S6E5: Who doesn’t love Maine maple syrup?

Maple syrup is a staple product in Maine, and many rejoice when the sugaring season returns each year. At the end of winter when the temperatures are just right, producers harvest gallons of sap to transform into sweet syrup inside their sugar shacks.

In this episode of “The Maine Question” podcast, Jason Lilley, a sustainable agriculture professional with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, describes how the producers make maple syrup from sap. He also discusses the future of the maple industry in Maine and shares a few tips and recipes.

Transcript

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Jason Lilley:  The first thing you’ll experience is probably that blast of warmth and steam and smell. The smell of that maple steam is really quite something. It’s just an exciting, inviting space that gives you that sense that the seasons are changing, and something sweet is happening.

Ron Lisnet:  If you’ve ever been to a sugar house when the sap is boiling and the maple syrup is flowing, you know exactly what Jason Lilley is talking about. It’s a sensory experience like no other that tells you syrup will be ready soon, and spring is on the way. I’m Ron Lisnet, and it’s maple syrup season on “The Maine Question” podcast.

Jason Lilley is the sustainable agriculture specialist at UMaine Cooperative Extension. He helps improve the environmental and economic sustainability of commercial farms in Maine.

I’m willing to bet that if you’ve pressed him, his duty as the maple syrup specialist at Cooperative Extension is likely one of the favorite parts of his job.

From large commercial operations tapping tends of thousands of trees, to families hanging buckets in the backyard. making maple syrup is big in Maine, the third largest producer in the country.

It’s a practice that goes back to the very beginning of human civilization in Maine, and it’s now gone high tech. What does it take to get that golden brown deliciousness out of the bottle onto your pancakes in the morning.

Jason walks us through the whole process. We’ll also take a look at how the industry is developing in Maine, and what the state is doing to enhance the brand of Maine pure maple syrup.

We’ll even have some tips on ways to enjoy syrup that go beyond the pancakes and the waffles. If you’re not hungry now, you will be after this episode of The Maine Question that asks, “Who doesn’t love real Maine maple syrup?”

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Jason, thanks for joining us. For those unfortunate few who have never had a chance to experience it, tell us what it’s like to go into a sugar shack when the boil is going on. What are the aromas? What are the tastes? What’s that experience like?

Jason:  Going into a sugar shack in February‑March, early April here in Maine is quite an experience. The first thing you’ll experience is probably that blast of warmth and steam and smell.

The smell of that maple steam is really quite something. It’s like that intense flavor of maple that just washes over all of your senses. It’s just exciting, inviting space that really gives you that sense that the seasons are changing and something sweet is happening.

Ron:  Mouth watering for sure. What is the history of tapping trees and producing maple syrup in Maine? How long ago did it start? Where and how did it take place? Who was doing this work at the beginning?

Jason:  The history of maple syrup production and the extraction of maple sap for the production of maple syrup and maple sugar goes back before we have records of historical times.

It is known that the Native American communities throughout Maine and all of the northeastern part of North America were making marks into the maple trees, collecting that sap and boiling it down to various levels.

Mostly, historically, a lot of that was taken beyond the syrup, concentration of sugar, and taking right into a dry sugar or a sugar cake form, just because it was easier to transport and it was more shelf stable.

There’s a very long history of production of maple syrup in this area. We’ve come a long way to get to where we are now with the technology that goes into this production practice.

Ron:  Paint the picture for us, if you would, of the maple syrup industry here in Maine. How big is it? How does it compare with other states or areas of the country that produce syrup and maple products?

Jason:  Maine maple production is the third largest in the US. We have 520 licensed producers in the state. We have almost two million taps that are on record. We’re nearly certain that’s an underestimation.

Maine is really in the heart of maple producing region. Vermont is the largest producer in the US. Then, of course, Quebec is also a very large producer. It’s very much so an international cross border industry. It is a large industry here in the state and it’s continuing to grow.

Ron:  You mentioned it is an industry. Who is tapping trees in Maine? It ranges from big commercial operations to I know myself personally, I have two trees in my neighbor’s yard I tap and there’s a lot of people that just do it as a hobby as well.

Jason:  Absolutely. Every year, we offer several workshops specifically for folks who are boiling syrup in their backyard. We have great attendance at those workshops. It varies all the way from 2 or 10 taps, just enough for your family to have some syrup throughout the year, all the way up to 75,000 taps and larger.

Somerset County in Maine has the highest amount of production of any county in the US. That’s where a lot of our very large production facilities are. Throughout the rest of the state, there’s producers from 500 to 3,000 taps that are at that commercial scale that are spread throughout the whole state.

