Sugaring or the art of obtaining maple syrup has been practiced for thousands of years. Many argue that done once, it will be done again forever. Read how to learn how to turn your maple sap into a super sweet syrup.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Engrave the Trees
Step 1. Check that the trees are ready to be engraved
The right season is during spring, when the night temperature is below freezing and the days begin to warm up. In this way, the sap begins to flow into the trees.
The season ends when this temperature alternation ceases. The sap darkens and, if harvested at the end of the season, it will have little sugar and a not very tasty flavor
Step 2. Choose the trees
There are various types of maples. Each has a different amount of sugar: the higher it is, the better. Maple has the highest sugar content ever. You can recognize it by the five-pointed leaves. A tree should usually be at least 26 centimeters in diameter before being engraved.
Step 3. Buy the 'taps'
They are also called 'thorns'. The easiest way to find them is online. Most thorns are the same but the method of harvesting can vary. Determine the style you want to adopt: a bag, an attached bucket, a bucket on the ground, a network of pipes (usually used by experts). If you don't want to buy a special pail, the milk pail will be fine. Avoid the network of pipes if this is your first time.
Step 4. Engrave the tree and insert the plug
Make a hole in the side of the bark where there is more light, above a large root or under a large branch. The hole must be the right size for the plug; furthermore, it must be between 30 and 120 cm from the ground and must be 1, 25 cm longer than the spine. It is better to drill the hole at a certain angle rather than straight.
- An electric drill will be fine.
- You could also hack with a hammer and nail which you will then remove.
Step 5. Attach the collector
Better to cover it to prevent rain and insects from falling into it.
Step 6. Engrave several trees
130 liters of sap yields only 3 liters of syrup, which is why it costs a lot when you buy it. If you are a beginner, start with 7 or 10 trees, so that you get about 36 liters of each tree each season, so you will end up with a few liters of syrup.
Step 7. Collect the lymph
Over the course of the weeks, check the collectors every two to three days. Transfer the sap to sealed buckets or other large containers. Keep collecting sap until the season ends. You are now ready to turn it into syrup.
Method 2 of 3: Boil the Sap
Step 1. Filter it
If you have a small amount of sap, the simplest thing is to filter it with a coffee filter. It is the only way to remove sediment, insects or twigs. You can also remove bits of debris with a spoon. The sap will be filtered again once boiled.
Step 2. Make a fire to boil the sap
The syrup is created by removing the water from the sap, so that only the sugar remains. The sap contains about 2% sugar. You can use an evaporator, which is a dedicated machine for this task, or cheaper alternatives, such as a nice lively fire (you can also boil it on the stove but it will steam so much that your home will soak). To make an outdoor fire follow these instructions:
- Get 20-gallon or larger pots.
- Dig a hole in the ground where you want to make the fire.
- Build a brick base around the hole. It will need to be wide enough to accommodate all the pots. Place a grate on which to place the pots, leaving enough space underneath to light the fire.
- Assemble the wood and light the fire under the grate.
Step 3. Pour the sap into the pots
Fill them about 3/4 full. The flames should lick the bottom of the pots and gently bring the sap to a boil. As the water evaporates, slowly add more sap. Continue like this, feeding the fire and adding more sap until the pots are half full.
- The boiling process can take several hours and you can't take breaks until you finish or burn the syrup. The fire needs to be strong enough to keep a constant boil and you need to keep adding sap as the level goes down - even if it means staying up all night.
- You can hang a coffee jar with a handle on the pot. Make a hole in the bottom so the sap will gradually drain. This way you won't have to check the lymph level all the time.
Step 4. Check the temperature
When you're done adding sap and the remaining liquid starts to drop, use a candy thermometer to check the temperature. It should be around 100 ° C when boiling, but once it evaporates the water will rise. Remove the liquid from the heat when it reaches 150 ° C.
- If you remove the syrup too late, it will thicken too much or, worse, burn, so be very careful at this stage.
- If you want to better control the temperature, you can finish cooking at home.
Method 3 of 3: Complete the Syrup Preparation
Step 1. Filter the syrup
When the sap boils, it produces nitrate or "sugar sand". The nitrate will remain on the bottom of the pot if you don't filter. With this operation, in addition to removing it, it will also eliminate other substrates that may have entered the syrup, such as ash or insects. Place a few pieces of cheesecloth on a large bowl and pour the syrup; you may need to repeat the filtration before removing the nitrate completely.
- Strain the syrup while it is hot enough or it will stick to the cheesecloth.
- There are also special cotton filters online that do not absorb syrup.
Step 2. Pour the syrup into sterile containers
Glass jars are fine or you can recycle those where there was previously a purchased syrup, just boil them. Put the lid on as soon as you have filled the jars.
Step 3. Remove the thorns from the trees at the end of the season
Do not plug the holes, they will close naturally.
Advice
- Carving and putting the thorn does not damage trees: hundreds of liters of sap flow inside and about 38 liters will come out of an average thorn in a year.
- The evaporator is the fastest, cleanest and most effective way to boil the sap even if it is quite expensive.
- If you need to keep the syrup read this article: How to Prepare Preserves.
- At the start of each season, the sugar will be "strong" or "too sweet" rather than mild or silky.
Warnings
- Boil the sap outside: too much steam could ruin the walls in the house. If you do it outside, the steam will disperse into the air.
- Thorn your trees or buy a permit from their owners.
- Be careful that the syrup does not pass the boiling point. The ideal would also be a stove that can be turned off immediately.
- Boil the sap as soon as you can. It tends to get damaged, in fact at the beginning of the season it lasts a week at most.
- If you intend to sell trees as lumber, know that carving them to collect their sap lowers their value.
