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Mappleau: A Maple Liqueur

Mappleau (pronounced “mah-ploh”) is a maple-derived liqueur made from distilled maple wine and sweetened with pure maple syrup. Its manufacturing process and its namesake are inspired by Pommeau, a barrel-aged French liqueur made from fresh apple cider and apple brandy (hard cider that has been distilled). There are a few different production methods that achieve different flavor profiles. For oak-influence, the distilled maple wine, i.e., maple brandy, can be back sweetened with barrel-aged maple syrup, and/or the sweet Mappleau can be aged in various types of barrels (e.g., new oak, bourbon, wine, brandy, etc.). Alternatively, unoaked syrup can be used for back sweetening for a lighter flavor profile, and the Mappleau can be aged in a neutral vessel (e.g., stainless steel).

Getting Started: Value-Added Products

The objective of this document is to provide guidelines for producing and selling packaged value-added maple foods and beverages. This document does not include regulatory requirements for unpackaged products sold at fairs or farmers markets. State and federal regulatory requirements are established to protect the producer and consumer from food safety concerns.

Measuring and Adjusting Invert Sugar in Maple Sugar

The variability of invert sugars in syrup makes it necessary to test and adjust the invert sugar levels to match the specific characteristics desired for a given confection. Testing syrup and adjusting to a proper invert sugar level can eliminate batch mfailures and help the maple producer make confections of consistent quality. For many years the use of the Clinitest tablets was suggested as the way to measure invert sugars in syrup. Now, a simple test using the common glucose meter used to monitor blood sugar can be very helpful in selecting and blending syrups to make the most consistent products. Testing syrups before they are purchased for the purpose of making confections assures you are getting syrup that will make the confections you want.

Sanitary Design and Construction of Food Equipment

To ensure safe food and adequate sanitation programs, the equipment used for processing and handling food products must be designed, fabricated, constructed, and installed according to sound sanitary design principles. This ensures the equipment can be adequately cleaned and sanitized, and that surfaces are resistant to daily exposure to corrosive food products and cleaning/sanitizing chemicals. Equipment that does not meet basic sanitary design principles, or is installed or used improperly cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized.

Food Safety on the Farm: Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices & Packing Operation Sanitation

Good agricultural practices (GAPs) and good handling practices (GHPs) encompass the general procedures that growers, packers, and processors of fresh fruits and vegetables should follow to ensure the safety of their product. GAPs usually deal with preharvest practices (i.e., in the field), while GHPs cover postharvest practices, including packing, storage, and shipping. This factsheet covers GAPs relating to packing operation sanitation.

Food Safety on the Farm: Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices & Worker Health and Hygiene

Good agricultural practices (GAPs) and good handling practices (GHPs) encompass the general procedures that growers, packers, and processors of fresh fruits and vegetables should follow to ensure the safety of their product. GAPs usually deal with preharvest practices (i.e., in the field), while GHPs cover postharvest practices, including packing and shipping. This factsheet covers GAPs and GHPs relating to worker health and hygiene. There are seven other UF/IFAS Extension factsheets in the ÔFood Safety on the FarmÕ series that focus on specific aspects of the GAPs program and how they relate to Florida crops and practices.