Friday, March 12, 2010

Learning to make Maple Syrup on Family Fun Friday

We learned how to make Maple syrup last week on a visit to River Bend Farm Visitor's Center in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.  It's not a complicated process but it is time and labor intensive.

(You can learn, too, by attending Maple Sugar Days on the first 3 Saturdays of March.  Tours are FREE and very interesting!)

First, you need a Maple tree.  Any Maple will work although Sugar Maples are the best because they have the highest ratio of sugar to water.  Make sure your tree has at least a 10 inch diameter.
 

Next drill a hole into the side of the tree.


Insert your tap (a metal spout with a hook), hang your bucket and position the cover.

After your bucket has filled with sap, pour the sap through a cloth to strain any "additives" that climbed into the bucket.


Now pour the sap into an evaporator OR a pot over really high heat (a turkey fryer works well).  Be sure to do this outside as 90% of the water needs to evaporate and all that steam might peel your wallpaper.


After all your hard work enjoy a sample of Maple syrup, cream or cookies!


Have you ever made Maple syrup?

Family Fun Friday is a weekly column.  Feel free to leave a link in the comments to your own posts about a fun activity your family has recently experienced.

3 comments:

Amy said...

Great tutorial! Again, what a fun day! Due to the rain and sickness I am so thankful we took advantage of last weekend! Enjoy some shopping and haircutting this weekend! :)

Kat said...

I have not had the chance to make maple syrup yet, but I really want to. I was hoping to visit a sugar house last year in NH, but we moved after sugar season was over. Maybe this year... ;)

Wendy Pope said...

Stephanie
The venue has changed. We are no longer in Newport. Contact Susan at
susanjsilva@barbatoconstruction.com

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