the Handbook for Primitive Living

in the Twenty-First Century.

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noted on Tue, 23 Sep 2003

Maple Sweets

Earthquake? Meteor strike? The Rapture? Joined a deep-woods militia? No matter what the situation, you still can’t shake that sugar craving you’ve been having? Fear not fellow sugar addict, I’m going to tell you how to get your fix from our friend the Maple tree.

Maple syrup is but one goodie that can be made from maple sap. By pouring a ladle of hot syrup onto some fresh snow, you’ll get maple toffee. If you continue to boil the syrup down, it will eventually crystallize into maple sugar, also known as maple candy. In theory, candy should be easier to store, keep indefinitely, and could be remade into syrup again simply by reconstituting it. But enough chitchat, let’s get down to how to make it.

Timing Is Everything

Collecting maple sap for boiling is done in the early spring, generally between late April to late March. The exact date isn’t as important as the daily temperature fluctuations. Sap will flow best when the overnight temperature is slightly below freezing, and the daytime high is slightly above. So long as you have these conditions, you’ll be getting good sap. If you collect too long, the sap will start tasting funny.

The first thing you need is a hole in the tree. Generally, the hole should be about waist-height, but keep in mind that there may be a lot of snow around the trees at that time of year. Don’t put the bucket too high, and suddenly realize weeks later that you were standing on a meter of snow! Make sure the hole isn’t right on top of a previous year’s hole.

Collection Methods

Once the hole is in, there are two methods for collecting maple sap:

1. Spout-and-bucket method. A metal spout is gently tapped into the hole. The spout has a hook on it just under the spout end where a bucket can be hung. A lid is a good idea, as it keeps out falling debris, and generally makes straining the sap easier. Each bucket must be individually collected and the contents brought to the boiler.
2. Plumbing method. For commercial-grade or extremely large sugar bushes, the trees are usually tapped into a plastic piping system that goes from tree to tree, eventually all flowing to a central collection. Very little filtering is needed, and no buckets have to be emptied and re-hung. Of course, you have literally kilometers of plastic piping, so this method isn’t a good choice for those just starting out. Unless you’re collecting to feed an army (or hoping to sustain yourself with the sale of your product) this is probably too intensive a method for most to bother with.

Boiling

If you take a taste of the raw sap, you’ll detect that it’s sweet. All you have to do to make syrup is get rid of the excess water. The key is to boil slowly and carefully, otherwise you’ll simply burn the sugar and have nothing but a bitter black tar to show for your efforts.

Purpose-made maple boiling pans can be purchased that allow continuous flow, but again, unless you’re a high-volume operation you won’t need this. Boil small amounts to start off with to get the hang of it, so if something does go awry you won’t spoil your entire batch.

(This might be a good time to tell you to think strategically, and collect the water that is boiling out of your sap. It is essentially distilled water once boiled, and thereby worth saving. You may as well make the most out of your fire.)

From Syrup to Sugar

If you’re planning on making maple sugar, be extremely careful in the last stages of boiling. The less water that remains in your syrup/sugar, the easier it is to burn the whole batch. Instead of boiling right down to sugar, it may be a good idea to stop at the thick syrup stage, and allow evaporation and crystallization to complete the process. Maple rock candy would be quite yummy too.

Messy, Messy

No matter which way you do it, be prepared for a messy clean up. Syrup is sticky, so you can imagine how hard it is to get maple sugar off of something. Get what you can out, and then perhaps add water to re-dissolve the sugar and add it into the next batch for boiling off.

Alternatively, you can just a very small amount of hot water and reconstitute the sugar into syrup, and give the whole family a treat. Of course, you could just start licking the pot furiously if you still need that sugar fix.