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Pure Maple Syrup

Posted by Admin on August 20th, 2010 filed in Uncategorized

maple-syrup-largethumb2969457What is maple syrup and what do the grades mean?

What is Maple Syrup?

Maple syrup is made by reducing the sap from maple trees into a highly concentrated sugar suspended in water. At harvest, maple sap is a watery liquid–not thick and sticky like other saps. The sap is then boiled until most of the water evaporates. Impurities rise to the top during the boiling and are skimmed off. When the sugar content exceeds 67%, it is considered maple syrup.

The color and strength of flavor is dependent upon when the maple syrup was harvested and the growing conditions of the maple trees for that year. Lighter syrups are harvested earlier in the season.

Maple Syrup Grade

The USDA assigns grades to the maple syrup sold in the the U.S. These grades are Grade A Light Amber, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber, and Grade B.

Storage

Maple syrup must be refrigerated for freshness (even unopened bottles). Freeze maple syrup to extend its life indefinitely. Refrigerated syrup in glass containers will maintain quality for a year. Syrup in plastic bottles can be refrigerated for three to four months.

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