Maple Syrup Time
March 10 2010
Maple Syrup cooking.
I liked the article about maple syrup in Sunday`s Flint Journal. My brother does this with a couple trees he has in his yard. Does it make a difference which kind of maple you use? I know the sugar maple would be the best, but, what about other kinds of maple. I have a couple maples at my place but, I can`t tell you what kind they are. Would they still work?
Don from Holly
Thanks for the question Don,
You can tap any native species of maple. Sugars and black maples tend to have the highest sugar content in their sap. Red and silver maples usually have a lower sugar content. This is less important to those with home operations making small amounts of syrup – perhaps a few gallons – than to a commercial operations making hundreds of gallons.
one Comment
As a bit of a note on the image of maple sap cooking in what appears to be a galvanized wash tub. I believe that cooking with any sort of galvanized utensils can cause a serious health concerns with releasing zinc and lead. Collecting the sap in them is usually fine but cooking in them is a bit scary. If you are doing this at home please use stainless steel or another safe material.(Old commercial lasagna pans work great)