Organic maple syrup?

[tom jr.]

What exactly is organic maple syrup? If someone has the answer let me know.

[Bucket Head]

Tom,

I presume you mean "organically produced"? It is a little confusing, I know, since everyone here make's syrup that's organic.

It would be syrup produced by a producer that has been "Certified Organic".
The certification process is very involved. There is quite a bit to it.

You have to have the certification inorder to label your syrup as "organic". You can legally tell people that syrup is an organic product, meaning nothing is added, but you can not say your's is "organic" without the organic approval.

There is a producer on here that is certified. New Hope Mapleman, if I'm remembering correctly, is his user name. He could tell you more about it.

In my opinion, the certification process is a lot of red tape and jumping through hoop's. But everyone has to decide for themselve's if it's for them or not.

Steve

[802maple]

It is pretty much as Bucket head has said, If you are a bulk producer it is very valuable to be certified as it will reward you as much as .20 per lb more for your product. For a small producer it may or may not be worth the hassle, that would depend on your situation, but for someone that makes 2000 gallons it could be what pays your fuel bill.

[Russell Lampron]

If you follow the organic certification guidelines that you have to follow you can sell your syrup as organic without being certified as long as your sales are less than $5000. If you want to sell in bulk you do have to be certified regardless of how much you sell.

Russ

[wdchuck]

I just sent the application back to become certified and it wasn't really all that involved. About an hour to fill it out and a call or two back to Nofa for some clarification. At the prices my stores will have to charge for the stuff, along with me having to pay the organic premium on my purchased syrup, I think the extra selling point will be worth it. ALso, the Vt Dept. of Ag administers a program to refund 75% of the cost back to you each year so it isnt even that expensive.

[New Hope Mapleman]

Your doing good if you can read the packet in an hour! It sure took me longer, but I'm not a speed reader.

The refunds are usually up to $500 not 75% of everything with no cap. I say that for any of the big boys sake.

Biggest difference is the defoamer. Here's the ingredients for Maple Pro version of defoamer. (mono and diglycerides and propylene glycol with propyl gallate and citric acid added to protect quality.)

At best its a GMO made primarily from cow and pig fat.

All in all I think certification is a good thing to provide a true guarantee for the consumers! It's only as good as our fellow producers word.

If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Dan

[davey]

Dan-
did you go through NOFA for certification?

[tom jr.]

I think that truely organic syrup means no additaves including defoaming agents,bacon, milk,ect. An old timer down the road who use to make syrup for 70 years told me that organic is 100% pure unadulterated. He never used any kind of oils or fat to controll overboils I guess he used a wooden paddle to beat down the bubbles. I have tried this not mutch luck although it did work if you stayed after it. he must have been a pro, or he had 10 extra sets of hands. after all he tapped 2-3000 buckets and boiled on 2 4x14 evaporators at once. One was a king style the other was an old IXL rope pull, that he finished on. CRAZY???

[New Hope Mapleman]

Yes we are certified through NOFA-NY. It really isn't that bad, but there is a bit of paper to keep up with.

I can't imagine boiling without anything for defoamer. I think certified canola or saflower oil can be bad. Guess that guy knew something we don't?

Have a good season guys. Looks like it might get busy around our parts this coming week. I know it sure will take a while to warm the trees up-frozen ground, foot+of snow and then -10--15 for two nights. Yeah it'll take at least a couple hours of warmth!

Dan

[Sugarmaker]

Dan,
What is the problem with canola oil or saflower oil?
Chris

[New Hope Mapleman]

As with all totally natural defoamers-oil & sap son't mix. Theres nothing to emulsify the defoamer. Thats what the commercial defoamer does. It's the same stuff in Cool Whip, Ice Cream, Gum, and part of the product is found in the cooling system of your car!

The canola I think makes a mess of the pans-Just my opinion. Also you can get refined or unrefined and that will make a difference.

Hope that helps you!
Dan