Maple Syrup

When it looked like most of the water in the sap had evaporated and was turning brownish after boiling it for several hours outdoors in our evaporator, we brought the remaining liquid indoors to finish it on the stove.

To determine the boiling point of water today, we tested a thermometer in a pot of water of the stove. When the water began to boil we could see that 98 oC was the magic number. Then adding 4 oC to get to the syrup stage, we knew that we had to pull off the boiling sap at 102 oC.

The sap boiled indoors for about 45 minutes. The maple-y scented steam filled the air making our cottage smell wonderful.

In the end, we let it go to 103 oC. Because the cloth filter we used last year smelled musty despite being boiled and sterilized we opted to use paper coffee filters.  They worked perfectly.  In fact, they worked much better. They were time consuming but hey, we aren't going anywhere, so we'll continue to use them for upcoming batches.

We were surprised that the syrup was darker than the usual first run. Syrup made early in the season is lighter in colour. Well, no matter the colour…it tastes great!

Now to clean up all the sticky utensils and get ready for the next boil. It's supposed to be sunny and really warm tomorrow so the sap ought to be running like an open tap.