It's Sugaring Season!

[docsconz]

It's late February, the nights are cold and the days have been filled with glorious sunshine and temps into the balmy mid-30's. Spring skiing and sugaring season are here. Now I grew up in Brooklyn, so don't expect me to be the expert on Maple sugaring. I do, however, have a friend and neighbor who is an expert. He and his family have made it a tradition each year to tap most of the maple trees in our area (there are plenty), collect the sap and boil it down into syrup and candy. It has not only become a family event for them as it evolved from an undertaking in their kitchen to a full-scale sugar shack. It has become a neighborhood event as friends and neighbors provide their trees and labor in the non-commercial undertaking. The season usually culminates in a fantastic pancake breakfast with what else but ...fresh maple syrup.

The season is just getting going. Here are some photos of the process. I will try to update these as the season progresses.

Collecting the sap

A newer system using tubing to collect the sap from several trees or parts of one tree directly into a collecting bucket.

The tubing needs to be heated with a blow torch to apply it properly.

The sign over the door to The Sugar Shack.

[Pan]

Thanks. Nice pictures. Where in Upstate New York is that?

[jogoode]

Very cool!

[docsconz]

Thanks. Nice pictures. Where in Upstate New York is that?

On West Mountain in Queensbury near Lake George, although it is a scene one can view frequently around the north country..

[woodburner]

Thanks. Nice pictures. Where in Upstate New York is that?

On West Mountain in Queensbury near Lake George, although it is a scene one can view frequently around the north country..

Great Job Doc.

Possibly we could get some expert advice from your neighbor, regarding the different grades of maple syrup.

Grade A fancy as we know it, is used primarily for bottled pancake syrup. I'd like to hear about the "B" variety, best used for cooking.

woodburner

[Pan]

Grade B is industrial strength maple syrup, and I love it! Try some.

[bleachboy]

Thanks for this post, doc! I can't say there's much maple collection going on down here, but I would love to taste the results on a stack of pancakes!

[Mayhaw Man]

This is so far out of my experience in life I have a hard time explaining it, but somehow your post and those photos were very comforting and made me smile.

We get our sugar from giant fields of sugar cane (full of every thing in the world that crawls, flies, and bites) which is harvested by giant machines and crushed by even bigger machines and it is a miracle that they get something white out of the end of the process-that whole maple process looked remarkably peaceful and pleasant in the extreme.

Thanks

[docsconz]

Even better than on pancakes is taking some fresh maple syrup right from the pan, pouring it over fresh snow and eating it. Yum.

[docsconz]

Today has been one of the first really good days of the season for sugaring - a cold night followed by a warm day. Unfortunately my neighbor is away on business and the sap is overflowing.

[slkinsey]

Doc, you should help your friend by dipping a few quarts of sap out of that bucket and reducing it down on your stove. After all, if the bucket overflows it will only go to waste.

[docsconz]

I learned from them not to do it in one's kitchen. It can get pretty messy and the steam can leave some stains. Much better to do it in a sugar shack..

[slkinsey]

I call dibs on a pint of Sconzo Maple Syrup!

[woodburner]

doc,

How long did it take for that bucket to fill. It appears that it might hold a few gallons, would that be accurate?

woodburner

[docsconz]

The way it was flowing today, I would say it could fill a several gallon bucket within a day and probably thensome.

[gus_tatory]

thanks for the post and pictures, docsconz!

i was thinking i should start a maple thread on the Montreal board...

Q: in New York State do they have what we call here "Cabane a Sucre" (Sugar Shack) parties, where all the food is drenched in maple syrup?

a typical Quebec menu would be: sausages/ham/bacon in maple syrup, baked beans ditto, "oreilles de crisse" (fried pork rinds) ditto, "grandperes" (steamed dumplings) ditto, and then, as you say, the reduced syrup poured on snow and eaten as taffy...

do you guys in NY state have those dinners, and what do you serve there?

[Lavender]

Too cool. Here in Phoenix, it hit 95 degrees yesterday. I love maple syrup. The pic's of that snow encrusted tree being tapped for sap made me want to sink my head into it. The sap and the snow.

[docsconz]

thanks for the post and pictures, docsconz!

i was thinking i should start a maple thread on the Montreal board...

