Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut

©2007-08 MSPAC

How Do You Make Maple Syrup?

The process of making Pure Maple Syrup is much the same today as it was hundreds of years ago.  Sap is obtained from a group of maple trees and the water removed until the proper density is reached.  This is a simplified depiction, but much of the process lends its roots to the Native Americans and the early pioneers.  For more thorough details about maple syrup production and quality control guidelines, download the CT Maple Syrup Producers Manual from this web site.

Months before the start of the short maple syrup season, the sugarmaker has been preparing for the upcoming spring season.  Tasks such as cutting and splitting firewood for the sugarhouse and stringing and/or repairing the tubing in the sugarbush have taken place months before.  A final cleaning and preparation of equipment is the sugarmakers final task before the start of syrup season.

The traditional maple sugaring season in Connecticut extends from early February until late March, depending greatly on the weather.  Freezing nights and warm, sunny days are necessary for the maple tree to yield sap, a colorless liquid with a light, sweet taste.  It is when the sugarmaker anticipates these weather conditions that he/she will make his/her determination to “tap” the trees.

The most common trees the sugarmaker selects are the sugar maple, Acer saccharum, and the black maple, Acer nigrum.  These trees grow in the eastern United States and around the Canadian Great Lakes.  The maple trees the sugarmaker selects must be no smaller than 12 inches in diameter to be suitable for tapping.

Sweet Note: A maple tree may be 30-40 years old before reaching this appropriate size.

There are two basic methods used to “tap” the tree.  The classic bucket and spout method and the pipeline or tubing method.  The procedure with the bucket and spout method is; a small shallow hole is drilled into the tree, a spout is “tapped” into the hole, a bucket is placed on a hook, and a cover is attached to keep out debris.  The procedure with the pipeline or tubing method is a small shallow hole is drilled into the tree and a spout attached directly to the tubing is “tapped” into the freshly drilled hole.  A web of tubing and pipeline must route downhill, straight, and tight for the sap to effectively flow to a holding tank at the end of the tubing pipelines.  Larger syrup producers may choose to apply vacuum to the tubing.  With the implementation of vacuum a sugarmaker may notice an increase in sap yield.  The vacuum stimulates sap flow from the tree and through the tubing.

Sweet Note: It takes between 30-40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of pure maple syrup.

Once the trees are “tapped”, it is up to the weather as to when the sap will flow.  Freezing nights and warm, sunny days are necessary for the maple tree to yield sap.  During the day the sugarmaker may check to see if the weather has been favorable for the trees to bear their sap.  It is when the buckets and sap tanks contain sap that it is time to collect the sap from every bucket and tank, and transport it back to the sugarhouse.  The task of collecting sap can have its challenges.  It can be difficult to collect sap in a fresh snowfall or when the melting snow turns the ground to mud.  Cold temperatures freeze pumps, valves, hoses, and couplings within seconds of use.  To limit these obstacles some sugarhouses are built at the foot of the sugarbush so the tubing can bring the sap from the tree directly into the sugarhouse.

Once the sap is at the sugarhouse, the sugarmaker must quickly start the process of removing the water from the perishable sap.  Larger producers utilize high pressure filtration to remove a large percentage of water from the sap with a process called reverse osmosis.  This process saves the sugarmaker both time and energy, but boiling is still required to make maple syrup.  The boiling usually takes place in a commercially produced evaporator pan or evaporator that is made specifically for the production of maple syrup.  The evaporator rests on top of a firebox called an arch.  Many arches are “wood fired” but there are arches that use oil, natural gas, propane, and even wood chips.  If necessary the sugarmaker will keep a hot fire burning late into the night, and in some cases around the clock to boil the sap until it is gone.  No matter what is used, the process is the same.  Evaporate the water until the boiling point of the sap climbs to 7 ½ ° F above the temperature at which water boils.  The exact specific gravity may be measured with several devices, but to ensure proper density a combination of a thermometer and hydrometer are most often used.  When the sap has become syrup, it is “drawn-off” the evaporator.  Often producers choose to finish their syrup on a much smaller pan called a finishing pan.  In addition to proper density, the syrup must be filtered, and the color graded before packaging.  Maple syrup color grades are; “Grade A Light Amber or Fancy” , “Grade A Medium Amber”, “Grade A Dark Amber”, and “Grade B” which is usually called cooking syrup.

This routine will take place until the nightly freeze no longer happens and the sap refuses to flow.  It is then time for the sugarmaker to clean and store his equipment until the next sugaring season.

Glossary of Terms

Arch – Firebox that the evaporator pan is placed on.  Traditional evaporators were “wood fired” but there are arches that use oil, natural gas, propane, and even wood chips. Traditionally most arches have been lined with brick, but alternate materials such as ceramic lining or vermiculite are being used in many cases. 

Draw-off – Valve where syrup is removed from the evaporator. 

Evaporator – A pan placed on the arch designed specifically to concentrate the maple sap into maple syrup.  The traditional evaporator employs a “flue” pan and ‘syrup” pan.  The “flue” pan has an uneven or corrugated bottom that allows better heat transfer to the sap by providing increased surface area over a flat bottom pan.  The “flue” pan is where most of the evaporation takes place.  The “syrup” pan usually has a flat bottom and is where the final evaporation takes place before the maple syrup is “drawn-off”.

Finishing Pan – A small evaporator pan, usually gas fired, that is used for the final finishing of sap into maple syrup.

Hydrometer – A graduated instrument used in conjunction with a thermometer to check the specific gravity of a liquid.

Maple Syrup – The liquid food derived by concentration and heat treatment of the sap of the maple tree (Acer) to which nothing has been added at anytime before, during or after it is made into the finished product.  The density of finished maple syrup should measure between 66% to 67% (sixty-six to sixty-seven) by weight (brix) at 68° F. 

Niter – Sugarsand – The mineral deposits that are concentrated during the evaporation process. 

Reverse Osmosis – Or hyper-filtration is the process of filtering maple sap at high pressure through a semi-permeable filter membrane that traps the concentrated sap on one side and allows the permeate (water) to flow out the other side.  The use of reverse osmosis allows approximately 75 to 80 percent of the water to be removed from the sap before being introduced into the evaporator, saving energy and time.

Sap - A colorless liquid with a light, sweet taste that flows inside the maple tree.  It is from this sap that maple syrup is produced.  It takes approximately 30-40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. 

Sap Run -  The amount of sap collected in one day.

Spigot – See Spile

Spile – A small tube tapped into a taphole to carry the sap from the tree to a bucket or hooked directly into the sap tubing. Also known as a spout or spigot.

Spout – See Spile

Sugarbush – A group of maple trees used for the production of Maple Syrup.

Sugarhouse – Building used to house the equipment used in maple syrup production.  Traditionally this building houses an evaporator and has a cupola to allow the evaporating water vapor to escape.

Sugarmaker – Person who makes maple syrup.

Sugar Maple – A maple tree that grows in the eastern United States and around the Canadian Great Lakes whose sap is used to make maple syrup.  (Maple syrup can be made from the sap of many different species of native maple trees, but the most common are the sugar maple, Acer saccharum, and the black maple, Acer nigrum.)

Tap - The process of drilling into the tree and attaching a method of sap collection.