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Sap-Happy: Maple Syrup is Missouri's Sweetest Secret
• by Pat Eby
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February is sugaring season in Missouri and Illinois, the perfect time for warm, sweet comfort foods. Maple syrup is uniquely American, dependent on woodlands and climate for production. Sugar maples, or Acer saccharum, are plentiful in Canada as well as the northern and eastern states. Middle states like Missouri have less acreage in maples and a shorter season, but small farms and hobbyists still make syrup.
With maples, biology is destiny. When fall comes, trees store sugar in their roots in the form of starch. The starches convert to sap in late winter and early spring to feed and nourish new growth. The combination of daytime temperatures in the mid-40s and overnight temperatures in the 20s causes a freeze-and-thaw cycle. Tapping a tree relieves the pressure of the thawing sap and forces it out the opening.
During the average season, an older sugar maple will yield about five to six gallons of sap. Making just one gallon of syrup from a sugar maple requires 40 gallons of sap. Other trees, such as silver maples, red maples, box elders and black walnut can be tapped for syrup, but the lower concentration of sugar in the sap means one gallon of syrup requires 60 to 70 gallons of soup.
Maple syrup enthusiasts can create a home-cooked syrup from backyard trees. “All it takes is a drill bit, a bucket, a few tools and a place to cook it,” said Duane Harper of IHM Maple Syrup. Harper produces maple syrup from sugar maples in both Missouri and Wisconsin, although the density of trees in Missouri limits the number of gallons produced.
The sugaring process is not for the faint of heart. Next time the price of a bottle of pure maple syrup causes hearts to skip a beat, remember collecting sap in the raw February weather is only the first step.
“It’s not a hard business,” said Harper, who was working in the woods during the interview, cell phone in hand. “I started making syrup in Missouri in 1996. I lived there for three years, and then my wife was transferred to Wisconsin. Now a buddy, Russell Landrum, makes the syrup and we market it.”
Harper claimed the final cooking process is what distinguishes the tastes in pure maple syrups, not the location of the trees. He said he favors an old-fashioned, open-pan method: “There’s really no regional difference – sugar maple is sugar maple. The flavoring variations result from types of cooking. Large companies process 900 gallons an hour in big evaporators, but with the open pan, the sugars cook down and the flavor is more intense.”
Anna-Lisa Tucker, naturalist at the Missouri Department of Conservation, cautions home producers to boil off large quantities of the sap outside. “Because only 2 percent of the sap is sugar, 98 percent is water and must reduce. That much vapor in a house can take wallpaper off the walls, not to mention [causing] mold problems.” Tucker knows her way around a sugarbush, the name for a forest of mostly maples. She teaches maple syrup classes at Rockwoods Reservation near Wildwood during the month of February. All age groups are welcome, but advance reservations are required. The minimum group size is 25 participants.
Want to learn without joining a group? Plan to attend the Maple Sugar Festival on Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Rockwoods. The free event features the history and traditions of sugaring in Missouri, as well as a trip to the sugarbush to collect sap. Learn how to identify maple trees, unravel the mysteries of sap rising, and stop by the Sugaring Shack to watch sap boil into syrup. Tastes are encouraged at special stations. Reservations are necessary and can be made beginning Feb. 1 at 636.458.2236 x0.
Wondering how to choose a good maple syrup? “Start with the words ‘pure maple syrup’ on the label,” Harper said. Choose the grade of syrup based on how strong you want the flavor to be. Grade AA is the lightest in color and flavor, with grade C having a molasses-like taste. Many chefs use grade B syrup because of its deep, rich color and flavor. Accept no substitutes and enjoy the sweet quest.
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