When the sap has been reduced to syrup having a density of about 11 pounds to the gallon, the niter or malate of lime, sometimes called sugar sand, which is held in solution in the sap and which crystalizes or precipitates at this stage of evaporation, can be separated from the syrup. This is accomplished in two or more ways; some strain it through felt while hot and leave the syrup free of niter; others let stand in buckets or tanks until cold; then turn or draw off the clear amber syrup leaving the malate of lime at the bottom.
Nothing has as yet been said about sugaring off, but this is a process by itself and comes after we get the syrup. Anyone who has maple syrup can sugar off, as the saying is, or convert the syrup to sugar by boiling it.
In the sugar camp the sugaring off is usually done in a deep pan on a separate arch, as the boiling sugar has a tendency to boil over unless constantly watched. The size of the pan depends on the form of product to be made. If the sugar is to be put in tin pails or wood tubs it can be handled in lots of 100 pounds or more; this would require a pan 12 inches high, 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. For shipping long distances or to hot climates the sugar should be cooked down to a density of 240° to 245°F. Great care is necessary however, not to burn or scorch the sugar when cooked to so high a temperature. For ordinary purposes if the sugar is to be used soon after it is made a temperature of 235° to 238° is high enough.
When making small cakes it is better to have two or more smaller pans and have the batches of sugar done at different intervals as the color and grain of the cake sugar depend largely on the amount of stirring it gets while hot and the sooner it is stirred after it is done the better. When the sugar gets so thick that it will barely pour it is run into moulds where it soon hardens and is ready to be wrapped in waxed paper, packed in boxes and sent to market.
There is another form of sugar, and no sugar party is complete without it, that is sugar on snow or ice. Boil the syrup down a little past 230°, cool it and put on snow with the spoon. When cooled, the waxed sugar eaten with an occasional plain doughnut and now and then a pickle is a pleasure long to be remembered and a banquet fit for a King.
To be sure and get the pure goods, order direct from the producer or from the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Market, Randolph, Vt., where maple goods can be procured at any season of the year.
This market is the outgrowth of and closely connected with the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association.
The addresses of producers will be found at the back part of this booklet.
THE SUGARING OFF.
Will Carleton in Everywhere.