Warm Days and Cold Nights

I boil maple sap in true Adirondack style . . . wearing snowshoes, that is.

By Jen Maguder

Great Camp Sagamore’s Program Director

Do you prefer real or imitation maple syrup? Could you tell the difference? If you have pancakes for breakfast this weekend, you can do an experiment and put your taste to the test if you have both kinds of maple syrup on hand. Of course, finding the manufactured kind would be difficult in my household, where we make our own maple syrup.

In the Adirondacks, early spring is the time of year when maple syrup-makers are busy collecting and boiling sap from maple trees. They may even be enjoying some extra time at home nowadays, spent in the close proximity to evaporators, which are giant pans for boiling sap to make syrup. In other, warmer parts of New York State, the maple sugaring season is likely done by early spring, or close to it. Why? Warm days and nights below freezing make the best maple sugaring weather. During this time, sugar stored in the tree’s roots travels up to the twigs in the sap, feeding the buds as they get ready to open up. Once the days and nights are regularly above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the end of maple sugaring season is around the corner, buds will soon begin to flower, and the sap will be less sweet.

The opening of these red maple flowers is a sign that maple sugaring season is over.

The sap that comes out of the tree is only about 2% sugar and 98% water. We bring it to a boil so that the water will evaporate, making the sap more dense until it can be called syrup.