It all begins with the sap.
Whether you are a backyard hobbyist or a large commercial producer delicious maple syrup all begins with high quality sap
In New Hampshire the sugaring season typically starts in mid to late February. This is the time of year when the nights are cold and the days begin to warm above freezing. The cyclic temperatures provides the optimal conditions for the sap to move up the tree from the roots to be harvested. The supply of sap available in the spring is dependent on many factors including summer rainfall and temperatures or whether we receive a blanket of snow to help protect the trees root system.
Collecting the Raw Material
Sap Can be collected in a variety of ways……
When talking about sugaring in New England, one cannot help but picture the iconic image of buckets hanging from maple trees. While this practice still exists today, many maple producers have converted to systems which use a network of tubing strung from tree to tree, bringing the sap to a centralized collection point. At Longview Forest products, we have taken it one step further and have placed our network of lines under vacuum. This process has helped to increase our yield during the relatively short sugaring season with no significant negative effect to the tree.
Now we boil….
After its journey through the R.O, the next stop in the saps journey gets a little hot. The sap is heated over a wood fire until the water has been boiled off and we are left with the sweet, sticky goodness we call syrup. Maple syrup boils approximately 7° F above the boiling point of water. This means we know we are close at 219-220° F. At this point we remove the product from the pan. Next the syrup in filtered and placed into a smaller gas fired pan where we can better control the temperature, measure the syrups density and grade the finished product.
Bottling
Finally the product is packaged and ready for consumption. We bottle everything hot and seal immediately for shelf stability. This means that, until the seal is broken, syrup does not require refrigeration.