Ron:  If you would, take us through the process. What are the weather conditions that are needed? What does it take to turn what just looks like watery sap coming out of the tree to what goes on your pancakes in the morning?

Jason:  Sap flow starts in the springtime when we get freeze thaw cycles. Usually, when we first see temperatures in the high 30s to mid‑40s, that’s when we’re going to start seeing sap flow. The producers keep a close eye on the weather. As soon as they see that in the forecast, they run out and start tapping the trees, setting up their collection systems.

On a commercial scale, for the most part, we’re using tubing systems. Currently, a lot of home scale backyard producers will have bucket setup. To go out there several times throughout the year and collect a gallon or two gallons of sap from every single tree, especially when you’re talking about 75,000 taps, that’s not practical.

Modern systems are all based on tubing that bring that sap either to a collection point or right into the sugar house. From there, oftentimes, most producers these days are using a reverse osmosis system. That is a series of cylinders that are extracting pure water and leaving behind the sugar concentration.

That system’s usually taking that sap from one and a half, two percent sugar, right up to eight percent or higher. That dramatically reduces the amount of time and fuel that it takes to evaporate that down to our standard maple syrup sugar concentration.

From there, it goes into an evaporator. It gets boiled for hours. It takes a long time, a lot of dedication, and a lot of focus. You have to pay attention to the evaporator so that you don’t have disasters that happen.

From there, we’re taking that sap and concentrating it further to a 66 percent sugar concentration. That’s the legal definition of finished syrup. It gets jugged or canned, put on the counter. That goes to our end consumer from there.

Ron:  The number I’ve heard before is 40 gallons of sap basically equals one gallon of syrup. Is that accurate?

Jason:  That’s the average conversion rate there. Think of that. If you’re considering boiling syrup in your own backyard, definitely make sure you’re doing it in the backyard and not in your kitchen. That means that you’ve got 39 gallons of water floating around in your house in order to get one gallon of syrup. Your cabinets and your wallpaper don’t think much of that.

Ron:  You’d be redecorating every year, I’m sure. For people that aren’t up on their tree physiology, what exactly is sap? Is taking all this sap out of a tree, does that affect in any negative way, the tree?

Jason:  What’s happening in the springtime is that sugars and carbohydrates that have been stored in the roots…If we go back to the past season, these are sugars that were formed from photosynthesis in the leaves. Then they’re transported for storage in the root over winter.

In the springtime, it’s time for the tree to wake back up. Those sugars are sent out to the buds to give those buds energy to produce more leaves, to produce more sugar. There’s been a significant amount of research that’s gone into sustainable tapping practices.

What we’ve found is that by putting only 5/16 inch drill bit and 5/16 inch hole in the tree, and only doing so many holes per size tree that we can maintain the health of those trees. Not slow down growth rate. Not slow down overall health in general.

There’s been a lot of focus on maintaining the health of the woods and of the specific trees through the tapping practices and tapping standards.

Ron:  The trees that are primarily used are sugar maples and Norway maples. Do we know why that is? Why these species have this particular feature about them and not some other species of trees?

Jason:  That’s a great question. Primarily, we’re seeing sugar maples and red maples being tapped here in Maine. We also have a few other, silver maple, black maple, Norway maple, that can be tapped as well.

That’s a great question, as to why the maples have that sugar content as a as compared to other tree species. It’s in that physiology of the tree and how that works out. There are several other species of trees that can be tapped to make syrups out of.

Birch is one that the state legislature is actually putting language in the books to also put a definition as to what birch syrup is and how it can be sold. There’s a handful of producers that are starting to make that. Walnut, sycamore.

There are other tree species that we can use, but their sugar content is much lower. They have a very different flavor profile than our traditional maple syrup that we’re used to and love.

Ron:  Those other trees, would you pour any of those syrups on your pancakes? Are they as delicious as maple syrup? They’re different or certainly not as sweet.

Jason:  That sugar content should be near where maple syrup is, but that flavor profile is so different. When I think of birch syrup, I think of marinades and salad dressings. More of that savory side of things because of this acidic astringent quality to it. To each their own. They definitely all have different flavor profiles.

Also, the sugar content of the sap coming out of those trees and the seasonality. Usually, the yields are a lot lower. The season is later to produce syrup from those trees.

Ron:  Beyond the obvious, which is that maple syrup is absolutely delicious, a lot of people are plain interested in maple syrup. Why do you think that is? What are the most asked questions you get about maple syrup and producing maple syrup?

