Originally Posted by
GeneralStark
Perhaps it is time to revive this old thread. I have been thinking recently about what makes "traditional" maple syrup. Given that traditions change and evolve with time, how do we distinguish "traditional" maple syrup. The Native Americans used hollowed out logs and hot rocks to evaporate water from sap. Colonists used metal kettles to boil over an open fire and used proper spouts instead of just slashing the tree with an axe like the Native American heathens... Are these the "traditional" methods?
At the time of the invention of the "flue pan" this was a major development for the industry. It also lead the shift from batch to continuous flow evaporators. At the time was this seen as a major technological improvement, but were some opposed to this development for philosophical reasons? Was this the first major shift away from "traditional" techniques?
As has been discussed in this thread, it is all about marketing. So, for those that market their own syrup, how do you decide how to do so given your own given production methods?
In my opinion, burning with wood sets any operation apart from using a hydrocarbon. Many of the people on this forum burn oil or gas in their evaporators, but then turn around and complain and are concerned about so called global warming. I don't like using tubing, I use it because if I didn't I couldn't or wouldn't make maple syrup. Same for RO.
I think you have opened a can of worms here where the answer is difficult. I can say that all of the technology has done nothing but put more syrup on the market and drive the price down.
Last edited by markcasper; 04-05-2018 at 09:33 AM.
Mark
Where we made syrup long before the trendies made it popular, now its just another commodity.
John Deere 4000, 830, and 420 crawler
1400 taps, 600 gph CDL RO, 4x12 wood-fired Leader, forced air and preheater. 400 gallon Sap-O-Matic vacuum gathering tank, PTO powered. 2500 gallon X truck tank, 17 bulk tanks.
No cage tanks allowed on this farm!