How to Make Maple Syrup in New Hampshire

Making maple syrup is a great way to spend time with the family. In New Hampshire about 90,000 gallons of Maple sap is collected every year. There are instructions below on making your own Maple syrup at home.

How is Maple Syrup Made?

Maple Syrup is made by collecting sap from Maple trees and boiling the sap down until you have Maple syrup. Maple sap from the tree is about 98% water and 2% sugar. Finished Maple syrup is 33% water and 67% sugar.

What Time of Year Can You Get Sap From a Maple Tree?

Maple syrup making in New Hampshire usually lasts for about 4-6 weeks and starts around the middle to the end of February and can last until mid April depending on the temperatures. Cold nights that fall below freezing and warm days makes the Maple sap flow the best. Maple syrup runs out of any holes or scrapes in the tree bark this time of year as a result of the frozen sap inside the Maple tree thawing and building up pressure in the tree. This pressure is what forces the sap from the holes in the Maple tree.

How Much Maple Sap Does it Take to Make Maple Syrup?

It takes approximately 40-45 gallons of Maple sap to make just one gallon of Maple syrup. This can vary from different types of Maple trees. This can also vary depending on how you tap the Maple tree, the temperature outside and the time of season. During the "Sugar Run" Maple sap can run fast. So be sure to check your buckets often.

What Kind of Maple Trees Can You Tap To Get Maple Sap?

It is best to use Sugar Maple and Red Maple trees to collect sap. The sap from these trees has a higher sugar content and will produce more Maple syrup per gallon of Maple sap.

Maple Syrup Making Instructions:

To make Maple Syrup at home, you will need to get a few items. The items below are for the backyarder, If you decide to do this professionally, you should get better equipped.

• Taps (these can usually be found at feed/farm supply stores or online)

• Buckets (you can buy the real maple syrup collecting buckets from a farm supply store, online or you can even use a 5 gallon pail). If you use a pail you will need to make a cover for each pail. Make sure buckets are clean but do not use soap to clean them as it will change the taste of your Maple syrup, be sure they are well rinsed and never used for hazardous chemicals.

• A candy thermometer (found at cooking stores or craft supply stores)

• Large pots/pans to boil sap in. If you're boiling alot of Maple sap, it should be done outside and by using a larger set up like an empty 55 gallon metal drum for a fire pit with a large pan on top.

• Cheesecloth (coffee filters if you have nothing else)

• Containers to put your Maple syrup in when done.

How to Tap a Maple Tree:

Maple trees should be a minimum of 8" in diameter. Smaller trees work, but it's usually not worth the trouble. Holes should be drilled about 4-5 feet from the ground. Drill the hole for the tap (normally 1/2" diameter holes but be sure to check your taps). Holes are normally drilled about 2" deep into the Maple tree, but again, be sure to check the depth of the tap. Place the tap in the Maple tree, gently bang it with a hammer if needed. The tap should be tight in the tree. You should already see Maple sap slowly dripping from the tap. Place the hook that came with the tap onto the tap and hang the bucket from the hook. It is best to keep the top of the bucket covered to prevent rain, tree bark or other objects from getting into the sap. As an alternative to the normal maple syrup collecting buckets, you can use an idea we came up with as shown below:

This is a simple and much less expensive solution than the traditional metal buckets. We used Tractor Supply buckets ($3.99/each, plus the lids for $1.99/each. The used 3/4" ID clear tubing at $1.39/foot. You will need about 10" of tubing per bucket. If you use this method, be sure to use the metal taps as the plastic maple syrup taps won't hold the weight of 5 gallons of sap and will break, or you can buy more tubing and place the buckets on the ground or on blocks and extend the tubing from the Maple tree. We drilled 3/4" holes in the plastic lids, this will make the seal between the clear tubing and the lids very tight and will keep out and debris, rain or snow from entering the sap in the bucket.

Storing Maple Sap:

It is best not to store Maple sap for very long. Once the bucket is full, you should begin the boiling process. Storing Maple sap will make the sap spoil.

How to Boil Maple Sap Into Sugar:

Boiling Maple sap and turning it into Maple syrup is a slow process. The goal is to boil out most of the water, leaving the Maple syrup. If you plan on boiling down sap in the house, there are a few things to remember. First, boiling Maple sap produces lots of steam that will coat your walls, ceiling, windows, cabinets, and everything else nearby with moisture from the boiling Maple sap. There is also a little bit of sugar evaporating as well. So not only will the humidity and sweet smell fill the air and your wallpaper peel off, but it will also attract ants a few weeks later....  lots of ants! So you will need to ventilate the area well and wash down what does get coated in moisture or you will be buying ant traps by the truckload. It is best to boil the Maple sap outside. A cheap solution for boiling Maple sap outside is to use a 55 Gallon metal drum that was used for food products like juices, drinks or cooking oils as shown in the photos below:

We used a regular 55 gallon drum (used for food products) with a permanent lid. We flipped the drum upside down, cut 2 holes to use as burners, then added metal braces we purchased at the hardware store to reinforce the top to place the 2 pots on. This will prevent the top from caving in when it gets hot.

We cut a small hole halfway between the top and bottom of the drum to feed the wood into. We removed the threaded drain plugs from the bottom (originally the top) of the drum to allow air into the bottom of the fire. Use extreme caution, the drum gets very hot!

When boiling Maple sap, don't let the sap boil all the way down. You want to keep the boiling pot of sap topped off. You will also want to skim off the foam from the top of the boiling Maple sap.

How to "Finish" Maple Syrup:

The finishing process of Maple syrup can be a little tricky. Maple syrup is finished when it is boiling at 7.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the temperature that water boils at for that day and your area. To find the temperature of boiling water for your area and daily conditions, boil a small pot of water on your stove top. Most commonly water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Different altitudes have different boiling points. Using 212 degrees Fahrenheit as an example, the Maple syrup would be done when it is boiling at 219 degrees... But again, be sure to check as it is important you get it right. If it's not right the Maple syrup will go bad and all your efforts are lost!

Once the Maple syrup gets close to being finished, watch the Maple syrup very closely as it can boil over fast and make a huge mess! You will notice the bubbles get smaller and more frequent, almost like fizz from a softdrink, but a lot more bubbles. You may also notice the Maple syrup sticks to the spoon a little when you are skimming off the foam from the Maple syrup in the boiling pot. It will also begin tasting like Maple syrup. These are all signs that your Maple syrup is either done or almost done.

Remember, the Maple syrup is done boiling when the temperature reaches 7 degrees Fahrenheit over the temperature that water boils at in your area.

Filtering the Maple Syrup:

Now that the Maple syrup is done, you will want to get all the objects that are floating around in the pot. You can either strain the Maple syrup through a cheesecloth or coffee filter or you can let the Maple syrup cool down and settle. The objects that were floating around will sink to the bottom as will the Maple Sugar sediment (Aka 'Maple Sand" or "Sugar Sand"). Once it all settles, carefully pour off the "Good" Maple syrup, leaving the junk and sugar sand in the bottom in the pot.

Storing Maple Syrup:

The best way to store Maple syrup is to put it in the freezer (Maple syrup won't freeze if it's finished correctly, if it does freeze, it needs to be boiled down more). Be sure to check it occasionally.

You can also bottle it or can it. If you decide to bottle it or can it you will want to pour the syrup in the containers at about 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit and seal them well to prevent it from spoiling.