Why Maple Syrup is So Expensive

Those of us who make maple syrup know this stuff, but for those of you who wonder what/when/why, check out this article in the Huffington Post.

Why Maple Syrup Is So Damn Expensive

Changing Out Sugar for Maple Syrup?

Your Maple Syrup Maven can't figure out who's behind the Ochef.com site, but there's lots of cooking information here.

Let's start with a question many of us have thought about: Are sugar, brown sugar, honey and maple syrup interchangeable in recipes?

Ochef says (not surprisingly), "no".

"First of all, consider the difference in weight. A cup of granulated sugar weighs 8 ounces. A cup of brown sugar weighs only 6 [ounces]. But a cup of maple syrup weighs 11 ounces and a cup of honey weighs 12 [ounces]."

"In addition, honey and maple syrup add moisture to a recipe, which can upset the texture of what you’re making."

Here are some of their substitution suggestions (see the whole answer for more info):

"# To use maple syrup in place of sugar in cooking, use 3/4 cup for every 1 cup of sugar.
# To use maple syrup in place of a cup of sugar in baking, use 3/4 cup, but decrease the total amount of liquid in the recipe by about 3 tablespoons for each cup of syrup you use.
# To use sugar in place of a cup of maple syrup, use 1-1/4 cups of sugar plus 1/4 cup more liquid."

Randall B. Heiligmann Tells All

Instructions for making maple syrup are especially detailed on this fact sheet from Ohio State University Extension (that's a spout inserted into a maple tree, at left).

"If you have access to a few maple trees, whether growing in your yard or in a woodland, you can produce your own maple syrup and even enough extra to use as gifts for family or friends. It's easy, great fun, and a very educational family activity," Heiligmann writes -- and then tells exactly how to do it!

How To Tap Maple Trees and Make Maple Syrup

There's little ambiguity in the "how to" site from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Its bulletin #7036 gives just two paragraphs of history before launching into complete instructions. "A tree should be at least 10 inches in diameter," they caution, "measured at 4-1/2 feet above the ground, before tapping." There's even a bibliography for further reading. Check it out at here.

New Hampshire's first rite of spring

"March is maple sugaring time in New Hampshire. This uniquely North American natural phenomenon Nature is not restricted to the calendar like school vacations, holidays or town meeting day, but is dictated solely by day-night weather changes. Cold nights in the 20's followed by warm days when the temperatures go up into the 40's, absent a chilling wind, are the requirements for the sap to run.

"Our sugaring season can begin in late February and run into early April and even stop in between. Although sugaring season does coincide with mud season, no one knows how long the season is going to be until after it's over."

Read more at the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service website.

Making Maple Syrup

“The process of making Pure Maple Syrup is much the same today as it was hundreds of years ago. Sap is obtained from a group of maple trees and the water removed until the proper density is reached.”

There’s more where that came from at ”How Maple Syrup is Made” on the Maple Producers of Connecticut website.

The Basic ABC's of Maple Sugaring

Barbara Mills Lassonde, publicist for the New Hampshire Maple Producers, has a nifty one-page description of how sap can be turned into sugar.

Identifying Maple Trees

Sugar Maple bark, fruit, leaf and twig
There are thirteen native maple species in North America, according to the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association.

While most of these species are probably tapped to some extent, at least by hobbyists, sugar and black maple, along with red maple (Acer rubrum), provide most of the commercial sap.

The association has an online guide to help you figure out which trees to tap (that's where the illustration came from).