What is Maple Syrup?
Maple syrup is made by reducing the clear sap from maple trees into a high concentration sugar suspended in water. When the maple sap is harvested, it is a watery liquid (not thick, sticky, and viscous like other saps we are familiar with). This sap mostly water, about two percent sugar (with some impurities). The sap is then boiled until much of the water has evaporated. During the boiling, impurities rise to the top and are skimmed off (like making a stock). Once enough water has evaporated so that the sugar content exceeds 67%, the sweet liquid is considered maple syrup. The lightness of color and strength of flavor is dependent mainly upon when the maple syrup was harvested and the weather and growing conditions of the maple trees for that year. Typically, lighter syrups are harvested earlier in the season.
Maple Syrup Grade
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) assigns grades to the maple syrup sold in the the U.S. These grades are: Grade A Light Amber, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber, and Grade B. The grading of syrup sold in the United States is voluntary (like USDA Beef Grading).
Grade A Light Amber (or Fancy) is very light in color and has a faint, delicate maple flavor. It is usually made earlier in the season when the weather is colder. Many people use this grade for serving on pancakes. It is also widely used for making maple candies.
Grade A Medium Amber is darker and has an easily discernable maple flavor. I like using this grade for serving on pancakes and waffles. I also use it for baking since it has a stronger flavor than Light Amber.
Grade A Dark Amber is very dark and has a strong maple flavor. Some people like the stronger flavor and use it as a table syrup, but this grade is mostly used for cooking and baking.
Grade B, sometimes called Cooking Syrup, extremely dark in color and has an extremely strong maple taste as well as hints of caramel. Because of its strong flavor, this s predominantly used in baked goods.
Storage
Maple syrup should be refrigerated to ensure freshness (even if the bottle hasn't been opened). You can also freeze maple syrup to extend its life indefinitely. If the syrup is refrigerated in glass containers, then the syrup will maintain quality for a year. Plastic bottles are a little porous, so refrigerator shelf life is usually around three to four months. If you need to store syrup purchased in plastic bottles for longer term storage, pour it into a glass bottle or jar and refrigerate.
Use as a sugar substitute
In general, maple syrup can be substituted for granular sugar in baked goods by following these rules of thumb:
For each cup of granulated sugar, use 1-1/2 cup of maple syrup.
Reduce other liquids in the recipe by about one-half.
Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of maple syrup.
Decrease oven temperature by 25°F.
Pancake syrups
Most syrups sold as pancake syrups are not maple syrup. These syrups are made of either cane sugar or corn syrup and contain a few percent of maple syrup for flavoring. Real maple syrup has a more robust flavor and (as my wife says) tastes less man-made.
Greetings from a Portuguese Engineer
Turpentine is also tapped from trees, however it is distilled, not reduced. One must be certain to ascertain the variety of tree being tapped before one should sample the sap. Sugar Maple, Ok. Conifer Not OK. :-D
I remain,
The Old Soldering Gunslinger
Of course, he's posting meat recipies, which is pretty bad. Meat is murder. This is simple common sense.
What is that stench?
Oh, yes... it is just a troll, envious of other people's success.
For what it is worth, I'm quite enjoying this site. Oh, and yes, I eat meat. Lots of it. Enjoy it immensely.
More meat dishes! :D
Technically speaking, the last entry he mentioned his recent increase in traffic was LAST Monday. If you don't appreciate Michael's hard work and success, then simply DON'T COME. I highly doubt anyone is forcing you to read this blog. I suggest you go find an unsuccessful vegan recipe blog to satisfy your needs and stop posting your negative remarks here.
Then again, any form of vegetation is considered a living organism as well, for shame! You'd better stop eating these as well, lest you become a "murderer" like the rest of us!
To Michael:
In all seriousness, this is a great blog and the recipe charts are simply amazing, so simple and compact yet so intuitive and complete. It really boggles my mind that such a superior format has not been more widely adopted! Keep up the good work!
Now we engineers can show our cooking prowess too!
- Greetings from a Canadian engineer. ;)
I also enjoy your site...I've posted a comment or two...and think you shouldn't pay that not-so-nice-guy any mind.
Thank you for the useful info.
