Mike Haasl wrote:I've made sugar before and I've also made a sugary tar that was a total fail. I assumed that the "invert sugar" level of the syrup dictated if you can make sugar from it but your post makes it sound like you can make sugar from any maple syrup. Am I misreading or optimistically assuming something?
Would you mind sharing your process for turning syrup into sugar?
You are correct, invert sugar ratio dictates whether you can successfully make granulated sugar or not for that season. If the ratio of sucrose, glucose, and fructose are off it will never granulate no matter what you try to do. For that season you have to be happy with just making a fresh batch of syrup. I have made my share of tar thinking I was doing something wrong. Once I understood the issue then I tried doctoring the syrup with the correct sugars to try to rebalance, I also tried cutting it with syrup I had remaining from previous years that I knew made good sugar. Waste of time all of it. I learned to understand that Mother Nature was in control, and sometimes I simply do not get what I want. Makes me appreciate it more.
Every year when I am done finishing all the maple syrup to temp I then get ready for sugaring. I process a pint of syrup as a test batch on the stove to see if it granulates. If it turns to tar then I only wasted a pint, and I end my season. I learned to always keep a five gallon pail of granulated sugar as a backup supply against a failed year. I do not consume much sugar so I am still willing to barter some off, but I double its value. I have been making granulated maple sugar for nine years now, this year will be number ten. I discount the first three years due to the steep learning curve. Out of six years I have had two years where the syrup did not turn into sugar properly. The last two years I made the best sugar I have ever made, it was wonderful. I am curious how it will turn out this year. Hoping for the best, I have impatient people bugging me that they need more sugar and I have not even begun collecting sap yet.
There are some decent videos of the process online. I learned how to do it all by myself with no such aids so I had a steep learning curve. Now I have the experience to see all the stages and know how things are going just by appearance. I never use a thermometer anymore, turned out to be just an unnecessary distraction. Now I can easily get sugar by taking a batch from start to finish in a pan on the stove if I want to, it is fun to show visitors how it works and they are always amazed. Still fascinates me as well.
My "secrets" are simple:
1.) Most Important Part 1: DO NOT OVERHEAT. No matter what size batch I do I never have the stove setting higher than medium, and when the final stages begin I gradually take the dial down. At the end there is so much heat built up in the product that you can turn the heat completely off.
2.) Most Important Part 2: BE PATIENT. Do not rush any step of the process. Rush, cut corners, you will fail.
3.) Most Important Part 3: BE SAFE. Should not need explaining. I wear eye protection. I wear long sleeves now. Once I happened to spill a glob of the superheated maple goo onto my arm. It was a truly amazing experience of pain and I prefer to avoid that ever happening again.
4.) Do not overthink the process. It is a simple process once you know how to do it and have some experience under your belt, but it never stops being potentially tricky and dangerous. It requires full focus and attention. And never have children around that batch of superheated boiling goo. Be smart about things.
5.) Do not use a thermometer as it is more of a distraction than an aid. It really does not tell you anything you need to know because the point of the whole exercise is simply to heat up the syrup enough to take the remaining water out of it as steam. Contrary to what many people say there is no final finish temperature, every batch is finished when all the water is boiled/steamed out of the syrup. If you are patient and do not overheat I guarantee you will succeed every time (assuming the invert sugar ratio is correct).
Overheating will set syrup on to the bottom of the pan, the syrup will scorch and the batch will be either be ruined or the finished sugar will be off color and taste bad. Gentle stir occasionally, increase stirring as the batch progresses. When the the batch turns to the consistency of wet sand then remove from heat and stir and fold continuously until it releases the last of the water as a burst of steam. (Just before this stage is when people will put the batch into a mixer to final finish. This will strain and possibly burn out the motor of the average home kitchen mixer, so good luck. I burned out my KitchenAide.) When it is nice granulated sugar and you think it is finished then screen out the candy nuggets. Let the sugar cool to room temperature, then place the cool finished sugar into a sealed container as soon as possible because the sugar immediately begins to absorb humidity from the air. In storage the sugar will always harden, but it breaks up easily and can be easily rescreened. This is because it is all natural, while store bought refined sugars have chemical or silicon dioxide anticlumping agents in them, which a person then consumes when using the sugar. Personally I have no problem dealing with my clumpy but pure maple sugar.
I have photos of my entire process but I do not have time to deal with resizing and uploading images at this time.
By the way, anyone can try to make their own maple sugar by purchasing a pint or quart of maple syrup from the store. Does not need to be top shelf brands but needs to be PURE. They do not always work due to the invert sugar issue. I have had success doing this as an experiment using several different brands from different stores, but I also had a few failures.
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