- [Mark} Hello, this is Mark Isselhardt,
Maple Specialist with UVM Extension.
Most people know that to make maple syrup
you have to do a lot of boiling.
You collect the sap from the trees
and you evaporate the water while concentrating the sugars.
You might not know that in order to determine
if you actually have correct density syrup,
you need to do some measurements.
In the old days,
people would use their scoop from their evaporator
and carefully look at how the syrup behaves
as it flows over the edge of the scoop.
Correct density syrup will form
a bit of an apron or a thin film
and it'll look just right when the syrup is correct.
Most sugar makers now use a combination
of thermometers and temperature measurements
and what's called a hydrometer,
which is a way of measuring density.
In Vermont, legal syrup has to be
between 66.9 and 68.9% sugar.
To find out whether or not their batch of syrup is correct,
sugar makers will use a hydrometer,
which is a calibrated glass instrument
that will float in syrup and it has precise graduations
along the stem of the hydrometer.
The hydrometer will float at the correct line
when the syrup is correct density.
It's important that sugar makers
know the temperature of the syrup
when they're using a hydrometer, because hot syrup,
the hydrometer will float lower than if the syrup is cold.
Assuming the sugar maker does all these things correctly,
they'll have a very good idea
of the precise density of the syrup.
And when it's correct, they will put it in a barrel
or put it in a retail container
and it will be available for sale in the marketplace.