Maple Sugar

[Sugarmaker]

You did a very nice job making your syrup into sugar!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Here is my method and tools to make sugar.

Folks,
Maple sugar is a good product to make. Very few failed batches, Great shelf life, Good sales.
I learned to make it by hand first with maybe a quart of syrup. yes it takes good arm strength to get it done. I like to use a good medium or into the dark range of the grades.
I heat my syrup to 260 F (-0/+5 F). If you go less you tend to have more large lumps in the sugar. Higher temps you risk scorching the syrup.
Anyway here is the upper end of the mixing systems. Yes the Hobart is a great tool for making a gallon + of syrup into sugar.

Heating the syrup. (remember that not all syrup is created equal. late syrup sometimes doe not sugar (crystallize) well.) Also put defoamer or a little butter if allowed around the inside of the pan to help reduce boil over.


Hobart counter top mixer ready for the hot syrup.


cont.

[Sugarmaker]

cont,
carefully pour hot syrup into mixer.


on low speed, ready for some maple action


no need to wait, there is no cool down required.


maybe 5-8 minutes into the cycle.


cont,

[Sugarmaker]

cont,
10-15 minutes its almost done. remember that hot steam is given off during the mixing. Lots od condensation will be on the mixer. I stop and wipe off the head to minimize water droplets falling back into the sugar.


We are done. This mixer can mix it too long also and make it into powder. You need to stop when the bowl is cooler to the touch and the sugar still has some creep left in it.


Hope this helps.
Regards,
Chris

[Jim Coleman]

Chris: Thanks for the reply. We will certainly give this a try. It looks pretty simple and the granulated sugar is so convenient for so many uses. The video made it pretty clear as well.

Maple trees, giving sap and sugar, shade and oxygen, coolness, homes for wildlife, heat for fire, beauty and protection. We are so blessed in this neck of the woods to have such a tree....

Jim

thanks

Jim

[Moser's Maple]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9F3vyHr-1U

From an expert. With a cool accent by the way...

I don't know if I would go as far calling me an expert. I just feel the need to try to return some of the knowledge I have gained from both maple forums.

Shut up! That was too easy! I've stayed away from making sugar because all I've read is that they blow out Kitchen-Aids and you really need a big Hobart to do it safely.

Thank you, General for sharing that video and thank you, Jake for making it!

What was the amount of syrup to start with? What was the yield in sugar?

I use maple sugar to make cotton candy. I prefer the more granular, less powdery sugar. Is that controlled during the temp, stirring, or sifting stage?

Sean

Sean this was a very small batch. maybe 1 quart at the very most, I just wanted to show the process of making sugar, and to show in real time the the transformation it makes. I maybe yielded 1 1/2 pounds of refined sugar in the video.
granulars can be controlled by boiling point, point of agitation, aggressiveness of agitation, and size of sift screen used.

I saw that vid too, fine and dandy if you've got the wrist strength. I'm hardly weak, but when I tried to do it that way last year I only got as far as the taffylike stage before I had to quit, and that was with a small quantity (like 500ml or less). I'm sticking with the KitchenAid!

Galena this video was a direct result of people wanting to see the sugar process. Mainly from some of small producing students, or house wives that wanted to convert their syrup to sugar. I by no means expect anybody to try this size batch and hand method to do any "mass" volumes of sugar. I just wanted to show that it is fairly easy to do, and for the person to not be intimidated by the idea of making sugar. In our scale production process do not rely on hand stirring, but take advantage of electricity.
I have also found out that some are interested in making sugar, but after attending a class especially with Steve Childs they are more intimidated. See in Steve's classes he wear full face mask, heavy rubber gloves, and a heavy duty apron as a safety (and liability) measure. All of these are very good practices, but as you can probably tell being new to confections this could come off as intimidating. I have also been made aware of that seeing videos of the big commerical equipment can seem a bit over whelming to the new person. This is why I just wanted to post up a video on sugar and show all you need is "a pan, and your hand"

[Galena]

Jake, I did find the video very well done, very instructional and understood what you were doing for illustrative purposes, but at a guess your wrists are 2x as large as mine - overall I am very strong for a woman, but even just 500ml (I think it's a quart, I can't remember....how much is a pint and a quart respectively, in cups?) tried my patience and wrists, I was getting some pain happening, and I just can't afford to torque em out. I certainly don't plan to do mass volumes of sugar by hand, that's why I dropped $150 CDN (about $50 USD lol) on a barely used KitchenAid. But thanks for getting back to me! :-)

ETA: Chris, great illustrations. So I need to stop when I get to the cookie-dough like stage by the looks of it...I made maple icing sugar last time! BTW what's creep? Leftover syrup in the bottom?

[Sunday Rock Maple]

"This is why I just wanted to post up a video on sugar and show all you need is "a pan, and your hand"

We just did a batch and it turned out great --thanks a bunch for posting it!

[unc23win]

Thanks for sharing guys. Excellent video Jake, nice step by step Chris, and thanks for sharing General and others. Maybe I will get some time to make some after I make cream thanks again to Jake.

[gmc8757]

Thanks for sharing, first time seeming sugar be made. I have made candy and covered almonds a bunch of times - one tip I found very useful was to take a piece of butter and run it across in a line about 1" below the top of the pan quick. I found this tip on here somewhere and its been very helpful to keeping the syrup from boiling over.


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