Notes on Making Maple Syrup:

Maple syrup is a classic natural sweetener, made from maple sap as it starts to flow in sugar maple trees preparing for springtime growth following the long winter cold. Here in Vermont, February and March are the usual months for collecting and boiling sap to make the brown gold. Some years, boiling can go into April before buddiness starts to spoil the wonderful and unique flavor of this agricultural product.

Sugaring usually goes on in specially built or modified sugar shacks, places equipped with stone fire boxes, large evaporating pans, and metal flues to carry the steam outdoors. But backyard sugaring and kitchen-stove boiling of sap are also frequent scenarios. For backyard setups, it is best to construct a temporary shelter and to prepare a large supply of wood for the fire. You will need the shelter to keep out the wind and wet weather, either of which can affect the fire, the boiling tempo, and the spirits of the folks watching clear sap gradually change to the golden brown color of true syrup.

Most backyard syrup producers finish up the boiling indoors on the kitchen stove burners. But it is possible to do the whole process indoors, especially if you are only planning to make a small amount, say a couple of gallons for family use. Should this be your choice, it is best to prepare the kitchen first by hanging plastic sheeting over ceiling and side walls, unless you plan to wash those surfaces anyway as part of spring cleaning. Although you will undoubtedly use an extractor fan to remove the steam from the kitchen, it is likely that enough particles will adhere to nearby surfaces to leave a slight, detectably sticky residue. You will need a really sturdy metal pot for the final boil, but may also want another large pot (a lobster pot works well) to heat up the cold sap from waiting containers.

Figuring out the best setup may take a few seasons, with issues like filtering (using cheesecloth or kitchenware strainers at the start, or felt or wool before canning) and determining readiness (using a candy thermometer, just eye-balling, asking someone to taste a sip, or watching for the steady boil-over). Commercial-grade syrup is supposed to weigh 11 pounds per gallon. However, if you don't plan to sell the product, a lighter or heavier syrup is really a matter of personal preference.

Collecting the water-like sap is often nowadays done by the stringing of plastic tubing throughout a sugar-bush, with the drainage set for a large tub near a convenient roadway. Plenty of folks still hang metal sap buckets or plastic water bottles on selected trees, with the added chore of emptying these containers daily during sugaring season. Production of sap varies with the temperature and vagaries of the weather. Ideally, 40-degrees days with sun and 25-degree nights is said to produce the best sap.

After the final boil down and filtering, the canning process can be very simple, just siphoning into clean, sterilized metal cans and squeezing them to get the air out before quickly twisting on the top, or quite elaborate, complete with vacuum pumps and precise measurements into glass jars, plastic jugs, or metal cans. The final filtering, through two layers of wool in my case, is intended to curb the amount of sugar sand deposited into the containers along with the clear syrup.

Stamping dates on the sealed cans and jars is a last step, one before finding pantry space or shipping quarts, pints, and half gallons off to friends and relatives. Thus, the sweet season is over for another year. Bring on the pancakes and waffles!