There’s something peaceful about being in the woods at anytime of the year, but when there is still snow on the ground, bugs are nowhere to be found, the air still has a bite, and the days are getting longer…it is near perfect. It also just happens to be the time of year for Maple Syrup Season! Depending on our weather conditions here in Michigan, this usually occurs between February & March. We, (my husband & I), have found that Sugar Maple sap likes to flow well when the temperatures are below freezing at night and 40+ during the day. Sunshine seems to help too!
This is our 4th season of collecting Sugar Maple tree sap to boil down to make delicious Maple Syrup. As Sugar Maple sap is usually 98% water, it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup! If you have never looked into how it’s made, you should. It’s pretty cool. We use the wood fired stove method to boil our sap down. Large Maple Syrup companies will often use the reverse osmosis method. Since it’s just us and we give it away, my husband made our little set up on the cheap. And it works beautifully.
Oddly, I never liked store bought Maple Syrup. I always thought that it had a funky aftertaste. I would rather have the fake high fructose corn syrup on the rare occasions that I ate anything that typically would be topped with syrup. So, when my husband suggested that we try making some of our own real Maple Syrup just as a fun hobby, I actually wasn’t expecting to like it. I was so wrong! The first time I tried a warm spoonful, I couldn’t believe how delicious it was…it tasted like butterscotch! I honesty don’t know why it’s so different than store bought Maple Syrup. Maybe it’s being cooked outside over a wood fire? Maybe it’s because we make such small batches? Who knows?…Who Cares! It’s straight delish! I personally don’t eat pancakes or French Toast but maybe once or twice a year. However, I go through a ton of our “Liquid Gold” syrup in my morning coffee as an all natural sweetener! I also like it in oatmeal. And I love to use it in my raw food and protein bar creations.
My husband decided to try making Maple Butter this year as well. Which turned out amazing, but is super labor intensive, as it involves stirring a super reduced, super stiff, thickened pan of Maple Syrup for 20 MINUTES!!. If you want an intense arm workout, I recommend making it. We took turns to give each other breaks. Thankfully, the result was spot on. I might have cried otherwise. The Maple Butter can be spread onto toast or pancakes and looks like frosting. Tasty!
We have done two weekend boils that resulted in a little over two gallons of syrup, and are hoping to get one more boil in if time permits. But if not, it has been a fun and successful Maple Syrup season! Looking forward to more.
Until next time!