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Thirty-four to One Syrup
Thirty-four to One Syrup Black Maple Tree No, that is not how many miles to a gallon of gas, but the 34 gallons of raw maple sap water to produce 1 gallon of maple syrup. When you think of maple syrup, one thinks of Vermont with snowy scenery of maple trees all with little buckets capturing the sap from the largest sugar daddies ever. That we can enjoy this sweet by-product of a trees is quite surprising. The range of the maple tree types that produce the sugary water sap that is boiled down into a syrup in North America is contained in a very limited range of areas where the maple tree that produces sap water grows. The range of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and black maple (Acer nigrum) the two of thirteen native North American species used commercially that are tapped for their sap have a limited range. As a farm industry, the trees are not cultivated as a crop but as a industry of opportunity, The maple trees species naturally occur through out Canada and the United States but only .03 percent of available trees are tapped to gather the maple sap. "Black maple's natural range extends from New England, New York & southern Quebec, through southern Ontario, central Michigan and northern Wisconsin into southern Minnesota; south to northeast Kansas and Missouri; and east through Tennessee, to North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey." (1) The Black maple has a greater range than the Sugar maple and is able to withstand warmer and dryer climates often being the dominant tree in a forest. The Black maple has similar characteristic leaves, bark, twigs, and fruits as Sugar maple, Red maple and Silver maple. "All have leaves of similar shape: a single leaf blade with the characteristic maple shape, 3-5 lobes radiating out like fingers from the palm of a hand (palmately lobed) with notches (called sinuses)between the lobes."(2) The Black maple is distinguished by its three-lobed leaves although it can at times have five-lobed leaves. Growing to over 80 feet and with diameters of 2 to 3 feet, the Black maple is also noted for producing interesting pattens called "curly", "tiger" or "bird's eye" in the wood. These "grains" in the Black maples are valued for cabinet making and wood craft. In late winter, the sap flows in the Black maple in the outer layer of the tree called the "sap wood" which is just behind the bark of the tree. It takes 40 to 60 years before a tree may have sufficient sap wood that will allow the tree to be tapped to capture the tree sap. To obtain the sap, a small hole, around .5-inches in diameter is drilled or bored into the sap wood of a tree. If the stand of trees have been thinned out, it will dramatically reduce the age needed for the tree to grow to a tap size and age. On larger trees 3 to 4 tapings may be done. Each tapping hole can produce from 5 to 15 gallons of sap depending on the sap wood and age of the Black maple. Sap flows from late winter to just before the tree begins to bun or put out leaves for the new year of growth. A tapping spouts that is hollow is placed in the tap hole and driven in to make a tight fit. The sap is collected in buckets with protective coverings to prevent trash and rain water from entering the bucket and spoiling the sap water collected. The sap water is collected every day or two depending on the sap flow which can be quite abundant. The sap water is transfered to portable tanks and taken to the cooking shed or production facility to be reduced into a syrup. The sap water can have a sugar "brix" (method of measuring sugar content of sugar dissolved in a liquid measured by a refractometer) of 10 degrees to 30 degrees plus. A 10 degree brix means that 10 degrees of the liquid measured has 10 percent sugar dissolved in 90 percent of a liquid. Black maple as a sugar tree has a high sap sugar content generally averaging between 2.0 and 2.5 percent sap sugar content, and its late date to begin to bun in the spring makes it an ideal source for sap water. In hobby syrup makers, the cooking shed may be no more than an open kettle over a fire. In commercial syrup making facilities, the sap water is reduced by modern evaporating pans to aid the reduction process. Sap water with a 2.5 degree brix would need about 34 gallons of sap water to be reduced to make 1 gallon of syrup. As the sap water is reduced, the higher density liquid may be transferred to other pans to reduce the liquid to a concentration of 65.5 degrees brix which is approximately 86 percent solids by weight. The slower the process the darker the syrup will be, while quicker evaporation will yield a lighter colored syrup. Sugar sand, calcium malate granules, may have been produced during the evaporating process. These granules are removed to give table syrup it clear liquid quality. Centrifuges and filters are used in the finishing process to achieve the standard quality that the public expects.
Various other types of maple products are produced by further heating the syrup. When heated to a boiling point of 230 degrees Fahrenheit and cooled rapidly while stirring, crystals of sugar are formed. Further processing can yield a supersaturated solution that results in very fine sugar crystals. These products can be found in the market place as fine and superfine maple sugars. Whether on your pancakes or on your waffles as maple syrup, as fine crystals for your coffee, maple spread on your toast or in maple candies, the flavor of the Black maple tree is distinctive and is a tasty treats.
Research From:
(1) http://www.mapleinfo.org/htm/blackm.cfm
(2) http://www.massmaple.org/treeID.html
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Crops/Black_sugar_maple.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Maple
http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/atlas/little/acernigr.pdf
http://www.mapleinfo.org/htm/fun_mapletrivia.cfm
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/acer/nigrum.htm zzzzz
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This intel was contributed by The MUSEUM
The MUSEUM
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May, 2012
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