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Maple Syrupin Bedford, NH 2004 |
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Thus far, the syrupin season for 2004 has not been very good. The season started on February 24th and began with a bang, but after running for 5 days, the trees have been dry due to the unseasonably warm temps. This could be the shortest season we've ever had. I did my first burn on March 6th, here are the pictures. |
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The day after the season started, little Laura Loo helped me in the sugarbush. Actually, Alletta and Laura both helped me empty buckets, but it was this picture on the left that I submitted to the newspaper, and lo and behold, a week later, there was Laura on the front page of the Bedford Cabinet. Needless to say, one older cherub in the Lanoue family was not all that pleased about this! |
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The evaporation of the sap down to syrup can only be accomplished one way, by boiling the sap until there's about equal parts water to sugar. Sometimes this takes well into the evening as evidenced by the full moon rising over the burn pit. Typically, I'll boil down around 50 or so gallons in a 12 hour period, once I'm down to about 3 gallons of sap/syrup, it's time to move indoors... |
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Once I move indoors, I'll watch the sap closely as it approaches 219f. As you know, water boils at 212f, but syrup boils at 219f. According to USDA regulations, once sap reaches 219f, it is no longer sap but rather syrup. Unfortunately, this is not accurate enough to determine when the syrup is actually done, so I use a hygrometer. On the right, you can see the red line on the hygrometer floating above the syrup, that means it's reached over 59 BRIX meaning, it's done!!!! |
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Once the right specific gravity has been met, you need to filter out all the gunk in the syrup, that can be done using a paper filter (on the left). Once filtered, it's time for canning. You can see by the photo on the right, I got just under a gallon from this burn, which is typical for my operation. Also, note from the color, this is grade B amber, not the best stuff in the world. Usually the first burn of the season is light in color and is my best stuff, not the case this year. |
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