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Maple Syrup - Final
My son Christopher started this hobby just out of high school and continues to this day.
Author: Sharon Magnusson
Author: Sharon Magnusson
This year, Chris collected approximately 500 gallons which resulted in a yield of 13.75 gallons of syrup. The actual boiling rate is about 9 gallons/hr, so that is about 56 hours of just boiling time. The actual collection time varies from 45 min to 2 hours, but always includes 30 minutes of round-trip driving from his house to ours. Then there is the set-up/take-down and cleaning of the equipment at the end and beginning of the season. Good thing this is a hobby and not for profit, and especially important is that he enjoys and looks forward to this each year!
We begin with a view of our woods decorated with green collecting buckets and VOID of snow
| The collecting process is a family affair when the kids aren't tied up with other things on the weekends. Stephannie is helping Dad empty the buckets. |  |
 | Although the weather was perfect for collecting sap, Christopher needed to "pull the plug" on the project, due to his upcoming trip to Franklin, North Carolina, where he will mine for gemstones. |
I'm helping with the sap and dismantling process.
 | Most of the items in this photo are self-explanatory. The metal graduated cylinder is placed inside the boiling kettle to collect a sample of the liquid during various periods of the heating process. The thing that looks like a thermometer is really an hydrometer which is placed in the graduated cylinder to measure the sugar concentration versus the water concentration of the liquid. Please note that, like most of the Coachmen, beer is involved in almost everything, INCLUDING the canning preparation. |
Ninety-nine percent of the boiling/evaporation process is done outside. Then it is brought inside and boiled until it is almost table ready -- about 99.9% done.
| What looks like whitish/grayish scum is starch (complex sugar) and is scraped off the top at various times during this boil while some sinks to the bottom. Then, this "almost ready" syrup is removed from the stove, covered and allowed to sit for two weeks. During this two week period, debris and starch precipitate to the bottom. This is the "poor man's" filtration process. Unless one has an expensive filtration machine, which costs close to $3,000, one has be patient! |  |
Once the debris has settled, the liquid is transferred to a different container and reheated to 219 degrees. Then it is immediately poured into sterilized glass canning jars and sealed. According to Chris, it's hard to put a time frame on the whole process. "Preparation, boiling, and clean up all add up to a long season." But, oh how the family loves his syrup!!
 |  This shows the 13.75 gallons of deliciousness! |
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