Wood Stove Maple Syrup

     
  The wood stove is such a versatile beast. It warms the home, but can double as a stove. If built for the purpose of baking, it can do that too! Since it is running all the time for the purpose of heat, the latter two are thrown in for FREE! Why not use that heat to cook down a little maple syrup too?
        "Two teaspoons of maple syrup provide 22 percent of your daily requirement of manganese, a mineral essential to survival. Manganese is shown to build strong bones, keep our blood healthy and support antioxidant work. The zinc in maple syrup supports our immunity and heart," according to an article in the Washington Post.
          For those trying to avoid white sugar due to it's lack of health benefits, honey, maple syrup, and sorghum are good substitutes that can often be obtained locally. But what about the high cost? For our family of 9, these sweeteners can be an expensive option for even one meal. But we have recently learned that cooking down sap for maple syrup is not that difficult or time consuming with a wood stove.
         There are a lot of good articles on the web to learn how to tap trees and how to cook it down. In this article I simply want to share that maple syrup is very easy to make, does not take a lot of taps, and is very forgiving until you reach the very end. The above 2/3rd pint was made in about 24 hours from two taps in one tree.
          Start tapping trees when you have had one week of weather when the temperatures have not gone above 35 degrees Fahrenheit. In Kentucky we need to tap right away because our weather fluctuates so much. Up north one would wait until the temperatures reached above freezing during the day, while still freezing at night. We simply drilled a hole in a maple tree, inserted a tap, hung a clean bucket, (food safe) and screwed in a piece of tin to keep the rain and dirt out. (It is pretty easy to identify your maple trees in the fall when the leaves are turning.)  http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Sugar-Maple-Trees
          The sap amount will vary each day. We simply collect it and add it to the pot of sap already on the stove. (You will want to run it through a filter like cheese cloth to get any dirt out that might have gotten in.) As it gets more concentrated you will notice that the color will change slightly. (Brown) I have read in several places that the sap should be boiled as hard as possible, but this slow boil seems to work just fine for our sweetener needs. 

          
           When  you are ready to finish off a batch, transfer the sap to a smaller pot then continue to boil it down. Keeping it in a pan with more surface area touching the heat quickens the evaporation process but now you need depth to measure the temperature of the sap. Using a candy thermometer check the temperature. It is maple syrup when the temperature is 7 degrees above the boiling point of water. (219 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level) To make the final part of the cook down quicker and more controlled, I sometimes move it over to my electric stove.
     From my limited experience I want to share two things. I once left the sap on the stove until it stuck to the bottom of the pan as thick maple syrup. I don't know how it did not scorch! I added more sap and it dissolved the syrup and I was able to save it. Another time I over boiled the sap and it crystallized in the jar. So it is a good idea to check it periodically. Now I can tell by the color or a little taste, when it is time to take it off the stove and finish it off.
        I then simply store it in the fridge or fill a sterilized canning jar right out of the boiling pot with only 1/4 inch head space. (Seal with a new lid and crank down the ring. It should seal!) 
            Remember that the ratio of sap to syrup is 40 to 1. So two and a half gallons of sap will make about a cup of syrup. That sounds like a long process, but if you just have it sitting on the stove it is not really creating any work. Just be sure to check on it once in awhile.
      Super Simple! Super cheap!