Maple Syrup

I was going to post this as a reply to Josephine's fascinating post about maple sugaring in CT, but I thought it might be more appropriate to post here.

I used to work with the International Maple Syrup Institute. They had a great video of the process, which I'll link to if I can find it online.

But in the meantime, there are other interesting videos of the process, (Wisconsin-based) including this and this.

It’s the end of the season, so they’re probably putting out some of the great, more flavorful Grade B and Grade C product right now.

I made my post on the process in Josephine's thread but I have to ask: is grade C available anywhere except by purchasing directly from the makers? It's hard enough to find grade B anymore, I'd love to get my hands on the next grade if it can be had....

When I first started working with the IMSI, only Grade A was available in consumer-sized containers - if you wanted Grade B, you couldn't get it in less than one gallon tins. The thinking at the time was that the syrup was used only on pancakes and waffles, and Grade B would be too strong for that, and turn people off of real maple syrup, driving them to the much cheaper fake maple syrups, which are mostly corn syrup with a bit of maple flavoring. (I think the fake maple syrups had about 90% of the market at the time.)

All of which, of course, is irrelevant to your question, Gypsy Boy.

I don't know where you can buy Grade C, but if you boil down some Grade B syrup, you'll have a reasonable approximation.

Some years ago, my son and his family were touring New England for the fall colors, and stopped at a roadside maple boilery. The owner, who was stirring a kettle of syrup at the time, said they should only get Grade B, since it was much more flavorful than A.

We have stuck to that grade ever since then.

TJ's has a nice big bottle of Grade B for a fairly reasonable price. They also have several containers of Grade A, but we don't get them.

I'm also a sorghum syrup fan. You almost have to to go to Knaw Bone, IN to get the good stuff. If you find some elsewhere, read the label carefully to make sure you're not getting a bucket of corn syrup with a little sorghum flavoring.

If you ever get close to central Indiana, stop at Colombus, IN and see the architectural monuments throuhout the town. Columbus is the home of the Cummins Diesel corporation, and for decades they have contributed to the community by underwriting the fees of the world's foremost architects to design both public and private buildings. They don't pay for the construction, but the design fees, which can be considerable.

There are buildings, churches, libraries, fire stations, and others designed by both Saarinens, Richard Meier, I M Pei, and every other prominent architect you have ever heard about.

The city has tours to view these, with docents who explain their backgrounds. Columbus is about 50 miles south of Indianpplis on I 65, and Knaw Bone is about 15 miles west of there on State Route 46.

They got good sorghum molasses.

Mike

Seek, as they say, and ye shall find the answer to your question:

"Grade C Maple Syrup is no longer used by USDA. Grade C Maple Syrup is now designated USDA Grade B Maple Syrup.

Grade B maple syrup is made towards the end of the sugaring season as the weather warms toward spring and the maple trees end their winter dormancy. Grade B maple syrup is much darker in color and has a strong robust flavor which makes it more suitable for flavoring and cooking. It is thought that this late season syrup contains more minerals than the other grades of maple syrup....

There is one grade of maple syrup not commonly known to, or sold to, the retail buying public. Maple syrup Grade C (commercial) is sold only in bulk (40 gallon barrels) to industrial producers of maple flavored products. Any food product claiming to be flavored with real maple syrup, ie: maple flavored bacon, hot and cold maple flavored cereal, imitation “maple” syrup etc., will use commercial grade syrup as an additional additive for flavoring.

Grade C (commercial) is the last syrup made during the sugaring season. It is very dark and may have an off taste, a burnt taste or even be fermented. Although some grade C maple syrup may have a good flavor, it is not to be repackaged in retail containers."

All of which I took from this very interesting site. Every other site I checked said essentially the same thing. I even turned up the interesting fact (at least to me) that some folks call grade C "Vermont Asphalt." But we're not going to having grade C at home unless we either make it ourselves or cadge some directly from a producer or commercial/industrial user.

Gypsy Boy wrote:There is one grade of maple syrup not commonly known to, or sold to, the retail buying public. Maple syrup Grade C (commercial) is sold only in bulk (40 gallon barrels) to industrial producers of maple flavored products. Any food product claiming to be flavored with real maple syrup, ie: maple flavored bacon, hot and cold maple flavored cereal, imitation “maple” syrup etc., will use commercial grade syrup as an additional additive for flavoring.

Grade C (commercial) is the last syrup made during the sugaring season. It is very dark and may have an off taste, a burnt taste or even be fermented. Although some grade C maple syrup may have a good flavor, it is not to be repackaged in retail containers."[/i]

One of the general rules that I have heard from many of the Ohio maple producers is that you MUST stop gathering syrup when the trees start to bud. Otherwise, you get a syrup that has an off-taste. In fact most producers do not want to run that through their evaporator.

On year my FIL continued to collect syrup after budding and produced some grade C syrup. It had an off-taste but they canned it and sold it to Staley Continental. While the taste was unpleasant, financially, it was a good decision as he received about $35/gallon 15-20 years ago.

