The third and last part in the maple syruping process — boiling down! Approximately 40 gallons of sap are required to make just one gallon of pure maple syrup. The sap we gathered must be reduced to one fortieth (or 2.5%) of its original amount before it ever touches a pancake. Have you ever wondered why real maple syrup is so expensive? The gallons of sap, the length of time and amount of labor required to make a single quart of syrup are the explanation.

Boiling Down

The collecting tank is hooked up to an electric pump, and a long plastic tube is connected to the pump, allowing the sap to be quickly and easily transfered to the boiling pan.

Here it comes! The pump blasts a powerful stream of sap into the pan.

Swirling and foaming sap fills the pan…

Our pan will hold approximately 100 gallons of sap. This batch filled the pan almost to the brim!

The boiling down process takes anywhere from 5-8 hours to complete. As none of us were exactly eager to stay up till midnight watching the syrup, we decided to start boiling down the next morning…

Bright and early, before he leaves for work, Dad fires up the boiler.

Our boiler is powered the good old-fashioned way — wood, and muscle to chop the wood. We let Dad chop the wood.

After about an hour, the sap begins to boil. It roils and steams, filling the air with tiny moisture droplets. “Augh! What’s that blue thing in the picture? Oh, whew, it’s only somebody’s arm.”

As the boiling continues, the tiny impurities in the sap form a white foam (or, ’scum’, as we call it) on top. We skim off the scum by hand using a fine-mesh strainer (but it’s more fun to call it a ’scum-skimmer’).

Scum-skimmer and scum bucket.

The sap thickens and becomes darker as the hours tick by. When there’s only an inch or so left in the pan, it’s time to begin testing the sap using a hydrometer. Hot sap is poured into a cylindrical container, and then the glass hydrometer is gently placed inside. If the hydrometer floats, we know it’s time to get the wood out of the stove — fast — and get ready to drain the sap from the pan.

The boiling hot sap — no, it’s not quite officially ’syrup’ yet — comes streaming through the drain.

A squeegee is used to get as much of the precious sap as possible out of the pan.

The pan is always a mess after boiling down a batch of sap. Sticky foam clings to the sides, calling for water and a good scrubbing.

After a thorough cleaning, the pan will be ready for boiling down the next batch.

But that sap isn’t syrup yet, remember! The big wood-fired boiler is too hard to control when the sap nears the syrup stage. Things are rather touch-and-go at that point; the syrup could go from ‘just right’ to burnt in less than a minute! So, we move the almost-syrup into our smaller, propane-fired boiling pan, or ‘finishing pan’.

Jets of blue flame beneath the pan quickly raise the sap to the boiling point.

Dad continues to test the sap/syrup using the hydrometer. When the hydrometer floats to a certain level, marked by a red line inside the glass tube, we know we’ve reached the ’syrup stage’, and that it’s time to begin the filtration process. The syrup (oh, I’m so glad I can call it that now — I was getting tired of ’sap’!) is run through several layers of cloth, removing the tiny impurities it contains.

Using the flash on the camera, I was able to freeze tiny syrup droplets in mid-air as they spilled into the filters below.

After the syrup has been filtered to remove impurities, it is heated and poured into canning jars. Once the jars are sealed, the syrup may be stored at room temperature for years. Once opened, the syrup may be stored in the refrigerator for up to one year. It’s a good thing it keeps so well, ’cause this year we were blessed with nearly thirty gallons of delicious syrup! We’re looking forward to pancakes and waffles the whole year ’round — Oh, speaking of waffles! I’ve got the best whole-wheat waffle recipe to share with you. I’ll be sure to post it soon. Make sure you’ve got a bottle of pure maple syrup ready to drizzle over the top! This is gonna be good.