Vermont Maple syrup

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Stephen Hodges

Vermont is certainly the "Big Dog" in the New England Maple Syrup production. By comparison, New Hampshire makes about 90,000 gallons per year. I know where one of those goes every spring!

That number would, no doubt, be much higher, if Bascom, in Alstead, reported the actual amount of syrup they continue to boil in their production of granulated maple sugar. The last time I recall hearing Bruce Bascom say how many taps they had out, was on the order of 70,000. A number that seemed to be a universally accepted was a quart per tap, in an average season. That's about 17,500 gallons right there.

[jim garrett]

We folks in LA...Lower Alabama, like maple syrup also. I hope I get in line in time to get a quart. Jim Garrett

[William Davis]

My wife will have the griddle hot Monday morning 4/30

William

[Jean Swanson]

The truth be known, when at the age of 35-45 I had a small sugar operation in Washington,NH with about 175 taps and a small Leader evaporator. Made a few gallons of syrup ,it is like cutting your own fire wood----you just can not get the sawdust out of your trouser cuffs. The love of doing it kind of stays with you.

I am surprised with the interest this post has gathered .

I am not reserving syrup at the PGCA/Smith tent---I am bring down 24 quarts---when it's ,it's gone. I should be at Deep River early in the day of the 28th.

Sorry
Allan

[Richard Flanders]

Folks up here tap birch trees to make syrup. It takes something like 100gal of sap to make a gallon of syrup. It's darker, thinner and not as sugary, I think. Some operations here in Fairbanks do the tube thing and the moose play hell with those setups when they wander through them. The syrup is good but not as good as maple and too expensive for my budget.

My only personal syrup story goes back to the early 70's in Michigan. We tapped a bunch of trees and collected the sap and carried it back to the cooker in a 30gal trash can in the back of a Suburban. Maynard put on the brakes too hard at one traffic light and it tipped over and filled the the whole thing with sap. We sat there at the light with the doors open and sap pouring out all the doors.... and laughing like loons. We cooked all our sap down on large flat pans of some sort on an outdoor brick BBQ. I have a picture somewhere of me collecting sap with a pack basket on my back to put it in.

[Gary Laudermilch]

I stand corrected Edgar. It bugged me so I found where I read that NY was the lead producer. I misread it to read the leading producer when it said one of the leading producers which in fact they are. My apology to all Vermonters.

[edgarspencer]

That’s ok Gary. Everyone produces more than. CT but it’s the quality that counts not the quantity ( unless you’re selling) I sold about half of what I made every year which covered the cost of containers, filters and misc. But if I ever tried to recover the equipment and labor, pfft! Forget it.

[Gary Laudermilch]

Tom, I am not a syrup producer but am a forester that assisted producers quite a bit with the health of their sugar bushes. Edgar suggested that cooking time/temperature is at play with the color produced and I have no reason to doubt it. However, I think it is a bit more complex than that. Trees store their energy reserves in the root system as starches. In the spring the starch is converted to simple sugars and pumped to the tree crown in preparation for the growing season ahead. The makeup of those sugars changes with time so that their makeup by budding time is considerably different that at first flow. How that relates to color of syrup produced I do not know. You would have to consult a plant physiologist for a more in-depth explanation.

[todd allen]

Originally Posted by Allan H. Swanson

The maple syrup season in Vermont was short and sweet.

My neighbors, Dana Brothers, produced slightly over 500 gals. of syrup and burned over 35 cord of fire wood---the old fashion way.

I will be bring 2 cases of first run fancy grade to the PGCA tent on Saturday the 28th for sale @ $20.00 per quart container. The proceeds go to the PGCA coffers check book.

Thanks for supporting the PGCA.
Allan H. Swanson

PS It is not a side by side, I am sure John Dunkle will approve

Allan, can you ship a quart of syrup? If so, put me down for a quart. Let me know what I need to do.

Edit: make it 2 quarts.

[edgarspencer]

Gary, you're text book spot on. I do remember a lot of what you say, 30 years ago. It is relevant in understanding how the sugar content if determined, but in the end, as far as the guy collecting and boiling (Jeez, how I hate this expression) "It is what it is" I used to wander the sugar bush with some whizbang thingy that told me what the sugar content of the sap was, but (here's another one I hate) "At the end of the day" What ever came out of the tree, gets dumped in the collection tank.
The advent of Reverse Osmosis equipment largely altered the final product, insofar as necessary boiling time. It requires an external piece of equipment that extracts the pure water, leaving behind a more highly concentrated sap (usually from +/-2% starting content, up to +/-10%) Since this sap is now more sugar (10% sugar, 90%water) and the evaporation rate of the equipment remains the same, that sugar will be in the pans for less time, than the same sugar that went in with 97-98% water.
The actual color of the syrup, and the perceived "maple flavor" are directly related, and Tom was 'kinda' right about caramelizing, but circulation in the pan isn't why. A well designed evaporator has a serpentine path, baffles, that the sap follows, as it increases in density. The inlet being the beginning, the draw-off valve, being the end. It's syrup when it floats the hygrometer, but that coincides with a specific temperature (219F at sea level, when the barometer is 30"/Hg.
So, here's the bottom line: Pay up! Because the guy doing the boiling didn't just wake up and say "I'm gonna make great syrup today"