maple sugar recipe questions

[sugarnut]

take a look at this website and the recipes given and tell me what you think about them. http://www.baking911.com/candy/maple.htm i am new to making sugar and candy and i followed some of the recipes with varying results. i was just wondering if anyone thinks some of the recipes got mixed up on that site.

the first time i tried to make a molded candy, i ended up with sugar. the next time i tried to make it, i ended up with what was more like a caramel. it was a bit too stiff to spread like i would imagine a cream to be.

so next, i tried making sugar and i ended up with a fondant or ohio cream. it was very much like a fudge.

the next attempt was again for sugar. i cooked the syrup until it was @ 257 F and poured it into a heavy stainless basin. i stirred and stirred and it seemed like the stainless basin was holding too much heat, so i placed it into a water bath in a larger bread dough bowl to cool it while i stirred. i had great success with that method. i got really nice sugar. common sense tells me i need to cool the sugar quickly while i stir, but that seems to conflict with the recipe on the linked page.

the next attempt was again for sugar. this time i used syrup that had been repacked in the past. i had repacked 2006 and 2007 to free up canning jars for veggies. i packed it into bacon jugs. again, i heated the syrup to 257 F and this time i poured it into a flat, stainless buffet pan. i used no water bath and stirred...for 45 minutes. i ended up with a maple cream or spread. it has no grainy character and is a bit softer than the stuff that ended up like caramel.

the next time i try for sugar, i plan to heat to at least 260 F and cool it down quickly using a water bath while i stir. i hope to make sugar again and i hope it works as i am down to my last gallon of syrup. the only thing i can think of is that perhaps the invert sugar content was different for all of the syrup. i know practically nothing about invert sugar, but i wonder if repacking some of the syrup affected the invert sugar content.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Sugarnut,
Always check the boiling point of water before you start. It changes with the barometric pressure. Adjust your recipe to the degrees above the boiling point, not a specific temp. Also for the taffy like stuff, it sounds like the "invert sugar" may have been incorrect for the product you were trying to make.

[sugarnut]

that's a good tip. i rarely check the temp of boiling water and i have no hydrometer for syrup making so i have to rely on the thermometer for everything.

thanks.

[KevintheHobbit]

Sugarnut,

I was just went to a workshop on maple confections at the Addison County VT Maple School.

It sounds like your temps are about 5 to 10 degrees off. We made a beautiful batch of granulated sugar in about 15 minutes by cooking the syrup up to 265ish and then whipping the hell out of it with a hand mixer. We didn't even switch pans. It set up in about 7 minutes and we were running in through a sifter.

I've got to do a bit more experimenting in the kitchen myself, so I can't guarantee those temps. I do remember the instructor saying that grade B did funny things when you tried to make sugar/candy out of it and that only the lighter grades worked well for sugar/candy making.

Ruth Goodrich ran the workshop. She's got a farm up in Cabot, VT and has been in the business long enough to know. I think they've got a website with some info posted, but I'm not sure.

Kevin

[sugarnut]

thanks! i will definately shoot for higher temps with my last gallon of 2008. :)

can you find a link to her site?

[maplwrks]

Sugarnut---their site is under construction---www.goodrichmaplefarm.com

[Jim and Kay Pepper]

hOW DO YOU TEST FOR INVERT SUGAR?

[KenWP]

I found that if I approached 265 that the syrup turned to sugar very easy. if you call stiring it till it dries out easy. I used light syrup and dark syrup with the same results. Just trying to get to that temp was the work as it takes a while to get there with out it bubbling over on you so I had to lower the heat and go slower.
I would like to make cream or what they call maple butter around here but waiting for it to cool sounds like a lot of work.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

You use the same glucose meter that you use to test your blood for sugar levels. I haven't done it in a while so someone else will have to chip in and help me here. Basically you prepare a known concentration of syrup and water by weight. Dip a glucose stick in it and then put the stick in the meter to produce a digital reading. That reading will tell you in what range your syrup is and whether it is suitable for producing various maple added value products. I believe the meters are available at local drug store and of course Wally World.

[KenWP]

If you do it right you can get a free meter as they give you the meter if you buy the test strips.

[sfsshadow]

i found the darker the syrup,the larger the grain. if you own a cream machine,try making grainulated sugar with it. it works great!

[Jim and Kay Pepper]

Thank you for your information. Do you know what digital reading is high enough invert sugar? Thanks. Kay Pepper

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

A reading of 50 is ideal for molded maple sugar. A minimum of 30 is needed for it to work.
You should create a 1 in 10 solution of syrup and water as measured by weight and dip the test strip in that solution. To prepare the solution place an empty cup on a scale. Tare the scale to 0. Drip 10 grams of syrup into the cup. Add 90 grams of warm water. The first can be added quickly but the last few grams should be added with a dropper. Total weight should now be 100 grams. Remove from the scale and stir it well then dip the test strip and place in the meter.
Hope this helps.
Doug

[Amber Gold]

I've heard you can turn commercial syrup into good tasting maple sugar. Is this correct? From what I remember, the funky stuff gets boiled off and doesn't effect the flavor of the actual sugar. I have about 2 gal of commercial now and will probably end up with 8 by the time I concentrate the evap.