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Maple producers are starting to incorporate sap chilling into their production systems. Previously there was little information for producers to reference on sap chilling techniques. The Cornell Maple Program just published two new sap chilling documents on our www.CornellMaple.com website. The first document is overview on chilling sap and covers different chilling techniques
and how to size a chilling unit.
Originally developed by Kathryn Hopkins, Extension educator, University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
Updated and revised by Jason Lilley, Assistant Extension Professor, Sustainable Agriculture and Maple Industry Educator, University of Maine Cooperative Extension (2025).
Table of Contents
Cleanliness and Maple Syrup
Quality
Quality Begins in the Sugarbush
Tubing Systems
Tree Tapping
Sap Collection
Quality Continues in the
Sugarhouse: Processing Sap
Maple Syrup Quality Control
Puts Emphasis on Flavor
Accurate Grading of Syrup to
Ensure High Quality
Syrup Filtering
Grading Syrup for the Retail Container
Reducing Lead in Syrup
After Sugaring: Quality Begins for the Next Season
Summary
Appendix
Additional Reading
Maple sugar is a versatile product with distinct maple flavor. It is produced by boiling syrup to a set temperature followed by stirring the heated solution until it crystalizes into a granulated or brown sugar consistency. Multiple factors influence the quality of maple sugar. This bulletin provides guidelines for addressing issues commonly encountered during and after the production
of maple sugar.
Maple producers using tubing often observe bubbles emerging from the tree within the spout or first few inches of tubing when the sap is running. If the spout is not seated properly, leaks may occur.T hese are most noticeable as rapidly moving streams of small or large bubbles. At other times, these are not leaks, however repeated or overly aggressive attempts at seating spouts to make the bubbles stop can create leaks that further attempts at spout seating will only make worse.
New Temperature Compensation Chart for Syrup Hydrometers developed by the University of Vermont Extension
The typical trend over a sugaring season is for syrup to start out light in color and get progressively darker, eventually ending up with very dark (and strong or off-tasting) syrup at the end. While there can be some temporary excursions up and down in syrup light transmittance, the natural progression is from light syrup early on to dark syrup near the finish. However, occasionally a syrup producer finds that right as the season is concluding the syrup color goes up dramatically and wonder why this happens.
Because of the lack of knowledge on this topic and the frequent questions we received about the proper practice, we implemented a study in the summer of 2022 to examine the single and interactive effect of spout deployment date and open verses closed drops on sap yield.
This ongoing podcast features interviews with researchers and educators about topics related to maple production and marketing.
This tool is meant to identify off-flavors in syrup, and link the particular sensory experience to a specific defect and category that explains why the defect has occurred. Additionally, this tool serves as a user-friendly representation of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Farms and Markets (VAAFM) “Maple Syrup Off-Flavors” manual.
The map of maple is a sensory tool, allowing you to explore all the wondrous possibilities of Vermont maple syrup. It offers some hints for tasting on your own.