FYI: A little late now, but in March, Chicago's North Park Nature Centerthey have a maple syrup festival which includes collecting and boiling the sap to make syrup.

Mhays wrote:FYI: A little late now, but in March, Chicago's North Park Nature Centerthey have a maple syrup festival which includes collecting and boiling the sap to make syrup.

I attended this one year and was very dissapointed to find that although there were maple syrup demonstrations, when you finally got to the food tents where they were selling pancakes they only offered Mrs. Butterworth's, which is nothing more than flavored corn syrup. I felt cheap and used. I haven't returned.

Wow - I'd be equally ticked, especially since the website specifies sap collecting and boiling demonstrations, it would be safe to assume you'd get to eat some!

A couple years ago some kids went and made the process into a project for our school's science fair, bringing the various stages of sap - so I assume they offered samples at some point in the past....

Maple syrup stolen in Quebec seized by police in New Brunswick

Quebec police have seized between 700 and 800 barrels of maple syrup from a New Brunswick exporter, linking the drums to August’s massive heist of the sweet stuff.
...
St-Pierre said each barrel weighs about 270 kilograms and holds 170 litres of syrup, meaning police seized at least 119,000 litres of gooey Quebec gold.
...
The facility held about 3.75 million litres of syrup, enough to fill one and a half Olympic swimming pools.
...

So, that means that there is still 1/2 of on olympic sized swimming pool's worth of syrup missing...or were the theives really big fans of pancakes.?.?

What an interesting thread. My family goes through an inordinate amount of maple syrup as buckwheat pancakes and steal cut outs are 1 & 2 most frequent breakfasts with grape nuts being #3, all of which can be sweetened with syrup. We are serious enough to bring real syrup from home when we eat out.

Currently buying 32oz jars of grade b for about 17 dollars each through amazon. Anyone have better ideas on where to buy a good know where we can get a good syrup at a fair price.

Also, I recently became aware our in laws from Europe e had never seen maple syrup though they have plenty of maple trees. I guess I always assumed that maple syrup was ubiquitous anywhere that has a similar climate and not a north american phenomenon. Due to our overseas family and news reports of the recent heist of the worlds strategic maple syrup reserve I am wondering if anyone is making urban syrup or has an idea about guerrilla syrup production near chicago.

maple syrup - the true patriots sweetener

third coast foodie wrote:What an interesting thread. My family goes through an inordinate amount of maple syrup as buckwheat pancakes and steal cut outs are 1 & 2 most frequent breakfasts with grape nuts being #3, all of which can be sweetened with syrup. We are serious enough to bring real syrup from home when we eat out.

Currently buying 32oz jars of grade b for about 17 dollars each through amazon. Anyone have better ideas on where to buy a good know where we can get a good syrup at a fair price.

Also, I recently became aware our in laws from Europe e had never seen maple syrup though they have plenty of maple trees. I guess I always assumed that maple syrup was ubiquitous anywhere that has a similar climate and not a north american phenomenon. Due to our overseas family and news reports of the recent heist of the worlds strategic maple syrup reserve I am wondering if anyone is making urban syrup or has an idea about guerrilla syrup production near chicago.

maple syrup - the true patriots sweetener

First, there is minimal maple syrup production in the State of Illinois. There is a place called Funk's Grove just south of Bloomington, IL that makes maple syrup. Generally, they are sold out by this time of year but calls are cheap

http://funksmaplesirup.com/

Second, my in-laws produce maple syrup in NE Ohio. They produce about 80-100 gallons per year. This past year was a bit of an "off year" as the season started in late January and lasted about three weeks. I have no idea as to what they have left now but I could call. I don't have a price but $40/ gallon sounds about right. My wife's cousins have a real commercial operation that makes about 1500 gallons per season but they also had an off year. And I will not be in Ohio until Thanksgiving.

Third, you do NOT make syrup from maple trees. You make them from a specific maple variety - the sugar maple. And you have to locate a property where there are HUNDREDS in a vicinity. Or you can grow your own but you will have a 30-40 year wait before you get enough sap to gather.

McHenry Co. Conservation District does a maple syrup demonstration a year. They have at least $10k in the most modern equipment and techniques ... and produce 3-5 gallons per year - taxpayer dollars at work.

If you are looking for cheap maple syrup, the best source locally is Costco. The product they sell is pretty decent and is sourced from Quebec. I only get there a few times a year as I am not a member and I can't remember how much they charge.

I get mine for free.

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/ ... -trickery/

Seems that some maple syrup producers are practicing "bait & switch".

third coast foodie wrote:Anyone have better ideas on where to buy a good know where we can get a good syrup at a fair price.

I've been buying from Couture's Maple for years -- a gallon jug lasts a very long time - last time I bought from them was 2010, and it's still good.

They sell Grade B for $10 for a pint to $48 for a gallon. (Grade A is two bucks more expensive per gallon, but not in the small containers). It's not lightweight stuff, so Amazon free shipping might be better than their $17.50 shipping charge on a gallon (again, that was 2010).

