Are you afraid of the dark?
The Chap over at flavorchase makes a very sugar rich maple syrup. He says it is around 70 to 72 percent solid. This causes the maple syrup to crystallize much easier than the normal maple syrup. I think it also makes it darker in colour.
I have always like light maple syrup, it is also the hardest to make. I was surprised by Tig’s results from his online survey:
“When asked both if they knew their preferences well and whether they liked lighter or darker maple syrup, the folks who indicated they knew their preferences mostly said darker maple syrup, perhaps by a 2-1 ratio.” – flavor chase blog
I thought this was crazy until I found an old report on consumer preference for graded maple syrup (1978). In it they test about 1000 housewives on 4 grades of maple syrup and one table syrup. Interestingly enough their study reviled that people do prefer darker syrup to lighter syrup. Here are some highlights:
Grade B was preferred over Grade A, 49 to 27 percent
Over one-half (53 percent) of the participants preferred Log Cabin and less than
one-fourth (23 percent) preferred Grade AA syrup
Dissatisfaction with pouring consistency decreases with darker syrups and correlates with actual density of the syrups tested. Although all pure maple syrups, in theory, have the same density, variation inevitably occurs between batches. The densities of the syrups in this study were Grade AA, 65.4 percent solids; Grade A, 66.0 percent; and Grade B, 67.6 percent. Log Cabin syrup, which is about the same density as pure maple, appears thicker because it contains corn syrup which is more viscous.
I know this is a very old study but it does show that more people in this study do prefer darker syrup. The study also shows that people in syrup producing regions seem to like table syrup rather than anything else.
I don’t put much sock in this study 
Trying to verify
There are a number of things that have happened in the last little while. First of all I someone in Vermont has a great maple syrup blog, His operation is called Tillinghast Maple . The sugar shack has been around for about for a really long time, has some great pictures on there. Tig also asked a great question about one of my earlier posts,
“I bought some syrups a few days ago at a
nearby store and I would swear that one of them tastes like cane sugar.
I’m wondering if there’s some sort of a simple test one might use to
determine that.”
Great question and I wish that I had an answer, truth is that I have not had cane sugar before so I can’t make a judgment. I know that true maple syrup does not freeze so you could test it that way, also I know that Maple Syrup crystallizes after a while (which can easily be fixed by heating it up). Both of these things are not really simple test, for all I know cane sugar does the same thing.
On my travels trying to find the answer to this question I ran into a better version of the labeling guidelines by the Canadian food inspection agency, you see if some of the regulations have been followed but again this is not really that simple.
Another thing it could be is Cane Sugar and Maple Syrup, I found this product.
Looks like it could be a blend, kind of like cutting drugs to make them worth more. I’ll Keep my ears open for more info on this.
Syrup Slumps – Bad production season
Well It turns out that this year was pretty bad for everyone, not just Sugar Island Maple Grove.
A recent article in the Ottawa citizen show that there was an industry slump in both Maple Syrup Production and Honey production.
you can read the full article here.
Canada production was down from 5.1 million gallons last year to 4.9 million gallons of maple syrup this year, a 4.8% drop in production. The main culprit was of course the weather, even though I think ours was more of the stack!
This however drives the price of syrup up as there in more demand than supply. So if you are an independent producer of maple syrup SELL NOW!
Christmas is a perfect time to sell maple syrup because many people want to give it as gifts in addition to regular consumption. Once Christmas is over I feel that the price will drop again until the end of the year. Kind of like the price of pumkins in the simpsons.
Real Maple Syrup
Maple Syrup is one of the best gifts to give at Christmas. It is compact, decedent and at a great price point. It is perfect for the person who has everything because you can always use more Maple Syrup.
I was shopping at the mall the other day and found some maple syrup for sale. Naturally I took a look at it to see what grade it was and what price they were selling it at. The price tag I found but that was about it.
The laws governing maple syrup production in Canada state that:
12. (1) Every container of maple syrup that is graded under these Regulations shall bear a label marked
(a) with the words “maple syrup” and “sirop d’érable”;
(b) with the grade name on the same panel as the name of the product and in letters of a size set out in Schedule IV;
(c) with the name of the colour class in English and French adjacent to the grade name and in letters of a size set out in Schedule IV;
(d) with a true and correct declaration of net quantity expressed in litres or, where less than one litre, in millilitres;
(e) with
(i) the name and address of the sugar bush establishment, the packing establishment or the maple syrup shipper establishment, or
(ii) the name and address of the first dealer and the registration number of the packing establishment.
Some of these regulations pertain to other section of the act (12.1.c) but I wanted to put these laws up verbatim.
If you see Maple Syrup that does not follow these regulations then you might not be buying the best maple syrup. Let the store clerk know that what they are selling might not be legal, they most likely did not know them selves.
It is great to know exactly what you are getting when you buy Maple Syrup. If you want to find out a bit more about maple syrup regulations in Canada you can always check out the following links:
Alcohol and Maple Syrup
I found this story on the financial post of all places. It talks about locally produced products in Quebec and we all know how amazing Quebecois are at the maple syrup business.
