How We Make Maple Syrup
During Late Winter, Early Spring
Starting in mid February when the days are starting to get longer and warmer. We begin tapping trees, by drilling a small hole 1-1/2" to 2" deep into Maple Trees. Then a spout is tapped into the hole with a hammer and connected to a series of larger lines under vacuum to a central tank. Trees eight (8) inches and larger are tapped, with only five (5) taps on each 5/16" lateral line, which means multiple lines running throughout the woods.
Concentrating Sap
After the sap has been collected, it's pumped to a large holding tank where it's then tested for sugar content. On average the sap should be 2% sugar and 98% water, but this varies with temperature. Ideally we want a freeze at night 20 deg. F. and a warm day 40-45 Deg. F. In the perfect sugar-makers world a ratio of 40 gallons of Sap, to make one (1) gallon of syrup.
The sap in then run through a R.O. (Reverse Osmosis) machine to concentrate the sap to a higher sugar content.
The Boiling Process
After the sap has been concentrated, it's moves to the evaporator where extreme heat is applied to a series of stainless steel pans. Concentrated sap enters the rear pan (Flue Pan) and then passes through a series of channels in a continuous flow to the front pans, these also have separated chambers, with each chamber getting closer to syrup. Once the sap enters the very front chamber, and reaches the correct density, the Maple Syrup is drawn off to a tank for filtering.
Filtering and Bottling
The finished syrup is then pumped under pressure through the filter press where all impurities are removed, giving the syrup a shiny, crystal clear finish. From the filter press then off to a heated water jacketed canner where it's kept at a constant 180 Deg. F during bottling.
