Posted on 09/10/2012 4:09:23 AM PDT by nuconvert
On Friday, news broke that thieves had stolen $30 million dollars worth of Quebec's strategic maple syrup reserves. Much as the United States keeps a stock of extra oil buried in underground salt caverns to use in case of a geopolitical emergency, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers has been managing warehouses full of surplus sweetener since 2000. The crooks seem to have made off with more than a quarter of the province's backup supply.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Just in case Vermont ever closes their border with Canada.
#12
Been there. The smell in those buildings is - amazing.
I have been making my own maple syrup for two years now. Go on ebay and look for spiles...... the now obsolete device to tap the trees. There are numerous on line sources of how to info. Real syrup makers use taps connected to plastic hose nowdays.
I use my camping stove running on propane to boil the sap down. I do the boiling an an $8.00 Walmart turkey roasting pan. I collect the sap in 2.5 gallon white food grade icing pails obtained from the local supermarket bakery.
The results are a very good and delicious syrup.
Rule of thumb...... 10 gallons of sap yield 1 quart of syrup. When the sap is flowing, 10 gallons is not much of a problem
This couple decided to make maple syrup and started tapping trees. One of my cousins, who is locally known for his dry wit (read: he's a wiseass) watched them work pretty hard for an hour or so, before he wandered over to ask what they were doing.
"Getting maple syrup, of course", approximately, was the answer.
"Well", my cousin replied, "It's a little late to put taps in. It's May now, taps should go in while the syrup is running. March would be better, depending on the weather and so on. And, you'll have a hard time getting syrup from a tree. You'll need to get the sap, and boil it down. Takes a fair bit of time and patience."
He continued, "But mostly, you'll have a problem getting Maple Sap out of an oak tree."
True story. And, I've made maple syrup before (with that same cousin). Its a lot of work, but the payoff is good. I was up there this summer, and the hippie dippie neighbors were gone. I'd imagine they bugged out after getting their first taste of real winter, though I don't know that for sure.
And I'm shuddering at the thought of what oak sap would taste like. BLEAH!
He should then have pointed to a pine and said that is a sugar maple and is what you need to be tapping.
I think that he’s a wiseass, not a sadist. :-)
For the same reason the US Gov’mnt fiddles around with sugar?
Its a political lever..for the politicians to play with...
http://www.cato.org/pubs/tbp/tbp-013.pdf
It could present a sticky problem trying to unload that much maple syrup, if that's what they intended.
We would if we could.
Sweet...
This is from The Atlantic......it’s a very important magazine.....they have very important writers who cover very important subjects. They have an article in the next issue titled SOCKS: COMFORT OR TASTY SNACK?
The Canadians use Maple Syrup as bait. Like how we use feed corn for deer, they use maple syrup when hunting bunnies with pancakes on their heads.
You will get sap from all of these trees. The difference is the sugar content of the sap. Sugar maples have the highest sugar content of all the major hardwood trees even among the other maples. The result is you will have to boil down many more gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup.
For example, Sugar maples average 35-40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. A hickory may be more than 100 to 1.
Red Maples and silver maples would be your best course of action. Try freezing the sap or collecting it early in the morning as opposed to late in the afternoon. This is what I do. This results in ice in the container(I use 1 gallon plastic milk jugs). The ice will be 100% water. The remaining sap in the center of the container will have a heavier concentration of sugar. This then requires less boiling to make syrup. Apparentely, this is how the Native Americans would make syrup by repeatedly leaving it ouside to freeze and then drawing off the sap in the middle.
FYI, this is also how you make Apple Jack from hard cider. Leave the gallon cider container outside at night or stick it in your freezer. Drill a hole into the center of the container and drain off the liquid in the middle. The liquid in the middle will have all the alcohol in it that does not freeze.
if there was a drought then all the manufacturers from the tree sap collectors to boilers and bottlers and shippers are out of work.
So, it is like money in the bank to tide you over until the next paycheck.
I call BS. I'll bet this is either a case of empty barrels being delivered and counted as full, or some other accounting error.
About how much does each tree produce. How long does it take to produce that quantity?
Also, buy the book:
“Backyard Sugarin”
http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Sugarin-Complete-How-To-Edition/dp/0881502162
It will teach you everything to know.
You will need some basic supplies also. Taps, funnel, 5 gallon containers. Yoou can get those from Bascoms Maple in Alstead, NH. Bascoms also sells the book.
I have been making syrup for about 10 years. I make 2-4 gallons a year. I give most of it away.
Your story just proves once again that Mainers are the nicest, most patient people on earth!
I just looked and they are readily available. Thanks.
Will do. Thanks.
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