Q: in New York State do they have what we call here "Cabane a Sucre" (Sugar Shack) parties, where all the food is drenched in maple syrup?

a typical Quebec menu would be: sausages/ham/bacon in maple syrup, baked beans ditto, "oreilles de crisse" (fried pork rinds) ditto, "grandperes" (steamed dumplings) ditto, and then, as you say, the reduced syrup poured on snow and eaten as taffy...

do you guys in NY state have those dinners, and what do you serve there?

People here have those parties too. My neighbors throw a breakfast party every spring with pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs and of course plenty of fresh home-made maple syrup. It i the kind of event one can only get in the north country.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) I don't think we'll have much of an opportunity this year of pouring the freshly made maple syrup on freshly fallen snow this year. Then again, it is still early March. That to me is the best.

[docsconz]

I call dibs on a pint of Sconzo Maple Syrup!

That's about all there is likely to be of true "Sconzo" Maple syrup - if that! A small amount of the sap may come from my property, but I am not the one with the production capacity or expertise. If I am lucky I may be able to help out in a small way.

[docsconz]

Too cool. Here in Phoenix, it hit 95 degrees yesterday. I love maple syrup. The pic's of that snow encrusted tree being tapped for sap made me want to sink my head into it. The sap and the snow.

While not quite 95 here, it has been warm enough to melt most of the snow.

[phaelon56]

Here in the central part of NY we have a full range of maple products available at our twice weekly public farmer's market. Several grades of maple sugar candy (I like the cheaper, coarser stuff), granulated maple sugar, multiple grades of syrup (up to one gallon containers) and also maple cream. This last item is might delicious, especialy if spread on warm biscuits or other such baked goods.

The NY State fair is held in late August and the Maple Producers Association has a booth. They almost have Miss Maple Syrup or one of the runners-up working in the booth and ina ddition to the other treats already listed... offer maple syrup snow cones and maple sugar cotton candy.

The Greenmarket in Union Square NYC usualy has a vendor with most of the products described above including the maple cream.

The one treat i've never tried is made by taking freshly boiled still warm maple syrup and pouring it into some fresh snow. the snow is teased back and forth or pulled like taffy and a think crackly sort of frozen candy results - always eaten on the spot. Doc - have you tried this?

[slbunge]

Possibly we could get some expert advice from your neighbor, regarding the different grades of maple syrup.

Grade A fancy as we know it, is used primarily for bottled pancake syrup. I'd like to hear about the "B" variety, best used for cooking.

We prefer Grade B or Grade C, both as pancake/waffle/french toast syrup and for cooking. Much stronger maple flavor, sometimes a bit of smokiness. We usually buy it in reasonably large bottles and keep it in the refrigerator.

Great thread by the way. I'd love to be there when you fire up the sugar shack.

[docsconz]

I'm hoping Sunday the shack will be fired up and I can be there to take some more photos and help out. It is a lot of fun and a great neighborhood experience. A lot of people pitch in and help out. It is a lot of work. I really admire my neighbors for their dedication to this as well as having a mini-farm with chickens and other animals. It makes for a great neighborhood environment.

The warm maple syrup rolled in fresh snow is my favorite maple treat.

[chickenlady]

Lots of sugaring going on up north of you too! Next weekend (3/20-21) is "Maple Weekend." Many local producers in Clinton and Essex Counties are having open house events.

Last year my husband made the mistake of pruning a damaged limb from one of our sugar maples. After several days of helplessly watching the chickens enjoy the collecting pool of sap, we decided to step in and collect it ourselves. Then we boiled it. In our kitchen. Do. Not. Do. This. Our pancake breakfast was followed by many hours of scrubbing to remove the candy coating in our kitchen.

One of the most charming tales in "Little House in the Big Woods" (first of the "Little House" series) is of the party the Ingalls have to celebrate the end of sugaring season. After boiling down the sap, they allow the children to ladle the maple onto trays of snow to shape their own maple candies.

[Pan]

We prefer Grade B or Grade C, both as pancake/waffle/french toast syrup and for cooking. Much stronger maple flavor, sometimes a bit of smokiness. We usually buy it in reasonably large bottles and keep it in the refrigerator.

I've never seen Grade C. Where do you get it?