Tom wrote:http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/beware-grade-b-maple-syrup-trickery/

Seems that some maple syrup producers are practicing "bait & switch".

Both the samples that the link showed appear to me to be Grade B. If someone sold me the lighter one as Grade A, I would be very upset.

I would also like to see the sap where it only takes 20-30 gallons to make a gallon of syrup. Forty gallons is a lot more like it.

Third Coast - years ago I lived in New Hampshire and we were friends with a major syrup producer so we had great supplies (and got to sit around the boiler and sip tea made from condensed maple steam with healthy shots of jim beam as a chaser on those cold end of winter nights - they boiled only with wood so keeping the fire going was a communal party).

During those years, I also would go every March to Germany for the CeBIT trade show in Hannover and my German colleagues and I ate most nights at a truly great Italian spot called Da VInci (http://www.rist-da-vinci.de/eng_index.html) and Sr Pollicini, the host, was so gracious to us every year -- and generous with after dinner glasses of iced peach vodka! -- so we would bring him NH Maple Syrup which was completely unknown there.

There is a maple syrup festival every year at the North Park Village Nature Center. I believe it's mid-March as a rule. This Chicago Park District park is on the grounds of the old municipal TB sanitarium, which was formerly Mr. Peterson's (as in Peterson Avenue) tree nursery.

I buy our maple syrup at Costco; I can't remember what I paid last time. Price varies with the market.

Just to toot my own horn a bit, you maple syrup fans might enjoy this:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=23359

Geo

In August of this year there was a huge heist of $30 million dollars worth of syrup form a warehouse in Quebec, Canada. I wonder if there is a 'terrior' of maple syrup from the Northeast vs. the Midwest? Can anyone tell the difference?

The syrup producers I knew in NH certainly claimed regional superiority to other locales and would often compare themselves to Canadian syrups - being of course much superior!

Amongst the different farms, there were clearly noticeable differences in quality and flavor - I was partial to a small producer near me whose syrup had more kick than some of the bigger farms that blended over a wider range of trees.

And if anyone is in NH during syrup season, breakfast at Stuart and John's is pretty wonderful (though I see they have expanded their menu beyond basic waffles, pancakes and plain donuts which may be a bad sign) - they bring you a plate with pancakes and a pitcher of syrup warm from the boiler ... now that's living!

http://www.stuartandjohnssugarhouse.com/index.asp

Recently purchased 32oz jug of Canadian Grade B from Trader Joesfor under 13 dollars. Pretty good stuff and definately better than what amazon is now offering at a si I,are price. BTW, anyone else about done with amazon subscribe and save program - they have raised the price or discontinued every item I had signed up for.

Recently purchased 32oz jug of Canadian Grade B from Trader Joes for under 13 dollars. Pretty good stuff and definitely better than what amazon is now offering at a similar price. BTW, anyone else about done with amazon subscribe and save program - they have raised the price or discontinued every item I had signed up for.



edited for spelling

we buy dried cherries from MI with the Amazon subscribe and save program and see prices change throughout the year.
3 # cherries have run from 18 to 30 dollars they are getting toward the higher end at the moment.

We buy maple syrup in Amish country in Ohio or Indiana. Trader Joe's Grade B is also on our shelf. And I just discovered that Aldi sells an 8 oz bottle of maple syrup pretty cheap. I bought a bottle to compare all three and will open this weekend.

Elfin wrote: And I just discovered that Aldi sells an 8 oz bottle of maple syrup pretty cheap.

Cheap indeed. It was $1.89 at mine (Maywood). If I didn't already have a couple of quarts on hand I would have been tempted.

Cathy2 wrote:Maple syrup stolen in Quebec seized by police in New Brunswick

Quebec police have seized between 700 and 800 barrels of maple syrup from a New Brunswick exporter, linking the drums to August’s massive heist of the sweet stuff.
...
St-Pierre said each barrel weighs about 270 kilograms and holds 170 litres of syrup, meaning police seized at least 119,000 litres of gooey Quebec gold.
...
The facility held about 3.75 million litres of syrup, enough to fill one and a half Olympic swimming pools.
...

The full story of the great maple syrup heist is on Businessweek.

Regards,

Vermont has adopted new international labeling standards. The new system eliminates the B and C grades for all syrup that is boiled down from sap, without any additives or preservatives. Instead, this pure syrup will be classified as grade A, and differentiated with labels describing color and flavor combinations such as “gold and delicate,” “amber and rich,” and “very dark and strong.”

Cathy2 wrote:

Vermont has adopted new international labeling standards. The new system eliminates the B and C grades for all syrup that is boiled down from sap, without any additives or preservatives. Instead, this pure syrup will be classified as grade A, and differentiated with labels describing color and flavor combinations such as “gold and delicate,” “amber and rich,” and “very dark and strong.”

This seems less precise than the old grading system, but, unless you're buying the canned stuff from Quebec, looking at the color of the syrup through the bottle should tell you all you need to know.

Looks like a shrewd business move to me, at least from the producers' point of view.

From the consumers', this could mean the end of spending less for Grade B...