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1023597
What really peaked my interst was the when they mention Sortilège a maple syrup liqueur made by
Maison des Futailles
it looks like a fine treat that I would love to try.
Gorden Lightfoot – Love and Maplesyrup
Found a nice video on youtube. At the beginning of the video it looks like they are filming birch trees rather than sugar maples but you be the judge. I remember going to seeing Gorden Lightfoot in Orillia it was a great concert but I am not the biggest fan. Orillia was also a bit of a drag, we got into a bar fight with these guys we were hanging around with all night. They seems great at the time but when they had a few too may they went off. But I digress, enjoy.
Lyrics Download.
Syrup as a commodity
I ran into this story about a shortage of maple syrup due to a new cook book by a Nigella Lawson. If you have syrup to sell to the UK now might be the time. It is funny because the recipt only calls for about 80ml of syrup. They are calling this the Nigella effect. I just goes to show that when there is a demand for Maple Syrup it can shoot up at a moments notice.
Read the whole story here: Nigella effect strikes again as sales on maple syrup soar.
I also wanted to find out more about the industry on maple syrup in Ontario and Canada. I found the Statistics Canada commodity number which is 17022020 but that is about it.
Maybe I will pay the 3 bucks and get the report some day.
New Url – New Site
Hello
I have been working to create a new theme for this site and I think it looks pretty good. Word press is a very powerful and helpful tool for web developers. I want to put a bit more work into this site to see if I can keep it going all year. I found this fun little picture in my travels in cyber space.
Someone was not thinking when they put this picture together!
A sweet end
Well yesterday was amazing. I tapped about 21 trees but I spend most of the day fixing things that needed to be fixed. Bill told me that he had a pellet gun so we took it to the bush.., and if we were target practicing with the pellet gun and a squirrel happens to walk in front of it., we can’t be held responsible for the fact that the little devil spawn got in the way. We went through about 800L of sap that day. I forgot how much work it really is to be running around like that, checking levels, checking temperature. I was able to have those amazing drinks too. Every time I had a one I was happy I was not drinking an Ottawa, stupid pancake, non alcoholic, over priced, what the shit! Beaver Tails,I felt great.
Today there was a bit of a blizzard, we went out there but, ya know, there was nothing really to do. We did not fire up and make any syrup, we kinda fixed little things and drank a few cold beaver tails. I really like making syrup for some strange reason. It seems to me there is enough to learn here that I could study forever. I don’t think Bill would care if he turned a profit or not. I also think the bug has got me on this one.
I will be back next year!
I HATE squirrls
Hey so no real pictures put together over the last few day. So I just give you a little synopsis. The last two days in the bush have been pretty good. I now know what type of animal the devil has come back as… a squirrel. I hate squirrels they are responsible for most of the damage in Bills sugar bush. What the little tree rats do is bite holes in the lines in order to get the water out of them. When this happens you have to cut out the pipe that is affected and put in new pipe. The problem is they do this every few feet! For most of the day yesterday all we did was replace lines that the squirrels have bitten holes in. I was thinking about getting a gun so that I could kill as many as I can. I think I would derive a lot more satisfaction from it now that I understand their purpose.
Bill was not in the bush today so I went back there myself to clean up and to put up some shelves. The shack looks great now. The floors are all clear and there is a ton of extra counter space. Most of the stuff out in the bush is done. In the last two days we tapped 307 trees which is a good number considering the amount of time we spent fixing. This puts his bush up to a grand total of 1890 taps. He would like to get it up to about 2000 which he considers a full bush and we might be able to do that tomorrow.
I also had a chance to go for a drink down at the local bar (the only bar here is the legion), It brought me back. I took Nathan and Steve out for a beer for all the help they gave my mom and Bill. I forgot about the rules at the legion. No swearing and No wearing your hat, if you are caught doing one of the two you have to buy everyone in the bar a round. Since it was cribbage night I was glad no one caught me.
I can’t believe that my time here is almost up, I really like being back on the Island. I also forgot how small a place this is. Out of 5 people on the street I know 4 of them, it’s a quite place. Things here move slowly and people are not in any particular rush to do much. I think it is that fact that makes me feel like this is a vacation. It certainly isn’t the 14h days of hard labour.
Video added
So it looks like it is not impossible to upload videos it just takes about 5 hours. So here is the video from the Tree burning.
First run and tree buring
Well yesterday was pretty full, first thing we did was get the truck stuck, not to bad though. We were also able to put in 140 taps. The real problem started when the electric motor for the vacuum system stopped working. We have to get that fixed tomorrow (it had to break over the weekend).
The tree burning ceremony went really well. Our theme was “presents under the tree” we used the plethora of cardboard boxes from the garage and some stove oil as the fuel. It was stacked with fireworks and went up great. I have video but, you know ….Dial up. The whole thing was choreographed to some funk music, really cool.
So I also had a chance to see Mike and Steph last night. Mike has been working on some great songs and brought over a few CDs. We stayed up way way to late last night so I was in no condition to go out to the bush today. Instead I went to play out on the ice which is breaking up right now. We called it burging when the ice starts to break up you can ride the iceburgs around, it’s a buzz. I also had a little friend out there with me today. A mink ran out onto the ice right beside me and started fishing, it was pretty cool. I have video of that as well but you know…Dial up (how do people live like this?)
