Sap & Syrup

New CDL Sap Silos at Patterson Farms

Rachel Courtney | February 23, 2021

SABINSVILLE, Pa.—Big improvements at Pennsylvania's biggest sugarbush with new CDL sap silos.

Terri & Terry Patterson took over ownership as the 4th generation sugar makers of Patterson Farms in Sabinsville, Pa. after Terry’s father, Richard, passed away in 2017.

Richard would be proud to see them keeping his legacy alive by accomplishing plans he had for the farm before he passed, as well as bringing some of their own ideas to the business.

Patterson Farms is the largest producer in Pennsylvania with more than 80,000 taps.

As an effort to maximize efficiency they recently purchased three 12’x20’ CDL Stainless Steel Sap Silos.

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Showing some love for the sap-only producer

Peter Gregg | January 19, 2021

WESTON, Vt.—There’s money to be made in selling sap and leaving the syrup making to someone else.

“There is opportunity in sap-only enterprises,” said Chris Lindgren of UVM Extension who led an online seminar last month on the pluses and minuses of collecting the sap and letting someone else boil it.

“Sap-only businesses are less risky and there are less barriers to entry,” he said. “Selling sap is the easiest and lowest cost way to get started in the maple business.”

Lindgren is a sap collector himself, with approximately 700 taps spread out across three bushes in Weston, Vt. in the center of the state.

He said producers looking to get into the sap selling game should budget an investment of approximately $30 per tap, which will cover costs of a collection system, vacuum pumps, a generator or two, monitoring systems, transportation, reverse osmosis and structures.

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Sugarmaker tip: Best organic defoamer

Peter Gregg | January 7, 2021

ISLAND POND, Vt.—Try beeswax.

Probably the biggest change a sugarmaker will have to make once they switch to organic is defoamer use.

Conventional defoamers do not qualify so the producer must find an all-natural replacement that both knocks down the foam and also does not affect taste.

Many sugarmakers use sunflower oil or other oils similar.

Sugarmaker Joe Russo who manages the massive 470,000-tap Sweet Tree Inc. operation in Island Pond, Vt. uses beeswax.

“It’s fantastic,” Russo told The Maple News.
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Coated jugs make a difference in keeping grade

T.D. Perkins, W. Bosley, G. Bosley, and M. Moore | April 6, 2020

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Canadian researchers study the buddy

| December 4, 2019

LONDON, Ont.—The Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association is sponsoring a study on eliminating buddy syrup.

“There is a reason why this essential work has never been done before,” explains Bob Gray of OMSPA. “It is very difficult to do, requires state-of-the-art equipment and some very smart chemists to tease out the answers.”

Gray is owner and operator of Kemble Mountain Maple Products, a small family maple business in southern Ontario. He has served as Research Committee Chair for the OMSPA for nearly a decade.

Gray rallied interest among the OMSPA’s 500+ small maple business owners to support the three-part buddy study, all under the guidance of Dr. David Miller, a world-renowned chemist at Carleton University.

“The intent of this study was to see if it was possible to identify a chemical precursor to maple sap becoming buddy,” says Dr. Miller.
It’s all about microclimate. [ MORE ]

More on bubbling sap

Bob White | July 29, 2019

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Lapierre touts its new spout

Peter Gregg | April 15, 2019

SWANTON, Vt.—Lapierre is promoting a new spout, designed with Vermont sugarmaker David Folino, that features a straight insert with minimal taper to have more contact surface to the tap hole.

The spouts are made of a polycarbonate see-through material and have depth lines in order to see how deep it is. This allows for tapping crews to more accurately set a tapping depth consistently.

The spouts also have a short joint for an easier “slide-in” of the drop line. [ MORE ]

How to identify maple syrup off-flavors

Henry Marckres, Vt. Agy. of Ag. (retired) | April 15, 2019

Maple syrup has a unique flavor that sets it apart from other specialty foods.

Its characteristic for exhibiting different subtle flavors depending on when it was produced, where it was produced, and, at times, how it was produced make it a product that everyone, regardless of their taste preferences, can enjoy.

However, this characteristic also makes syrup flavor susceptible to flavors that are not considered typical.

These off-flavors can occur anywhere from the tree to the containers. Not only do production methods affect the flavor, but Mother Nature has a hand in it too. Following are some common off-flavors that have been encountered, their likely causes, and ways to avoid these problems. [ MORE ]