Are you a cook or a Chef

[Haynes Forest Products]

I got my Maple News the other day and was reading about Glenn Goodrich and his new mega operation. It is impressive and it shows what is possible. Now we have all said if I had endless money I could do............THAT but could you, would you and if so would it guarantee success. Now I think Glenn has a plan and it got me to thinking. Yes the plan is to make a lot of syrup but he want to make the the best quality and best tasting syrup possible. Now that got me to thinking do I know how to make the best tasting syrup possible. Like a good restaurant with all new state of the art equipment you also need good ingredients and then its time to get to work.

I have good equipment and the best ingredients I can find but that's where the challenge starts. Yes there are a lot of mitigating circumstances.

1) Collecting the sap.
2) Freshness of the sap.
3) Sanitation of everything the contacts the sap.
4) How long you cook it.
5) Do you RO.
6) How do you store your concentrate.
7) Type of products you allow the sap to contact.
8) How fast or slow you cook it.
9) Style of evaporator.
10) Defoamer?
11) Hot pack.
12) Plastic or glass?
13) Reverse flow.
14) Steam away.
15) Air injection.
16) Type of trees.
17) Did you overcook and thin.
18) Bring to density and store in a finisher.
19) Hot pack from evaporator.
20) Batch cooking.
21) Auto draw off.
22) Filter press.
23) When you tapped.
24) How long your season was.
25) High Vacuum.
26) Do you buy sap.
27)Buckets.
28) What kind of buckets.
29) Day time temperatures.
30) soil type.

The list goes on and on but all these must have an effect on the final product. Now I was always striving to get the sap cooked as fast as I could not because I think it changed the final outcome but because that is the name of the game more sap more syrup cook cook cook. I'm going to classify myself as a cook. Yea I want to make the best I can in a reasonable amount of time. I really don't know if my syrup is good, great, fantastic or mediocre. I have friends that say its the best they ever had. people that buy it when its available. Now I wouldn't know what to change to change the outcome of my syrup. I don't know if I need to change the outcome of my syrup. I go to other fellow producers shacks and taste their syrup and it tastes good. I can't say its better or worse. I would make a terrible taste tester. Now I have had some bad syrup and off flavor syrup but im sure the maker is proud of it if they open it up for critique.

So now that I got that off my chest what are you a cook or a Chef

[buckeye gold]

I agree, I am a cook.......however, on that note my mother-in-law and my wife were/are old school cooks and I ain't complaining as they have put out some of the finest food to ever cross my pallet. I would consider them both top notch. So I'm fine being a cook.

In my opinion a chef takes the finest ingredients and makes the finest and prettiest dish. A cook takes what they have and makes something great to eat.

[minehart gap]

You would definitely consider me a cook trying my best to be a chef.

But I also don't think that we as maple syrup producers have the ultimate outcome of the taste of our product. There are to many factors that Mother Nature controls such as the soil, rainfall, temperature, sap runs, invert sugars and so on.

I do think that it is our duty as a producer of a product to take the natural ingredients and make the highest quality product possible. Sanation and keeping our operations in proper operating condition are our duties.

That said, I believe that you could call me an engineer, plumber, scientist, forestor and so on before calling me a chef. But other than my day job, I wouldn't be any of those either. I think I'm just a sugar maker having a lot of fun and spending to much money.

Although, Haynes, maple syrup is considered a gourmet food so that makes you a chef. Perhaps you need one of those fancy white hats when you are boiling.