We finally got the boiler all put together and pulled off the first run of syrup. His new setup is beautiful! Everything is stainless steel. The new evaporator works like a dream and it doesn’t take nearly the same amount of wood to keep going. So everything is in place and we can really start hammering down and producing maple syrup.
the STACK!
Well day two and I am so tired and sore, but the most evil project in history is complete and there were no fatalities. The Stack is UP! It’s stacked.
The day started off O.K. I was up at around 5:45 and had a real greasy breakfast. I had to drive Ann, Bills girlfriend, to the Sault for some sort of eye appointment. Now when you go up to the Sault there are a number of people who hear this through the grapevine, now you are a pack mule. There are lists of thing to get, things that need to be dropped off and sometime people to pick up.
I am not sure the kind of car I was driving, all identifying featured had rusted off, were painted over of from another vehicle. So before I took D.H.’s Chrysler-Hond-a-Buick on the trip there were a few things that I had to remember.
- Don’t lock the doors
- The key does not come out of the ignition (the main reason for number one)
- The Passenger door does not open, (so hopefully a would be thief will go for that one)
- The trunk latch does not work right (you have to push it back to the closed position)
Some other really fun facts I learned from experience about the vehicle were things like the dog lease holding up the bumper, 3 of the 4 windows worked , no windshield wipers and there was little to no muffler. I was also warned that one of the ball joins was loose and that if I drove it like a racecar the front wheel could fall off. “Don’t worry”, he said, “the Car is old enough to drive itself”. Mostly I just picked up cheep smokes and fireworks.
Once back at the bush we set to work putting the stack together. Now there is a little lid on the top of the stack that has a leaver you can pull in order to shut the top so rain water doesn’t get in. Well after a number of seemingly smart Ideas we broke this lever…production stopped.
“Who do you know that can weld stainless steal on a Thursday afternoon?” after some discussion about the many individuals that could do it they decided on the one who was most likely to be the soberest. By some sort of weird miracle it was welded and back on site within an hour, the cost…. an undisclosed amount of maple syrup that would soon be harvested(it’s as good as cash…well credit anyway).
Now for that stack….that big…..cumbersome…..heavy…. STACK. Here are some pictures.
Notice the rig consists of a ladder fully extended, you would think it was totally inadequate. I thought it was going to break from the moment we started. I have never seen a ladder under that much stress in my life. The roof has such a sharp peek it was unreal so and trying to maneuver this thing into place standing on a rickety old ladder with the boss saying “now careful of some of these runs, they are close to breaking”. We ended up taking one of the 4′ piece off the stack so that we could the the thing on. So instead of an 18′ stack he only has a 14′ stack. Well I lived and I am tired I have to get an early start tomorrow, we SHOULD be boiling.
Tomorrow is also the tree burning ceremony, stay tuned.
IH8-DU.
Back on the Island
Well I have made it, Beauty! It is great to be up here! To give you an example of what I mean here is a picture from the front door of my place in Toronto:
And here is a one from the front door at from the bunk house at the homestead on St. Joseph Island (do you see the little boat?):
I disembarked from the plane at about 1:30 and made it out to the bush at about 4:00, after shopping for supplies. My first time back on snowshoes in about 7 years was tricky to say the least. There is a TON of work to be done before we are ready to start boiling. The stack is not on the sugar shack just as I had suspected. This is a job for….. tomorrow. (shit)
I hate dial up!
2.0 Kbps is inhuman, It took me two beer to write this post.
IH8-DU
Here is my first view of this glorious building, notice no Smoke Stack (I know I keep bringing it up but it really is going to suck installing it).
And here is The owner Bill Smith inside the Sugar shack, he is the happiest guy I know! 
First contact
Just got off the phone with good ol’ Billy Smith. He told be that the big producer, Gilbersons, just made their first 20 gallons.
So Bill has about 1300 taps out this year, he was complaining about squirrel damage being really bad this year.
The equipment is not completely set up yet which is a bit disconcerting. Bill has all new equipment this year. I am worried most about the stack that goes on the sugar shack, I remember putting up the last one and it was really hairy! 30′ in the air on a steep slippery sheet metal roof with a lack of safety essentials, I am not looking forward to that face of death. Now instead of it being galvanized I am pretty sure it is stainless steal, (shit).
We are burning green beach this year and there is only about 20 cords of wood cut the rest is still in tree form. Looks like half the time is going to be splitting fire wood, thank god for the wood splitter.
Bill also got a new truck this year and the starter is already going on it (shit shit). Well at least I am hearing about this all at the same time. But mark my words I am sure we are going to be stranded somewhere and we are going to have to walk a few KM to get out of the problem.
I can’t wait!
Header added
Hey all right so I have added the header here, great stuff. Now I have to get the blog roll going. link some people in.
Everyone writes “first post”
This is going to be a blog to keep track of the syrup season in 2008
come back all the time for FUN ADVENTURE AND STICKI-NESS.
ooo yum