Alredhead
http://alredhead.blogspot.com
Btw, Michael, did we go to school together (Markella here)? Otherwise you're the 3rd Michael Chu I know/hear of.
Greetings from another Canadian engineer!
Love the site. Especially the meat.
What should really be mentioned here is a traditional French Canadian treat called cabane a sucre (no idea what us anglos would call it). It entails taking high quality syrup (typically medium amber), pouring it onto fresh snow and twirling the syrup around a stick as it solidifies (think cotton candy but gooey). This makes a tasty maple popsicle for those lovely winter days.
omlife.blogspot.com
If someone will mail me an assortment of pancake mixes, I'll do the test... unfortunately, I don't have funds set aside right now to buy a bunch of the same stuff and test it out - although I hope to be able to do that in the future. I'd love to try out different brands or manufacturers and figure out what makes something "good" or "bad".
The English translation is "sugar shack"; that is, it is the place in which the maple sap is collected and processed into maple syrup. Pouring the hot syrup onto the snow and gathering it up onto a stick as it cools and hardens to make a sweet treat is one of the things they do at a cabane a sucre. Another tradition is sitting with many other people at long tables and eating foods such as pancakes, baked beans, sausages, bacon, eggs and the like, and smothering them all with newly made maple syrup. All done in the early spring when the sap is flowing.
Is it time for breakfast yet?
He also mentions birch beer and maple sap beer. Said sap beer was foul stuff. Maybe that's why the oldtime song goes
"Wanta get your eye knocked out, wanta get your fill,
Wanta get your head cut off just go up Sugar Hill!"
I grew up on a farm in wisconsin and we made our own maple syrup every spring. We just canned it in glass jars and kept it in the basement. It stayed good for years that way without any noticable difference to taste. Depending on how well the sap ran that year you could run out, so we always kept reserves.
Also, growing up on the farm we raised, befriended, and then killed, butchered and ate our food. Hell, I think this country (USA) needs a restaurant where you can pick out your own cow, watch it butchered and cook it while it's still twitching like they do with lobsters. Maybe in Texas.
An evaporator is just a very efficient "boiling pot". Modern evaporators make use of heat exchangers to preheat cold ( 40 degree) incoming sap up to the boiling point using waste steam.
There is a correlation between how LONG syrup is boiled and the amount of caramelization that takes place and a modern evaporator does boil quicker than say an old fashioned kettle hanging over a fire.
In the 1930's Land O' Lakes creameries in Antigo, Wisconsin used it's vacuum evaporating equipment to produce maple syrup and the results were not good . The syrup produced was almost clear and had little maple flavor because there was very little carmelization of the sugars at the reduced boiling temperature.
Sugar on snow is NOT just hot syrup poured onto snow. Pure maple syrup must be boiled further to increase its density so that the supersaturated solution will harden up when it hits the cold snow. Boil maple syrup to 238 degrees, then drizzle over fresh snow or shaved ice.
kimwongshu@yahoo.com
Apparently there's enough nutritive value in maple syrup to sustain a 220lb. adult male for at least a month. Crazy, huh? I don't know what purpose the lemon juice served, but it had to be fresh-squeezed, not bottled. Probably some polyphenols or something.
Anyway, I only lost about five pounds, and after two days I had no hunger pangs whatsoever. And the other odd thing is that for some strange reason, I no longer had any bowel movements. Go figure! (The diet recommended some type of liquid that was a clay suspension to pull impurities from the lower intestine. I keep thinking it's call milorganite, but that's DEFINITELY not it!)
I'm recommending anyone to NOT try this unless they do a little research on it first!!
As for production stats that another poster asked about, Quebec produces about 16 million liters of the stuff and the US as a whole about 6 million liters. Quebec has roughly a 90% share of canadian production which is 75% of world production...
As for maple syrup being eaten on snow, it is called "Tire sur la neige". It is made with a reduced form of maple syrup (just shy of maple butter.) Regular maple syrup is much too liquid to be eaten effectively this way.
To the person who was on the syrup/lemon juice/clay diet, maybe the clay was bentonite?
I guess I should have known; it's sweet, it's liquid, so moulds and yeasts like the stuff as much as I do...
