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How long can I store sap? Sap is a highly perishable product. This article explains what happens as it is stored, and how to avoid problems.
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Gravity Filtering: Simple tools and techniques for filtering small batches of maple syrup
To ensure that your maple syrup is the best it can be, filtering out contaminants before packing is critical. Using paper and cloth filters to do so is an acceptable and inexpensive option.
Identifying and Preventing Maple Syrup Off-Flavors
Maple syrup has a unique flavor that sets it apart from other specialty foods. Its characteristic for exhibiting different subtle flavors depending on 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 susceptable to flavors that are not conisdered 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.
Maple Quality in the Marketplace Today
250 maple containers of pure maple syrup were purchased online in 2020 and tested for density, color grade and flavor. Learn how many samples met the grading standards, how different testing instruments compare, the most common grading problems and some best practices to ensure high quality syrup reaches your customers.
Maple Tele-Medicine: What is Making my Syrup Taste Sick?
Most people recognize good tasting syrup and many can pick out when syrup tastes off, but occasionally there is a flavor that is not easily identified. Mark Isselhardt, UVM Extension, and Henry Mackres, retired Vermont Chief of Consumer Protection, discuss syrup flavors (and off-flavors) and sample syrup sent in advance of the session for diagnoses.
Things You Can Do to Ensure the Quality of Your Maple Syrup
After producing maple syrup for over 40 years and teaching seminars on maple syrup production for close to 20, I have made or personally witnessed most of the common mistakes that lead to off flavors and poor syrup quality. In this article I will go over some, but certainly not all, of the factors that lead to poor syrup quality. The good news is that most of the factors can be controlled by producers with best practices, in turn meaning you control the quality of your syrup. The Map of Maple Off Flavors (linked above) identifies 5 primary areas where off flavors occur: Mother Nature, defoamer, processing, chemicals and others. I want to address each area in order of how they would occur from start of season to finish.