Jason:  It’s a connection to nature and to the woods here in Maine. Also, the seasonality of it. We made it through the cold Maine winter, for the most part. This is an opportunity to gather around the sugar house, to smell those sweet smells, and to experience what is it that we can extract right from the woods.

Boil it down, put it in a jug, and have such a sweet, enjoyable product. That’s part of why the turnout at events like Maine Maple Sunday is so high and why the community is so supportive of this industry. The community has been doing a great job to support the industry.

There’s a lot of potential growth and ways that we can continue to expand on Maine maple syrup.

Ron:  Because of the environment, maple trees are primarily grown and exist here in the northeast and in Eastern Canada. Are there other places around the country? Is their interest growing around the world for maple syrup? It probably was a regional product for a long time, right?

Jason:  Absolutely. There are a lot of research projects that launched in the last few years about tapping other species of maple. In Washington State, in the northwest, there’s big leaf maple. Again, has very different flavor characteristics, but has the potential to be a marketable item.

We work with producers as far south as West Virginia, who are also making maple syrup from mostly red maples. The market is pretty rapidly expanding.

There are some major packers, distributors, and associations that are in place to support the maple industry, who are reaching out to markets in Asia and Europe, and are seeing exponential growth in these international markets, as well as other regions of the US.

There’s definitely some work targeting the southwest, California. Some of that’s happening from the maple packers that are buying bulk syrup, repacking it, and distributing it. Some of that’s happening through the mail order sales that our Maine producers are shipping product directly to the West Coast and other areas. There’s still a lot of room and potential for growth there.

Ron:  Now, if you ask most people around the country what they thought about maple syrup or where it comes from, I’m sure Vermont would be top of mind for them. What about Maine, in terms of I’ve heard before that a lot of maple syrup produced in Maine goes to wholesale. It’s not a retail type of situation.

Is that changing? Is work being done? What is the Maine brand around maple syrup? Is that potentially going to develop?

Jason:  Maine Maple Sunday has been a critical tool and event to expand that brand with our local markets. We get a lot of resident Mainers who go out and support their local sugar houses. We also see a huge number of out of staters who will come up just for that weekend to visit sugar houses during that event.

We’re starting to see that brand recognition. The Maine Maple Producers Association was recently awarded a very large grant to continue to push that work. Historically, those funds have been used to promote Maine Maple Sunday and maybe do a few promotions down into the New Hampshire Boston area.

This grant cycle is going to help the association to push that branding further out and to put that Maine pure maple syrup logo out in front of more people. That’s going to stretch out to other regions, but it’s also going to help the association and the producers to connect with Maine‑based businesses and institutions, including our chain or our larger grocery store outlets.

We’re also hoping that, through these efforts that Maine consumers will stop when they’re looking for maple syrup, whether that’s at a sugar house, but especially, at the grocery store, and take that extra second to flip the jug around and say, “Where was this packed or produced?”

Hopefully, we’re going to see that Maine pure maple syrup logo, and the real main logo, which is a promotion of the Department of Ag Conservation and Forestry, and be willing to choose that jug of syrup over one that’s packaged from another state.

Hopefully, people will start to see that there’s a really large impact of the Maine maple industry and supporting these local businesses will just compound on that positive impact.

Ron:  That’s the slogan or the name, Maine pure maple syrup. That’s what you look for.

Jason:  Yep.

Ron:  Good to know. I can’t think of many podcast episodes we’ve done that involve the natural world in some way. We haven’t brought up the subject of climate change, changes in the natural world.

I imagine that is a factor here as well. Is climate change having an impact on maple trees or maple syrup production, where it happens, how it happens? Is it changing the amount of production or having a negative effect?

Jason:  Absolutely. You think of the system that, with our annual crop production, we can tweak certain variables. We can bring water, we can change fertility rates, we can improve soil quality.

This is a very natural system that has pretty minimal impacts or buffers from human interaction. As we have more extreme weather events, and we have drought, that can affect the sugar concentration of our sap several years down the road.

There’s quite a bit of data showing the change in the seasons, especially for our further southern states that are in the maple producing region. Just as an example, Massachusetts from 1965 to 2010, the season has changed seven days earlier, and that it’s eight days shorter over that window.

That’s a lot of opportunity for sap runs that they’re missing out on because of that consistent change. Luckily, being a little further north, here in Maine, we’ve seen a 4.8 days earlier, and two days shortage in the season.

We’ve got a little bit of buffer, but that is the trajectory that we’re bracing for on the changes that we’re going to see due to the changes in the climate.

Ron:  You do your work through Cooperative Extension. What is being done through Cooperative Extension to help people and companies in this business or people that do it for hobby?

