At this time of the year Winter starts to recede and Spring starts to unfurl from the earth with the beautiful colors of green spreading slowly. At the same time most people are hungering for the sun and the warmth that is soon to come but me, I hunger for what Spring has to offer in the form of food. Not the kind of food that comes to the markets in the Spring, the type of food that you have to go out and find, better known as wildcrafted. One item that comes from gathering once the temperatures start to come above freezing is maple syrup. Gathering the sap and boiling it down to make syrup is very common in the Northern USA and and just takes a bit of elbow grease. All types of maples as well as Hickory, Sycamore and Beach trees can produce delicious syrup so don't just write off the rest of the trees on your property just because they aren't Sugar Maples. You should identify the trees that you want to tap in the fall when they still have leaves so in the Spring they are easy to find.
The tools you need to produce syrup at home are very simple. Stainless steal spouts are tapped into the bark of the tree and are cheap and simple to purchase online. These spouts come with hooks to hang your bucket on and what is easier to come by than plastic ice cream buckets. Just save your buckets during the year or check with your ice cream eating friends and you will have plenty to collect the sap. You will cut a small opening in the lid of the bucket for the sap to run into without collecting anything else that is unwanted. You should collect the sap from these buckets each day and store (no more than a week) it some place cold like your refrigerator until you are ready to boil it down. Remember that 10 gallons of sap will make one quart of syrup. Do not collect sap once the temperatures stop going below freezing or the trees begin to bud. The sap can be boiled inside or outside but always be careful of with fire and the amount of steam you produce could possibly remove your wallpaper so be aware.
Choose a large pot with a wide bottom and fill it only ¾ of the way with sap so it will have room to boil. When the sap has been reduced to at least half add more sap but add it slowly as to not stop it from boiling. Once the sap has taken on a golden color but is still very watery move to a smaller pot that you can cook easily on the stove top. This time you will boil it until it takes on its syrupy consistency and will coat the back of a spoon. Watch it carefully as it approaches this stage because it could boil over quickly. Before you store your Syrup you will want to strain it through a coffee filter once it has cooled. Store in a sterilized glass bottle or jar and should be refrigerated or frozen to extend its shelf life. Considering the incredible flavor of real Maple syrup this is not really that much work and I highly suggest you try it at least once at home.
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