Raw friends,

I live in a sugarbush (that's a wooded area with many or mostly sugar maple trees) in Vermont (USA). We have a very small sugarbush (50 acres). We have neighbors that have hundreds of acres. We make maple syrup.

While maple syrup IS boiled, it does not and cannot have additives in it or preservatives without ruining the flavor. Maple syrup is very finicky! It's hard to make and easy to ruin. Here is how it is made:

A small, shallow hole is drilled in the side of a mature tree and a hollow plug is inserted into the hole. A bucket is then hung on the tree or tubing is connected between the trees. Tubing is not very common because it is expensive and very difficult to reuse. The tried and true method (walking through the woods to empty the buckets of sap by hand into a huge barrel) is still the standard. There is an old saying, "Time stands still in the sugarbush." This is true. Horses are still used to pull the sledges through the woods because no motorized vehicles could maneuver through the snow between the trees.

I guarantee that there are NO maple syrup producers in the whole country who will put a chemical of any kind on the holes in the trees. There is no need to do it! At the end of the sap run, which usually lasts about 2 - 3 weeks, the small plugs are removed and the trees naturally heal up the tiny hole. A new hole is drilled in a different place the following year. You can't use the same hole twice - ever. And you wouldn't want to - it would scar the tree and sap wouldn't come out of that hole.

Daily, because raw sap won't last more than a day without spoiling, the sap is boiled down over a wood fire - no other fuel can be used or the fire won't be the right temperature. The raw sap looks like water and if you taste it you get only a faintly sweet hint of maple flavor.

For every 40 gallons of sap you boil down, you get 1 gallon of maple syrup. The fire has to be monitored constantly to avoid a boil-over or a burn. In an evaporator pan, if the syrup maker is not experienced enough to monitor the fire properly, the sap can get too hot and threaten to boil-over. Then the fastest way to calm the bubbling syrup is to put a drop (one single drop!) of butter or cream on the pan. That's one drop per dozens of gallons of syrup that foams at the top of the syrup and gets skimmed off! (And this is a Newbie mistake that no experienced sugar maker would make!) NO chemicals can be added or the syrup would be ruined!

This can take 14-16 hours a day on a good day. So, you see how labor-intensive the syrup-making a process is. There is more to it - filtering through a wool felt funnel to remove any twigs or leaves or anything that might have fallen into the bucket, testing the density with a hygrometer (looks like a fat glass thermometer) and grading the syrup by color. But that is how you make syrup. There is no other way. There are no chemicals. There are no addititives. There is NO CHOICE!

So, if you do like maple syrup, you can eat it without worry. And I am not saying this for any gain on my part - we don't sell our syrup, we just make enough for our family and some friends and relatives. But I promise - syrup is safe and clean. If you DO want to eat it - ENJOY IT!

Thanks Hikergirl. That makes sense! I pulled that off a website on maple syrup and now that you mention it when I've seen it in Canada it's as you described too. I can believe that plastic tubing wouldn't work too well.. just imagine the maintenance keeping them clean and free flowing.

When I was little we made maple syrup a couple of times... what a fun process. Only once inside the house.. what a mess. After that outside. Maple sap flow coincided with March break, which was perfect!!

Cheers,
Sheryl

looks like we have both side of the coin here..

ive eaten a few recipies with a dash of maple syrup in it. im cool with that as long as its organic maple. ive had maybe 2 tablespoons this year.

ive visited a lot of non organic farms in my travels. and havent been impressed with what ive seen. i have more faith in organic. seeing the dudes walking around in space suits with masks and spraying monsanto juice around the place...nothing suprises me now when it comes to commercial foods. from feeding cement dust to cows, to putting chicken feathers into bread, or using hexanes to produce cooked chocolate...some people will do anything to make a buck..

rather than  panic, just go organic.