Jason:  We stay pretty busy throughout the year. This time of year, December through February, we offer about four to five workshops for backyard producers. We do everything right from identifying the trees to canning and grading the syrup. That’s really training for backyard folks.

We offer programs like business management. This is a business, and while it’s enjoyable, and most people get into it because of family tradition, and just the love of producing syrup, we have to keep that financial viability in mind.

We offer a lot of business planning and business management workshops. One of the major programs that we focus on throughout the maple producing region is UMaine cooperation with the University of Maine offer the Maple Grading School.

We work with established producers to just make sure that they’re aware of all the factors that go into quality control for maple syrup. We’re trying to maintain that high quality and high output of maple syrup in the industry.

We also collaborate closely with the school forest resources. We’re working with them on their research projects related to climate impacts, related to general sugar bush management, as far as optimal thinning, maintaining tree health.

Trying to take that research is being done by that group and making sure that is being transferred to the producers in an efficient and clear way.

Ron:  For people that may be listening here and say, “Boy, I got some maple trees out back. I want to give this a shot.” What would you tell them about how to get started. What they need for equipment or rookie mistakes to avoid so they can actually make some syrup?

Jason:  I’d say the first step is to visit the UMaine Extension maple Web page. We have webinars, recordings, and all sorts of resources on that page on the basics that you need to get started. Next, I’d say to connect with a local sugar maker.

The maple industry in Maine is a friendly group of folks that are open to helping others learn. Connecting with your local sugar maker and connecting with me at the Cooperative Extension Office. Always happy to talk you through the process. There’s a lot of good resources out there.

We also have some good maple equipment dealers throughout the state that can help you get set up with all the basic equipment that you need. Some of the issues that we see folks running into is not having an efficient heat source. It can take a long time to boil if you don’t have good surface area and you’re not keeping that heated at constant boil.

We want to avoid that. You want to make sure you’ve got correct density. A candy thermometer can be a really important tool there. Also, being careful what that sap comes into contact with. It’s easy to have some off flavors, some funny‑tasting syrup.

Be careful with how you’re storing it, how you’re boiling it, and what you’re putting in that syrup through the process to make sure you have a good quality product.

Ron:  Obviously, the way most people consume maple syrup is in the morning on their pancakes or waffles. Do you have any favorite ways to enjoy maple syrup beyond that you’d care to share? Any secret sauces, recipes, or anything?

Jason:  Yeah. I’ll try to pick out my top favorites. I would say maple‑glazed Brussels sprouts. You might as well throw a little bacon in there, too. That sweetness is nice, how that glazes and caramelizes as you roast those Brussels.

One of our go‑tos for most meals is a maple mustard balsamic dressing. Taking it over into the savory side. That caramelization, the maple flavor, and the sweetness can bring a lot out in vegetable roast, salad dressings, meat marinades. It’s amazing the number of ways that we can use maple beyond the pancakes.

Ron:  I should have thought ahead and had you bring some samples if we were doing this together here. Maybe next time.

Jason:  Right. [laughs]

Ron:  Finally, as you look out into the future, what do you think the future holds? Is this going to become a bigger industry? Will this thrive into the future? There are challenges, as we’ve discussed, but where do you see this all heading?

Jason:  Maple is an industry that is on the growth trajectory and it’s continuing to grow. The technology that goes into production of syrup has been growing very quickly, which has allowed for increased sap yield and increased efficiency and production in syrup.

It’s this constant balancing act between the production of syrup and the marketing of syrup. I think that we’re leaning towards that. Getting creative when it comes to marketing strategies, marketing outlets, and some brand recognition as well.

I think that there’s a lot of opportunity for the industry. I also hope that the main consumer of Maine maple syrup will take that extra step to identify Maine‑made syrup and make that part of their regular shopping habits.

Ron:  Thanks for visiting with us. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. I’m going to go take care of that once we’re done here.

Jason:  Sounds great, Ron. Make sure you put some extra syrup on it.

Ron:  All right. Will do. Thanks.

Jason:  Thank you.

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Ron:  Thanks for joining us. If you’d like to find out more about Maine maple syrup and give it a try in your own backyard, or even if you’re curious about the whole process, head to extension.umaine.edu and search for the maple syrup production page.

All episodes of The Maine Question, even the ones less delicious than this one can be found on Apple and Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and SoundCloud, UMaine’s Facebook and YouTube pages, as well as Amazon, and Audible. Questions or comments? Send us a note at mainequestion@maine.edu. I’m Ron Lisnet. We’ll catch you next time on the Maine Question.

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