The days that the maple sap has been gathered are long work days for Sue and Bob. This part of the story shows step-by-step the long process of boiling down 2% sugar content sap into 67% sugar content pure maple syrup.
Part Two, Dedication and Vigilance
When the Nelsons have enough sugar water gathered, it is
time to fire up the wood-fueled evaporator and begin the long process of
turning 2% sugar water into 67% sugar content maple syrup. The sugar water
(sap) is held in two large holding tanks inside the cozy sugar house. A clear hose drains the sap into the first chamber
of the evaporator. From this step on, a careful eye has to be kept on the
bubbling brew as sweet steam fills the room.
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Sue Nelson sits perched on a chair, always at the ready to skim off any
residue that floats to the top.
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Bob is kept busy feeding wood into the furnace.
When the sap has boiled down enough, it flows into the second chamber for
further reducing. Now Sue has two areas
to monitor; the sap in the finishing chamber could easily scorch, ruining the
whole batch. When the sap bubbles too vigorously or too high, Sue drops in a
small pat of butter to calm it down.
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The
finishing chamber has a gage on the side. Bob’s chair is near this gage. When
the needle points to the number seven on the gage, the sugar water has finally
been reduced enough to be called “syrup”.
But the Nelson’s do not stop at this stage. For them, the “finishing”
pan is really the middle step.
After draining the syrup from the finishing pan
into a large stainless steel pot, Bob puts the pot on a propane burner for
further boiling down because he likes nice, thick syrup. He says he wants his
syrup to stick to his hotcakes, not run all over his plate. Now Sue has three
things to keep her eye on. The syrup is almost done and at a critical stage.
Before it can truly be called “syrup” by the Nelson’s standards, it has to
register the hot test line on a
hydrometer, which is a special tool used for measuring the sugar content in the
syrup. 
Being careful not to burn her hands with the extremely hot syrup, each time that Sue measures the syrup’s consistency she has to fill the hydrometer twice, the
first time to heat the tool up so that the second reading is accurate. The day that I spent with the Nelsons it took
about fifteen minutes for the syrup to reach the Nelson’s standard.
Tomorrow wraps up our story about Sue and Bob's maple syrup production.
Marcheta *appreciative
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