If it's March, it's maple syrup time in New England! So how do you make pure maple syrup? As daytime temperatures rise above freezing, the sap begins to run and the sugar houses come to life. Sugaring season, as it's known up here, typically runs from late February to mid April throughout New England. The southern and eastern areas begin the earliest, while it might take another month for the northernmost areas to start their syrup operations. The season runs as long as the weather allows, which can be a couple of weeks to nearly two months. Visiting a sugar house when the sap is boiling is an event to behold, and the end product is a delight to taste.
What is Maple Syrup?
Maple syrup and other maple sugar products come from the sap of the Sugar Maple tree (_Acer Saccharum_) as well as the Black Maple (_Acer nigrum_). The sap is collected and boiled down until there is just sweet syrup left. A traditional treat is to use the first syrup of the season to put on snow and make a real snow cone - a taste you won't soon forget. In addition to syrup, maple sap can be made into maple cream and candy. Once bottled and packaged, the syrup can last for a long time.
How is it made?
When the days are warm and sunny and nighttime temperatures are below freezing, the sap will run. The longer the temperature stays one way then shifts, the longer and better the sap runs. Mature Sugar and Black Maple trees, over a foot in diameter, are tapped and sap is collected in buckets or jugs. Once enough sap has been collected - it usually takes about 40 gallons to make a gallon of syrup, but that depends on the quality of the sap run - it is boiled down to form syrup.
The sap is boiled to syrup in a sugar house. A sugar house has an evaporator, which sits on top of a stove or fire. The evaporator is divided into sections, which contain the syrup as it boils from pure sap - usually about 98% water, and 2% sugar - to syrup, which is about 67% water and 33% sugar. Sugar houses, which can be very modern or 100 years old, all have one thing in common in addition to the fire and evaporator - large vents in the roof for the steam to come out. When boiling, it is a sight to behold. A small house or shack with steam billowing out of the roof and smoke coming out the chimney. A sugaring operation is a wonderful treat for all of the senses: a sweet aroma in the air, crackling fire in the firebox, steam filling the house and the end result tastes delicious.
How to see and taste it
The Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine Maple Producers have all designated the last full weekend in March as Maple Open House Weekend where you can visit syrup producers. Although most maple syrup producers will let you see them work whenever they are in operation, this weekend is designated for visitors to come and see how it's done, so they will do their best to be in full operation. You can watch the sap being boiled away and taste the freshest syrup possible as it comes right off the stove! For families of all ages, this is a memory that will last a lifetime! Although these three states have this weekend as a designated open house time, all the New England states have maple producers. When the sap is running, you can visit one near you and see how it is done. For a list of producers and sugar houses you can visit throughout New England, visit the state and association websites listed below, and enjoy!
- Connecticut: Maple Syrup Producers of Connecticut
- Maine: Maine Maple Producers Association
- Massachusetts: Massachusetts Maple Producers Association
- New Hampshire: New Hampshire Maple Producers Association
- Rhode Island: Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
- Vermont: Vermont Maple Sugar Association
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