How to Get Maple Syrup for Cooking in Your Kitchen

The first thing you must do if you want to make homemade maple syrup is to collect some maple sap. You can do this by finding one or more maple trees. Sugar Maple is the type of maple tree with the highest amount of sugar.However, you can also use the sap from other maple tress types like Ash-leafed Maple, Silver Maple and Red Maple but you will not get sap as sweet as that of Sugar Maples. The Sugar Maple is the best to use for making maple candy or maple cookie recipe. You also have to be sure that the maple trees you select are at least 4.5 feet tall and 10 inches wide.
The next thing you should do is to drill a hole in the trunk of the tree.This hole must be 2-3 inches deep and 7/16 inch wide. Clean the hole if there are any loose wood present. After doing so, tap a spout lightly into the hole using a hammer. You can purchase a spout at farm supply stores, feed shops or hardware stores.
Get a clean bucket and hang it onto the spout to catch the maple sap as it drips out. This bucket must be rust-proof. Furthermore, a container with a lid is recommended because this will prevent any matter such as wood, insects and rainwater from falling into the sap.
Once you have collected enough sap, put it in containers and have it refrigerated until you are prepared to proceed to the boiling process and turn it into syrup. Note that if you want to make a lot of maple syrup, you also need to collect more than a lot of sap. This is because forty gallons of sap can only create a gallon of syrup!
You need to boil the sap fresh from a maple tree because it contains only about two percent of sugar while the rest is water content. Therefore, in order for much water to evaporate, you need to boil it. For boiling, use a large stainless steel pan or pot. Boiling the sap outdoors is more favorable because for sure, a lot of steam is involved.
The sap with better quality is the sap that boils faster. Once the sap boils, measure its temperature and write it down. Later on, you will need again this initial temperature. Go back indoors and complete the boiling there once the sap starts to become thick. Measure the temperature of the sap from time to time. When the temperature measured is higher than its initial temperature by at least seven degrees Fahrenheit, then it is ready.
When the syrup is done, strain it using a clean and food-approved strainer, filter or a cheesecloth. And that is it; you have now created your very own maple syrup at home! You can even make different maple syrup grades.