Maple Syrups

Maple syrup is the sap of maple trees boiled down until it is about two-thirds sugar, with nothing added. Sap runs in late winter and early spring, when a freezing night gives way to a quickly warming morning.

How to choose Maple Syrups

  • Color and taste. US Grade A comes in four classes named for both: Golden with delicate taste, Amber with rich taste, Dark with robust taste and Very Dark with strong taste.
  • Pure or flavored. Grade A syrup carries no additives. Syrup infused with other flavors, or aged in a barrel, no longer counts as pure and should be labeled maple flavored.
  • Pancake syrup. Blended pancake syrups are usually corn syrup or cane sugar with only 1 to 3 percent maple. Look for the words maple syrup on their own.
  • Density. USDA grade standards set a minimum of 66 percent sugar by weight, a measure called Brix. Vermont asks for slightly more, 66.9.

About Maple Syrups

Maple syrups are made by concentrating and heat-treating the sap of maple trees. In the sugarhouse, sap boils in stainless steel pans over a firebox. It is syrup when it reaches about 7°F above the local boiling point of water, or about 219°F at sea level.

A maple is usually about 40 years old, 10 to 12 inches across, before it is big enough to tap, and a sugaring season lasts four to six weeks. Syrup from the first runs is light and delicate. It darkens and grows stronger as the weeks go on, until the buds open and the flavor turns too strong to enjoy.

Pour the lighter grades over pancakes, waffles and ice cream, and save Very Dark for baked beans, glazes and barbecue sauce. To bake with maple in place of sugar, use 1 1/2 cups of syrup per cup of sugar, cut the other liquid by half and lower the oven by 25°F.

At a glance

Made from
Sap of maple trees, boiled down
Main types
Golden, Amber, Dark and Very Dark
Unopened
About 4 years in a cool cupboard
Once opened
Refrigerate; keeps for months

Maple Syrups questions

Does maple syrup need to be refrigerated after opening?

Yes. Pure maple syrup has no preservatives, so once it is open it belongs in the refrigerator, where it keeps for months. For longer storage, pour it into clean glass freezer jars with an inch of headspace and freeze it. Ohio State also advises moving syrup out of plastic after three months, since plastic lets air through.

Is darker maple syrup lower quality?

No. Color is the main thing the grades measure, and when the other standards are met the classes are equal in quality and differ mostly in flavor. Darker syrup simply tastes stronger, which is why Ohio State points it toward cooking and baking. Very Dark is the one class not usually treated as a table syrup.

How much sap does it take to make maple syrup?

It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, though the ratio can run from 20 to 100. The reason is water: sap is only about 2 percent sugar, while finished syrup must be at least 66 percent, and sweeter sap needs less boiling.

Sources: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service; Vermont Agency of Agriculture; Ohio State University and University of Minnesota Extension.

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