{AMISH COMMUNITY NEWS} Vol. 5 No. 4
The internal pressure of a sugar maple may be as much as 20 pounds per square inch on a warm day after a freezing night. The pressure is triggered by thermal shock. The amount of this pressure determines how well sap will run. Quebec produces the greatest volume of maple syrup of any other province or state. But, Vermont produces the most maple syrup per square mile. (Ed note … and Geauga’s syrup tastes the best!!!) The sugar content of sap is usually between 2 and 2.75 percent. This means that it usually takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.
March 27, 2013
Sweet facts A single sugar maple of tapable size can produce enough sap to make from 1 quart to 1/2 gallon of maple syrup a season. The sugar content of the sap determines how much sap must be boiled and for how long to make syrup. Currently, there is research being conducted on the feasibility of a fall sugaring season. Sugaring season (when maple sap is collected and boiled down to produce maple syrup) occurs in spring, generally lasting from mid-February through mid-April.
Usually 100 million pounds of maple syrup are produced every year. This is just a little less than 4 fl. ounces for each person living in the United States and Canada. There are 148 kinds of maple trees in the world and only 4 of these produce enough sweet sap to be harvested. Only 2 of the 4, the sugar maple and the red maple, produce enough sap to be used for commercial sugaring.
Spring Recipe Contest VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE! RECIPES ARE ON PAGES 8-12
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