Syrup

For the past three years, the sisters in Brewster have been tapping some of the 300 or so maple trees that form our "sugar bush". The process includes drilling small holes in the trees, placing a spile in the hole and hanging a bucket on the spile to catch the sap as it rises and falls in the tree. The sisters (and some wonderful friends) make many trips around the sugar bush, pouring the sap from the tree buckets into five-gallon pails. The pails are driven (or carried) to the porch, where we erect a temporary "sugar shack".

The shack houses an evaporator, which is a 55-gallon stainless steel pan heated by two large propane burners. Directly from the tree, sap looks like extremely clear water and tastes like water with a faint sweetness. The evaporating process removes most of the water; in fact, it takes about 35-40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup. Our heating system burns off about five gallons of water an hour.

Most of the water is burned off at the evaporator, but the syrup is "finished" in a 12-gallon pan in the kitchen. We produce both quarts and pints.

The sap is filtered twice before going into the evaporator; this removes the bits of bark and early-spring critters attracted to sap's sweetness. Before the sap is sent to the finishing pan, it passes through two more filters to remove fine "sediment" that collects as the sap boils down.

Every year is different; sometimes the sap runs quickly, making two or even three runs a day necesssary. When that happens, we have to store the sap, which we do in three 55-gallon barrels. When the sap is really flowing, all three barrels and the evaporator can fill up at the same time. Last year we added a 300-gallon horse trough to the storage system, and we needed it again this year.

Early in the season, the syrup produced has consistently been very light amber, which is considered the best grade of syrup available. The flavor is delicate and delicious. As the season progresses, the syrup typically becomes a bit darker. For the first time this year, the end-of-season sap was a mahogany color, with a robust flavor. Many people prefer the intense maple flavor of this darker, "grade B" syrup.

Unopened syrup will store for months (we are still using year-old syrup from last year's bumper crop). Maple syrup should be refrigerated after opening, where it will stay fresh in a plastic jug for three to four months.

Maple syrup may also be frozen for long-term storage; transfer your syrup to a glass jar (leaving 1/2" to 1" of head room) and freeze. The syrup will not freeze completely; an hour or so at room temperature should bring it to pouring consistency. Remove the amount of syrup desired and return the container to the freezer.

Mold may form on syrup after some time. This is not a disaster! Remove the mold, heat the syup to boiling, skim the surface, then store in a sterilized container.

Keep a close eye on heating syrup; it will come to the boiling point rather quickly, and tends to suddenly foam out of the pan. You can prevent this by adding a tiny dab of butter to the syrup before heating.

Heating syrup too long may produce candy; if you really forget to watch it, you might end up with maple sugar! Don't panic if you overheat your syrup; you can always add water to it and "back it up" to syrup again. If you add too much water, keep heating the syrup until you see very small bubbles covering the entire surface, which occurs at about 219°F.

Maple candy and sugar are fine treats, and are fairly easy to make. If you'd like to try your hand at either, here's what to do:

Maple syrup, with 68% carbohydrates (compared to 100% for other syrups), contains 50 cal/tbsp; 20 mg/ tbsp calcium, 35 mg/tbsp potassium; is low in sodium (less than 2 mg/tbsp); and contains small amounts of iron and phosphorous, with trace amounts of B vitamins.

Our syrup contains no additives, no pesticides, no preservatives, and no artificial coloring, and it is not genetically modified.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Candy mold or waxed paper
Candy thermometer
Cookie sheet
Wooden spoon
Dab of butter (1/32 - 1/16 tsp — really just a "dab"!)
1 pt. pure maple syrup (light amber makes the "prettiest"
candy, but darker grades will work)
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NOTES:
• Specially-made (and somewhat expensive) molds are available for maple candies. If making candy for gifts you may want to purchase one or two. Before making that commitment, or if you just want to try your hand at making maple candy, you can spread prepared syrup on waxed paper and break the candy into chunks when it has cooled — the result is just as tasty! Place the mold or the waxed paper on the cookie sheet before you begin to heat the syrup.
• You may use up to 1 qt. of syrup at a time; more than that is too difficult to get poured out before turning to candy in the pan.
• I make 1 pt. at a time, using a small saucepan that has a pouring spout on it; this is really handy when pouring the heated syrup into the molds.
• The cooking temperatures indicated are for sea level to 1000 ft. altitude. For both candy and sugar, you may need to adjust the temperature if you live above 1000 ft. Using a candy thermometer, check the temperature of boiling water and add 31°.
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DIRECTIONS:
1 - Pour the syrup into a heavy-bottomed pan and add the dab of butter. Heat to 243° F. Watch carefully as the temperature passes through about 218°to 221°; for a minute or so the syup will want to bubble up quickly. The butter will help prevent this, but stand ready to lift the pan off the burner for a second or two if it looks as if it may boil over. As the syrup nears 243°, it will begin to make a wonderful wet snapping sound.

2 - When the temperature reaches 243° remove the pan from the burner and let the small bubbling calm down. Begin stirring gently with the wooden spoon.

This is the only tricky part; if you over-stir the heated syrup you may end up with candy in the pan before you can get it poured out. If you under-stir it, the syrup will not set up in the molds or on the waxed paper.

What you are looking for is a slight thickening of the syrup, a lightening of its color, and a reduction of the high gloss on the surface. It takes me about three to five minutes of gentle stirring to reach this point.

It may take a few tries to get the "feel" of this part, but don't worry. If your candy doesn't set up, remove it from the molds or waxed paper and put it back into the pan. Add a bit of water (you can't add too much; more will just make the boil-down time longer) and re-boil back to 243°. If candy forms in the pan, add the water directly to the pan and start again. Experience will be your great teacher.

3 - Pour into the molds or spread on the waxed paper.

Maple candy sets up rather quickly, and you can place the cookie sheet full of candy in the refrigerator if you wish to speed the process a bit. If removed from molds too early, the candy may crack; I just break these up and put them in a lovely crystal bowl marked "Samples". Very effective.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Candy thermometer
Waxed paper
Wooden spoon
Dab of butter (1/32 - 1/16 tsp — really just a "dab"!)
1 pt. pure maple syrup (any grade will work)
Friends to help (not necessary, but fun)
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NOTES:
• You may use more than a pint of syrup at a time, but the stirring part gets to be a real challenge.
• Read the note on temperature corrections for altitude in the candy section, above.
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DIRECTIONS:
1 - Pour the syrup into a heavy-bottomed pan and add the dab of butter. Heat to 260° F. Watch carefully as the temperature passes through about 218°to 221°; for a minute or so the syup will want to bubble up quickly. The butter will help prevent this, but stand ready to lift the pan off the burner for a second or two if it looks as if it may boil over.

2 - Remove the pan from the heat and begin stirring vigorously. (Be careful of splashing at this point; remember that this syrup is VERY hot).

You have arrived at the most tedious and most interesting part of this process. The stirring will gradually get more difficult (which is why friends are a good idea); suddenly it will transform from a liquid into crystals! Keep stirring until all of the syrup has become sugar and the color has lightened noticeably. By the way, this is a great process for children to see; they can help with the stirring, too — just keep an eye out for their safety.

3 - Spread the sugar onto waxed paper and use a fork or clean hands (the sugar is just pleasantly warm by now) to break up any remaining clumps.