Maple Syrup is One of Minnesota's Sweetest Commodities!
Have you seen the trees with the pointy red and orange leaves? They’re so big and bright they almost glow. Those are the leaves of maple trees, the stars of the fall forest. In the spring, seeping from their trunks is sweet sap—the beginning of delicious maple syrup.
After some time and work, sap turns into that golden ingredient you pour on your pancakes, what you swirl over your hot oatmeal, and even what you mix into tasty baked beans. Maple syrup adds a unique and earthy flavor. It is a bit floral and nutty. It even tastes like vanilla and toffee too. Yum!
Pure maple syrup is one of Minnesota’s sweetest commodities.
The state is one of the top 10 producers of it in the country. But people have been making maple syrup in the area for hundreds of years.
A Native American Food
Native Americans were the first to use the maple tree’s sap. Tribes across the Great Lakes and New England areas knew how to turn it into an important food product. They made syrup and sugar and used it to cure meat or sweeten medicines. It gave them nutrients in their diet, like calcium and iron. And they traded it with other tribes and Europeans too.
In Minnesota, people from the Ojibwe and Dakota tribes have been making maple syrup and sugar for centuries. Traditionally, they cut the trees with an ax and put in a hollow twig as a spout. They hung birch bark buckets below to collect the dripping sap. They could freeze the sap and remove ice at the top. They would boil it to release more water. This condensed the sap into a golden syrup. If they cooked the syrup more, it became sugar. This would last all winter long.
Native Americans passed on their knowledge of the maple tree’s sap to others. And with the metal pots that came with Europeans, the heating process changed too. Soon more people were making the sweet syrup so many love to eat.
See how Dakota people traditionally made maple syrup and how they make it today:
Sweet Maple Trees
All trees make sap, but not all sap is sweet! Different kinds of maple trees can be used. But in Minnesota, four kinds of maple trees are the main ones used to make the sweet sap that is good for syrup.
Sugar Maple
(This tree makes the sweetest sap!)
Red Maple
Silver Maple
Boxelder Maple
Turning Sap into Syrup
What do you need to add to sap to make it into syrup? Not one thing! You just need to take water away.
In Minnesota, sap begins to flow when temperatures start to rise after the cold winter. This is in February, March, or April. Here are the steps to turning that clear sap into golden syrup.
Tap into the Fun of Making Maple Syrup
Grades of Maple Syrup
Not all maple syrup is the same. It varies in color and taste. So, producers group syrup into grades. Darker syrups have a stronger taste. Lighter syrups have a milder taste. Here are the four grades of maple syrup.
Very Dark
This grade is almost dark brown in color. Its maple flavor is very strong. It is a good choice if you want to cook with maple syrup.
Dark
With a darker red color, this syrup has a stronger flavor. You can taste much more maple in this grade.
Amber
This syrup has more of a reddish color. It has more of a maple flavor. It is what people usually want for their pancakes.
Golden
This is the lightest syrup. It usually comes from the beginning of sap season. It has a golden color and a hint of maple and vanilla flavors.
Using Maple Syrup
You can use maple syrup in many ways, but people often think of breakfast foods for this sweet ingredient. It is great drizzled over pancakes, waffles, or French toast. It sweetens hot cereals and cinnamon rolls. It is also added to bacon and breakfast sausage.
Maple syrup makes a great glaze as well. It can be brushed on meats, like ham or turkey. It is tasty on salmon too.
It also goes well with fruits and vegetables. You can make salad dressing with it or mix it with butter to add to steamed vegetables. You can also drizzle it onto a fruit salad or mix it into baked beans.
Some people use maple syrup instead of sugar or honey. They bake with it or mix it into their tea or coffee. You can add it to lemonade or pour it on ice cream sundaes too! This ingredient can sweeten all kinds of foods.
Try this simple recipe for a tasty snack!
Minnesota's Maple Syrup
Around 100,000 to 125,000 taps are set each year in Minnesota. Together they produce close to 26,000 gallons of syrup.
Most producers are smaller businesses, with just 2,500 to 3,500 taps each year. But there are a few larger producers who keep around 20,000 taps flowing.
Sweeter in Minnesota
Minnesota does not make as much maple syrup as other states, like Vermont or Wisconsin. Yet, the state’s sap is a bit sweeter than other states. It has around 3% sugar content, while other states have around 2%. No one knows why Minnesota’s sap is sweeter, but it means that producers do not need to collect as much to make their syrup.
You don’t need to be a large producer to make maple syrup. Lots of people just look in their backyard to find some maple trees. Making maple syrup is a fun hobby anyone can try!
Maple Syrup Fun Facts
How much sap do you need to make a gallon of maple syrup? Around 40 gallons!
The time that sap flows is called the “sugar season.” It lasts about four to six weeks.
Each tap hole releases around 10 gallons of sap in a sugar season.
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How big does a maple tree need to be? At least 10 inches in diameter to be tapped without hurting it.
