that I've used real maple syrup, just a little dab, on my chest to do some aromatherapy magic for my wife.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 12, 2015 06:57 PM (u82oZ)

123 Thank you for this very smart and scientific blog post - everyone who reads it is smarter than before, or too stupid to begin with.
BRAVO all, and super nice pictures and math too!

Posted by: MoJoTee at April 12, 2015 06:57 PM (aR8Ih)

124 This is one of the best reads ever on AOSHQ.

Posted by: Michael the Hobbit at April 12, 2015 07:12 PM (0RdKg)

125 No offense to Ace or anybody else, but this is the most enjoyable thing I've ever read on AoS. Kudos!

Posted by: Steve Picray at April 12, 2015 08:30 PM (N1yvt)

126 Extremely good read.
One little known fact is one of the first dishes the pilgrims learned from the Indians was baked bean.
Dried beans, salt, deer or beaver fat, wild onions, and maple syrup or maple sugar in water. Mixed and put in an underground oven all night to bake. Originally eaten with corn tortillas , later corn bread which was quickly adopted by the Indians and is still a favorite to this day.
Of course baked beans is the regional dish of New England.,

Posted by: Pat at April 12, 2015 08:32 PM (nwnmt)

127 I've long proclaimed 'tis a rare day that I don't learn something. Lots of learning here. Even though I grew up in Wisconsin, I never looked into this part of it all.

Great article.

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at April 12, 2015 08:48 PM (TqyFL)

128 >>> I had also read that for the most flavor, get Grade B syrup

That's what we buy. Lots of flavor, with a hint of tannins.

Posted by: fluffy at April 12, 2015 09:24 PM (Ua6T/)

129 Fluffy, grade B syrup is the best to use for the glazed but recipe. The more robust flavor compliments the nut flavor better.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 09:40 PM (1XuuE)

130 thank you for that article. Sometimes I feel like a worthless sort of coot after reading of others' skills and adventures.

Posted by: Jinx the Cat at April 12, 2015 10:03 PM (l3vZN)

131 Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 04:02 PM (1XuuE)

Very interesting read. Now I know what my fellow cheeseheads are doing Up North when they can't ice fish and it's too early to rent out cabins to the city folk.

Posted by: Donna &&&&&& V. (brandishing ampersands) at April 12, 2015 10:13 PM (+XMAD)

132 Hey Donna. Just keeping out of trouble.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 10:17 PM (1XuuE)

133 I saw Sore Ass Shoulders open for Fresh Hot Maple Syrup at His Mansion Ministries in Hillsboro, NH in 1997.

That looks like the same rig we used, but smaller.

Posted by: taqiyyologist at April 12, 2015 10:38 PM (ZDQKW)

134 So, uh, as one of the resident foodies, I sure could find some delicious ways to use real maple syrup. I also love to barter. I also make peanut butter cookies that may just make you forget every other peanut butter cookie you've ever had. And those are really easy to ship... IYKWIMAITYD

It was a really nicely written read, and no, I'm not just saying that. I'm always interested in how the products I use come to be, and it's great when I can get a well-written, interesting article explaining it. I had no idea that the syrup comes out clear, but it makes a lot of sense considering the caramelization process. Homemade caramel is lovely, but only when it's done properly and the sugars aren't burnt- which is not hard to do. I don't even like to make dry caramel because of that, but it's delicious when I do!

Posted by: lickylicky at April 12, 2015 10:43 PM (em74m)

135 Thanks for a beautiful article, Muad'dib! Yes, there's no substitute for real maple syrup on pancakes waffles. And the maple candy...oh, myyyy!!

Posted by: JewishOdysseus (@JewishOdysseus) at April 12, 2015 11:18 PM (FWwQD)

136 Licky and JO, thank you for your kind words! Every time I go to Roth's I buy maple candy. I haven't tried to make it myself yet.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 12, 2015 11:53 PM (1XuuE)

137 Cool post

Posted by: The Jackhole somewhere on Ventura Highway at April 13, 2015 01:14 AM (dULJN)

138 I make a bourbon maple candy out of it. About half and half of each, and boil it down. Depending on how far, depends on the sort of candy. I wouldn't boil it down to hard crack stage though. I like the soft chewy version. Yum.

Posted by: Lee at April 13, 2015 06:54 AM (lB0R0)

139 I was raised on Squier's maple syrup from Vermont. The Squiers were friends with my grandmother and sent her syrup and candy every year.I didn't realize how good I had it until into my adult years, I had some commercial "pancake syrup" Yuck!
Now being a type Ii diabetic, straight sugar is a rare thing so I'm able to pick the absolute finest syrup. I never regret it.

Posted by: Max Entropy at April 13, 2015 11:57 AM (cgtTL)

140 Love maple syrup, what a treat to read about it. I will surely try those maple glazed nuts.

Posted by: venus velvet at April 13, 2015 06:46 PM (g94P/)

141 The soft and durability of Nike footwear are the very best two characteristics which are manufactured stylists. Due to the fact they don't know how to pick a pair of shoe, just working shoes seems unsuit.

Cheap adidas adipure

Posted by: MichaelDuef at April 17, 2015 09:54 AM (PrBQ3)

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