Well, about the mold: I remember my mom re-purifying the maple syrup by bringing it to a boil in a sauce pan, adding a little milk and skimming off the foam which formed on the top. I have some that needed this recovery process lately so did as I remembered but the result was that the syrup became cloudy and I could still taste the mold. What did I forget?
For taste, Grade B syrup has a real robust maple flavor so some folks (probably not old-time Vermonters )actually prefer it for eating. Grade A, light amber has a subtle flavor so isn't as noticable, e.g., on pancakes. Vermonters like it on ice cream or a hot spoonful. Grade A medium and dark amber are stronger as they get darker.
Sugar on snow really has to be eaten with alternate bites of a sour pickle, otherwise it's too cloying except if you're a kid. The big treat: sugar on snow, sour pickle, cake donut, and hot coffee.
We call the syrup on snow "tire d'erables" (or "taffy" in English).
It may help to re-heat in in a large pot of hot water so it dissolves again. You shouldn't need to boil it. Once it dissolves, leave it in the pot of water so it cools s-l-o-w-l-y. Your syrup may still have a moldy smell and off-taste when you're done.
You might need to add a little water to help the syrup stay dissolved if it crystalizes again.
I am trying to avoid fructose.
I am trying to avoid fructose.
Maple syrup is almost all sucrose. The darker the maple syrup is, the more fructose and glucose it typically contains.
It's more likely that what you're observing is fermentation rather than mold. (With a yeasty alcohol odor rather than the mustiness of mold). If that's the case, you can boil it and skim off the yeast. You'll never get entirely rid of the yeastiness, so use that syrup for baking, where a yeast taste won't be objectionable. And maybe buy a fresh bottle to put on your ice cream and pancakes.
And keep your syrup refrigerated after you open it, especially in warm weather.
I used the gas grill to do most of the boiling outdoors, then finished it on the kitchen stove. It's an exercise in patience but a fun project and the syrup makes it worth the effort.
My husband thought I was eccentric the first time I did this. Now he thinks I'm resourceful :)
Cindy T in MN
We have been making maple syrup in a primitive way (big pan over a fire pit) for a few years in SW Wisconsin, and prefer what we call Grade D (Diesel) syrup. Very dark and smokey. The first time we produced it, we weren't so sure about it. Man, was it smokey. The next time we made syrup, we unintentionally isolated the wood smoke from the surface of the pan, and it tasted very, well... Plain. Our kids were so disappointed they got really mad and upset, and blamed us adults for ruining it! That was so funny!
This year was the first time since that "plain" batch a few years ago, and it is unquestionably, without a doubt, certifiably Grade D. Yuuuuuumm!
So, anyone got any opinion as the the health effects of ingesting all that wood smoke via syrup? Not to mention all the smoke we breathe while boiling the stuff down.
Regards,
Joe Pie Guy
Now, of course, most of us would like the most Maple flavor possible, in our syrup, so take advantage of this archaic system, if you can.
I wish they sold Grade B in Publix.
We also produce a lot of maple syrup in this province -- I buy Canada #1 Light. Very yummy!
I would pitch any out that was mouldy myself (and I'm not a stickler about that sort of thing). To avoid mould, I throw the glass bottle in the freezer, and just haul it out whenever I need some. It doesn't freeze or crystalize, it stays runny, and it lasts indefinitely. I haven't tried it with a can, but have never heard that it behaves any differently.
The maple syrup in the snow with a stick thing I always heard referred to as "sugaring off", but when I look it up online, I see that "sugaring off" either refers to the whole maple syrup making process, or the party that one has while sugaring off. I don't know -- deelish by any name.
Thanks in advance,
Charles
yup. just warm it gently and the sugar crystals will re-dissolve.
(a hot tap water bath is usually enough)
Thank you,
Addie
difficult to say not knowing where you are or what markets are in your area.
however, USDA specifications for 100% pure maple syrup are consistent - the major difference between Grade A and Grade B is color - tho many folks feel Grade B has more depth of flavor.
if your supermarket has an organic or natural section, look there - anything labeled "maple flavored" is not what your are looking for. it will most likely be labeled with the grade - but color is the tip off. Grade A is a light amber color, it is almost transparent. Grade B is noticeable darker - more like the "maple flavored" pancake syrups ala Aunt Jemima / Log Cabin.
my store has "the good stuff" in the organic section and the cheap stuff in with the pancake syrup stuff.
