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Maple syrup from tree trunk to table
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Halloween has come and gone - Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. It is undeniably fall and with fall, comes fall flavors. An infamous fall flavor is the sweet sugary sap that we call maple syrup. There is some interesting history behind this majestic substance. Native peoples living in the northeastern part of the United States were the first known people to collect and use maple sap. Later, Europeans adopted the maple harvesting techniques of the Native Americans and applied it to their own lifestyles and diets. Today maple syrup is a staple item in many homes around the world.
When the Algonquin peoples recognized the sap as a source of delicious energy and nutrition, they began developing methods of harvesting and consuming the sap. Using stone tools, they made V-shaped incisions in the trees, then inserted reeds or concave pieces of bark to run the sap into buckets. After the syrup was collected the native peoples used a variety of methods to concentrate the sap into syrup. One approach to concentrating the sugar was to drop hot cooking stones into the buckets. Another method entailed leaving the buckets exposed to cold temperatures overnight, and, later disposing of the layer of ice that formed on top. Native Americans also used earthenware-cooking pots to boil the maple sap.
In the beginning stages of European colonization, the indigenous people of the northeastern portion of the United States showed the arriving colonists how to tap the trunks of certain types of maple trees and harvest the sap. The Europeans slightly altered the processing methods, with their access to more advanced technologies. Metallurgy and tool making, allowed the Europeans an edge in certain steps of maple syrup harvesting. So, with the exception of this new technological advantage that the Europeans possessed, the syrup making approach remained essentially the same until around the time of the American Civil War. At this time syrup makers began using a large flat metal pan for boiling the sap. This simple change, expedited the boiling process because the previously used heavy round iron kettles let much of the heated air escape.
While for many years syrup making was a self-sufficient enterprise with large families to maintain it, the industry eventually outgrew this approach. Syrup making being so labor intensive, made hiring labor very expensive. In order to maintain a syrup farm, a business needed large crews to gather all the buckets and haul the sap to the evaporator house. The response to this dilemma was tubing systems.
The efficient systems were perfected so that the sap came directly from the tree to the evaporator house. The tubing systems became more and more advanced. Eventually vacuum pumps were added to the tubing systems. By adding pre-heaters, the systems recycled heat lost in the steam. Reverse-osmosis machines took a portion of water out of the sap before it was boiled, which decreased the boiling time.
The technological developments did not stop. Tubing improvements, new filtering techniques, "supercharged" pre-heaters, and better storage containers are just a few of the developments that continue to aid the syrup making process with efficiency. A process that once involved hacking a V-shape into a maple tree and harvesting its sap is now an incredibly sophisticated system that provides maple syrup for not just one tribe, but for the world.
Maple Syrup Grade
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for assigning grades to the maple syrup sold in the U.S. The grading of syrup sold in the United States is voluntary (like USDA Beef Grading).
The Grades are as follows:
Grade A Light Amber (or Fancy)
Very light in color and has a faint, delicate maple flavor. Typically made early in the season when the weather is colder. This grade of syrup is often served with morning pancakes or used for making maple candies.
Grade A Medium Amber
This grade is darker than light amber, with an easily discernable maple flavor. Medium amber is great for baking because it has a stronger flavor than Light Amber.
Grade A Dark Amber
This syrup is very dark and has a strong maple flavor. Some people enjoy this stronger flavor and use it as table syrup, but this grade is mostly used for cooking and baking.
Grade B, also referred to as Cooking Syrup
This syrup is extremely dark in color and has an intense maple taste as well as slight caramel notes. With such a strong flavor, this syrup is predominantly used for baking.
