Posted: 2/3/2007 6:53:04 AM EDT
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So, hunting season is over and I am at home early Sat morning for a change. My wife makes some pancakes (from scratch) and I dug out a bottle of pure maple syrup (from New Hampshire) I received as a gift at work. What a different taste compared to the "maple" syrup that makes up 99.9% of the syrup market. It was most excellent  , and a crime to call anything else "maple" because the taste is completely different. I can imagine how gross the routine stuff must taste to those in New England that grew up with the real stuff all the time. My sympathies.Pure maple syrup. Real, local honey. Real sorghum molasses. Some things are just plain good. Heck, I even like yankees a little better now (but not much)!  |
It takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.
I'll have to agree with you. Maple syrup is one of the "nawth's" few redeeming qualities.  Chill fellas, it's just a joke!  Hessian-1
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http://www.parkerfamilymaple.com/ This is the place to go. My Father has owned some land up the road from Earl and his brother, Lorne for more than 30 years. It's a hunting camp "tradition" for us to stop by Earl's every year and buy several gallons of syrup (usually in the 1 pint containers, even though it costs more), for friends, family, and presents throughout the year. It is great stuff, and I simply cannot use storebought syrup any more. It has spoiled me! Earl is known througout the syrup world as having the best maple trees in the country. As you can see from the website, his family has been running the farm there for many, many generations. Good people that deserve our business. (hope the link works..!) Parker's Pure Maple Syrup -John edited to fix last line in post.... |
When I was a boy I tapped about 10 trees on our property. I chased buckets every morning, begged Mom to chase them during the day, and got them again when I came home from school. We boiled so much sap in the kitchen that the wallpaper was falling off the walls!  We ended up with about 2 gallons of syrup. That supply was enough to last us about 5 years. To this day I won't use any syrup but maple. |
Thanks for the link!!! |
It's awesome when it's still warm!
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Maple syrup is heavily regulated in the forms of import quotas, tarifs, and federal price controls. If it was a free-market, you would be paying about 25% to 33% of current prices depending upon the grade. You do not believe me???? Go price maple syrup in Mexico where there is not a local maple production industry. Anything sweet is heavily subsidized in the US... sugar, maple syrup, corn sweetner. |
i'll just mention that this can make an EXCELLENT gift. as seen in this thread, i've found many people that have never had real maple syrup. and many are very pleasantly surprised when they do. in the grocery stores, it becomes rather expensive if you use a lot (which is how it tastes best, i think), but at $22.00 a 1/2 gallon, its a pretty sweet deal  |
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Wow I guess I never really paid it too much mind. All the local apple orchards sell maple syrup around here. Every fall I make the tour-de-apple orchard to see who has the best syrup (and cider). Be advised if you find cheap syrup make sure you try a sample some people don't boil the sap down as far so you get a weak/thin syrup. The store bought fake syrup is just nasty IMHO and I refuse to eat it if I can at all avoid it. |
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The price don't look that bad at all considering the work involved. I raise the honey bees and we sell the honey for 28 a gallon 8 for a quart.. People bitch about the price but it takes a good bit of work to get the honey from the bees and cleanly bottle it. Looks to me that messing with maple trees and the cost of fuel to render the syrup would make it a heck of a lot more expensive than what those folks are selling it for. It's funny, that I raise bees considering that I don't have a sweet tooth and can take it or leave it. Blackstrap or maple syrup both taste better to me than honey. |
Yeah, but you don't pay your bees anything and they do all the work...you remind me of a typical CEO, minimal work, maximum pay I'll take 2 quarts. Unpasteurized, right? |
ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5522.html Storage and Preparation The three main enemies of maple syrup are air, time and temperature. Therefore, the following storage practices are recommended: * Immediately store your maple syrup after purchase in the refrigerator even if the container has not been opened. If this is not possible, consider freezing the syrup.* * Maple syrup packaged in tin or glass can be stored for up to one year in the refrigerator in its original container. However, some people who buy in large quantities often repackage and freeze the syrup and take it out of the freezer when needed.* * Because plastic "breaths," repackage syrup originally packed in plastic if you plan to store it for more than three months.* * The best way to repackage maple syrup to maintain its quality is to pour the syrup into clean 1/2 pint, pint or quart glass freezer jars to one inch from the top and freeze. Heating and "re-canning" the syrup can cause it to darken and change flavor. |
Thanks a bunch for your post. My aunt brought us back a bottle of the real stuff from a trip. It ran out and I haven't found anything as good since then. Their prices look quite reasonable. Order shot out from NM! |
Yup... Maple syrup... and BEANS in chili 
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We've always gotten the Grade A Light, but to be honest, that's what I get, 'cause that's what Mom and Dan always got. Always meant to try some of the dark, but never have. The-Loving-Bride-Of-Over-Twenty-Years and I have been known to buy a gallon and keep it in the 'frigerator for more than a year with no adverse affects. We have plenty of pint containers laying around, so we'll fill the pints with syrup from the gallon. When empty, stick it in the dishwasher, and refill it again. That way, you aren't opening the gallon container every other weekend, just once in a while to refill the pint. They have maple candy too, Pat always throws some in our boxes when we make our yearly purchase. That stuff is SWEET! I can barely stand candy anyway, but that stuff is from another world. Too much for me! If you have questions, don't hesitate to give 'em a call. Good decent folk that work hard for their living. |
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I guess i never rally paid much attention to it, being that i live in maple syrup country. I would never buy teh fake stuff. Regarding honey combs, ask any honey producer near you. The stuff is great. Some members of my family make some honey for sale and we always get some from them, it's awesome.And it's free
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Try doing it like the Native Americans did it. I went to a N/A festival where I helped boil the maple sap down in hollowed out logs over a fire. |
www.carlislehoney.com
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Awesome Thank You |
1 "Bitch-slap" coming up!  (you've only been outta the North for 2 years!) |
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First time I took a trip to New England, I knew I was done for. http://www.highlandsugarworks.com/ Did the "factory" tour in St. Johnsbury, NH. I bought a gallon from this place. http://www.highlandsugarworks.com/ I love the Grade A Light Amber over plain vanilla ice cream. You can also use it in your coffee instead of sugar if you normally take sugar. Grade A medium amber for Pancakes. If you want a walk on the wild side try some of the Grade A Dark Amber. Whoooweee.
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