>>>the time or temp the syrup should be if I reboil it.
it will vary a little depending on sugar concentration but it is about 219-220'F.
care is required! it can be scorched / burnt.
the question is "why reboil?" - if the sugar has crystallized you can warm it - no need to get to the boiling point....
whew. that's a lot of work! but very commendable!
as a teenager I visited with some family who sugared - fascinating but wow the time and effort was staggering. there's no ON / OFF switch for the pan - once started the work isn't done until the pan sez so......
I buy the real stuff and don't even blink at the cost having seen /participated in what it takes to make.
my own taste goes to the dark side - I love that flavor. the lighter grades may be "more delicate" but for flavor zap! I go with the darker grades.
My wife and I get a lot of our maple syrup these days from friends who tap their trees and makes their own every year. At first, they were hesitant to give us the dark stuff, because they said it wasn't what most store-bought maple syrup was like. Now we request the darker syrup, which is basically Grade B (though they don't do official grading since they don't sell the stuff). Some of it would even be Grade C or commercial grade, which is generally only used for commercial flavorings. It's amazing stuff, like fine chocolate. It may seem weird, but we save the darkest stuff to have by itself on pancakes and waffles because its flavor deserves to be savored directly, while we use the "fancy" lighter stuff for cooking or baking when we need to. The darker stuff would make richer tasting baked goods, but it's so amazing by itself that it deserves to be eaten that way.
Unfortunately, maple syrup grading seems to take its lead from the people who like white bread, white rice, and white sugar -- items that pride themselves on removing the natural flavors inherent in whole wheat, brown rice, and natural sugar. If you like the latter, stop spending the money on bland light syrup as well. Grade B syrup goes great with whole-wheat or whole-grain-blend pancakes and waffles, where grade A light can't stand up and just tastes like a thick sugar solution whose flavor is lost... though I will admit that trickling a little high quality Fancy Grade light syrup on mild vanilla ice cream is an experience not to be missed.
Everything I read says that you are supposed to use a bleach solution to disinfect your equipment. Now, is it possible to use vinegar instead of strong chemicals (bleach), as it can disinfect items too.
by taste I suspect . . [?]
regarding disinfectants, bleach is widely used because it is effective against a wide range of bacteria. whether vinegar would be satisfactory for (sugaring equipment?) depends on what kind of bacteria are present - if you know what kind of bacteria are typically floating around you could research whether vinegar would be effective.
bleach is not really such a bad actor - see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinfectant
which discusses quite a number of different disinfecting agents, but here's an interesting snippet for bleach:
\quote
By far the most cost-effective home disinfectant is the commonly used chlorine bleach (a 5% solution of Sodium hypochlorite) which is effective against most common pathogens, including difficult organisms such as tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis), hepatitis B and C, fungi, and antibiotic-resistant strains of staphylococcus and enterococcus. It even has some disinfectant action against parasitic organisms [16].
Positives are that it kills the widest range of pathogens of any inexpensive disinfectant, is extremely powerful against viruses and bacteria at room temperature, is commonly available and inexpensive, and breaks down quickly into harmless components (primarily table salt and oxygen).
\unquote
methinks a lot of the issue lays at the feet of the tabloid type press - take half-a-fact and spin it into a 30 second sound byte of outrageous conjecture.
like canola oil - made from rapeseed - part of the mustard family - and we all know where mustard gas comes from . . . well, I know where mustard gas comes from, and it ain't from no plant.
how's it go...? never let the facts stand in the way of a good story?
Anyone else have a reference?
for legal trade, the density of the finished product is specified by various agencies - however it is usually specified as a sugar percentage - typically the Brix scale (there are other methods)
a little digging turned up this research which specifies the density in grams per ml
http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2006/2006takanoh.pdf
which is roughly 1.325 grams per milliliter, or
11.08 pounds per gallon
so a syrup reduced to 12 pounds per gallon would have significantly more sugar - and I suspect be quite a bit thicker that what one finds commercially.
THANK YOU
because Grade B has other 'impurities' as they put it,,,, it may appear thicker than Grade A - but the density and sugar content are the same.