Growing Green

By Robin Trott, Extension Educator

With this warmer weather, maple syrup season is just around the corner. If you are new to syruping, here is some information that might help. In Minnesota, sap typically flows from about March 15 to April 20, triggered by mild daytime temperatures and freezing nights. The ideal range lies between freezing and 55 degrees to prevent sap from drying up or not running at all. Birch sap follows maple’s season, with varying sugar content and sometimes none at all. Tapping extends beyond maples; Adam Haritan lists 22 species that can be tapped on his Wild Foodism website, https://wildfoodism.com/2014/02/04/22-trees-that-can-be-tapped-for-sap-and-syrup/

You might think you need dozens of trees and lots of time to make maple syrup. It does take time, but even if you only have one or two backyard trees that are 10 inches or larger in diameter you can tap them to collect sap. Just be prepared to collect a lot of sap to make your syrup. Sugar content varies by tree species, but on average 43 gallons of sap are needed to produce 1 gallon of syrup – that means 42 gallons of water must be evaporated! To make sap collection easier, you can use a spile made to be connected to food-grade tubing. Cut a 3- to 4-foot length of tubing and attach it to the spile and put the open end of the tubing into a plastic water jug. To keep the sap from spoiling it must be kept cold. Bury the jug in a snowbank and check it once a day. The sap should be kept cold until you are ready to boil.

You can freeze the sap and boil it when you have gathered enough to process. Allow the sap to thaw in the jugs. When there is a fist-sized chunk of ice in the jug, cut the jug open and pour the thawed sap into the pot. Take the remaining ice chunk and use it to cool off – it will have very little sugar left in it. Adding it to the boiling pot just makes the boiling process take longer and will result in darker syrup.

The sap can be boiled down in the pot, although a shallow pan will allow for quicker evaporation. The pot that comes with a propane turkey cooker works well. Just be sure that this first boil is done outdoors. If you boil sap indoors, the evaporated water can peel wallpaper and discolor paint.

When the sap in the pan begins to boil over, it may be getting close to syrup. Of course, there is a specific sugar content that defines syrup. For producing syrup for home consumption, it comes down to your preference.

• Test the syrup by dipping a large spoon into the boiling sap.

• Allow the spoon to cool, then allow the sap to drip off the side of the spoon.

• If it runs off, more boiling is needed.

• If it spreads out before dripping off the spoon, it is close to done.

• If the sap forms a sheet coming off the spoon, then it may have boiled too long. Syrup that has been boiled too long (boiled beyond the syrup stage) will crystallize in the canning jar.

The difference in time between when the sap is almost syrup and when it begins to burn is surprisingly short. To prevent burning the sap, check the pot closely. A watched pot doesn’t burn. When the sap has boiled down to where it has nice color, smells like syrup, and before it begins to spread out as it drips off the side of the spoon, bring it indoors and finish boiling it on the stove. Use a thermometer to find that sweet spot where it becomes syrup at about 217 degrees.

If you have access to a few maple trees you can make maple syrup – remember, it only takes one or two trees to collect enough sap. Syrup making is a fun hobby, and though there are many steps that seem finicky, it is surprisingly easy to do.

If you’d like to learn more, consider attending a maple syruping event. Visit the University of Minnesota Extension website at https://extension.umn.edu/event/maple-syruping-st-joseph.