[DrTimPerkins]

1) Collecting the sap.
2) Freshness of the sap. (same as #2)
3) Sanitation of everything the contacts the sap. (same as #2)
4) How long you cook it.
5) Do you RO. (much smaller effect on flavor than you'd think)
6) How do you store your concentrate. (same as #2)
7) Type of products you allow the sap to contact.
8) How fast or slow you cook it. (same as #4)
9) Style of evaporator. (probably not much impact)
10) Defoamer? (mostly only if you're organic and adding too much)
11) Hot pack.
12) Plastic or glass? (probably no effect unless you're overheating or storing a really long time)
13) Reverse flow. (same as #9)
14) Steam away.(same as #9)
15) Air injection.(same as #9)
16) Type of trees. (not a lot of evidence except anecdotal, or perhaps pre-bud if you have a lot of soft maples)
17) Did you overcook and thin.
18) Bring to density and store in a finisher.
19) Hot pack from evaporator.
20) Batch cooking.
21) Auto draw off. (unlikely to affect)
22) Filter press. (probably not any effect on flavor...but does affect clarity greatly)
23) When you tapped. (probably not)
24) How long your season was. (probably not)
25) High Vacuum. (no)
26) Do you buy sap.
27)Buckets.
28) What kind of buckets.
29) Day time temperatures.
30) soil type. (some evidence, but not great)


Two MAJOR things affect syrup flavor, caramelization rate/degree and microbial levels/sanitation. Almost everything else acts through those two.

[Haynes Forest Products]

So then we agree that its equipment and how you use it and ingredients and how we treat them. I get a little discouraged when I see how the color is the over riding factor in getting the best price. NOW please don't misunderstand that I believe flavor/taste is the the key for me because if you feed pancakes to a blind man he ain't going to ask about its color to determine if he likes it.

I just don't know what I can do to IMPROVE what I make so Ill just keep COOKING.

[Moser's Maple]

I’m just an #%#hole. Is that a category??:lol:

[DocsMapleSyrup]

Two MAJOR things affect syrup flavor, caramelization rate/degree and microbial levels/sanitation. Almost everything else acts through those two.

As a novice, Dr. Perkins comment makes me wonder, is it possible to control the rate/degree of caramelization?

[Haynes Forest Products]

Doc I can tell you for fact that you can. When you forget to open your feed valve to the finish pans you control the the rate and its fast and then right before it bursts on fire that would be the DEGREE. :o

[Russell Lampron]

Being the "sugar master" here at my operation would make me the "chief cook and bottle washer"! That being said I guess that makes me a cook.

[DrTimPerkins]

I’m just an #%#hole. Is that a category??:lol:

Jake...you're in a category all your own. :lol:

[Bucket Head]

Interesting question Chuck! Ironically, and years ago, my sister had my father and I put on aprons and chef hats and took a picture of us boiling. When showing the picture we always said, "Please do not disturb the chef's". I'll have to try and locate that picture.

Going back to the question, we do make a gourmet product like Minehart Gap said. And chef's do use specific knowledge and specific equipment to make something unique. So, technically, we could call ourselves chef's if we wanted to.

You know what, I think I'm going to locate those hats too!

Steve

[Haynes Forest Products]

Buckeye the more posts I read I'm starting to realize that there are a certain sugar makers that do more than just "cook". Having the ability to manipulate your equipment and change the outcome for the BETTER is what make you a Chef in my opinion. Now I do realize that we all walk the room tweaking this or that to keep things going in the right direction. I just don't know what ones will change good syrup to award winning syrup.

Now to my favorite word brought to you by the good Dr. REPLICATION I know producers that are like clock work when running their rigs that if you distract them they get all out of whack. Because things change as far as sugar content, foaming and how the rig runs we constantly have to be manipulating it to meet its needs. Dr. Perking in the thread about RO's mentioned that once the equipment had stabilized then they could get into the woods. That is so true with all my systems from the vacuum in the woods to the RO and especially the evaporator. I could shut it down at 10:00 at night and shut the head tank off and wake up at 6:00 in the AM and have the rig go crazy for the next 1/2 until i bring it under control. :mad::mad::mad:

Seems like 3/4 of my efforts in the sap shack are spent diverting disasters and the other 1/4 is spent cleaning up the ones I didn't divert/avoid and that leaves very little time to wipe away the tears. At the end of the evening when I take a nice clean spoon full of hot syrup along with the sand, spider legs and flotsam and suck it into my mouth and know its the best I could have done I'm one happy cook.