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Late night boiling

2 mins read
Large doors on the vent on the roof allow the steam a way out of the saphouse.

STRONG – At Maine Sugarworks, the Mitman crew has been working late. Steam and wood smoke rise from the saphouse as maple’s sweet sap boils down to produce syrup.

Warm days and cool nights have allowed the sap to run well this past week, which is great news for Maine’s maple syrup producers who are preparing for  the annual Maine Maple Sunday next weekend. Click here for a list of open saphouses and events.

“We try and to boil the sap as soon as we can after it runs,” sugarmaker and photographer Steve Mitman said. “We tapped our 350 trees over the first weekend in March, which is about normal for us.”

He noted that for some reason, on foggy days the water really boils off quickly.

Ivy Mitman fishes for a lost spoon in the syrup pan, as Emma Houston of Kingfield, looks on. Nothing beats the smell of a saphouse when it is boiling time.
The Maine Sugarworks evaporator is wood-fired. Many small scale farms still fire with wood but many large scale operations have switched to oil.
Emma Houston of Kingfield takes a sample from the boiling syrup pan.

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11 Comments

  1. Wow … what a great operation. The pictures are fantastic. I can’t wait to taste it.

    Tom Lippart

  2. Really cool Steve. Coming down in May from Alaska to help Ian out so I will need to stop by. Have a great one

  3. Fantastic photos, Steve. It was great to visit with you all today. The syrup tastes wonderful- backwoods caviar!

  4. Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing!! This is truly a labor-intensive experience! Mitman family has a total commitment to making excellent Maple Syrup!!! mmmmmmm.

  5. Fantastic pictures Steve. I love the two taken from outside. Hope you have an excellent run this year. Take care. Jeff

  6. I will need to order some for pick up at school sometime. I miss having your Maple Syrup! Excellent pictures and article! Ann

  7. If National Geographic did a story on maple-syrup season, these would be the pictures they should use. Amazing.

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