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Can I tap Silver Maples to make maple syrup?

 

The short answer is, YES! In fact, it was stated by early Ohio settlers that Silver Maple sap is superior to other maple sap varietals in terms of sugar quality and taste. On the other hand, silver maples are uncommonly tapped for commercial use due to their lower sugar content. Sugar maples are commonly known as the best maple species for tapping due to their 40:1 syrup ratio. This simply means that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. In contrast, a silver maple will have a ratio closer to 50:1, so it will take an extra 10 gallons of silver maple sap to make syrup.

 

 

*If you need an instructional guide to Maple syruping, please see the link below to a resource provided by the WI DNR. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/destinations/state_parks/maplesyrup_how.pdf

 

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)

Silver maples are exceptionally fast-growing and hardy trees. They can withstand acidic soil and wet conditions, which is why they are often found in riverine floodplains. They survive in hardiness zones 3-9, which means they inhabit nearly the entirety of the United States.

Figure 1. Tree Hardiness Zones in US. Silver Maples can survives in zones 3-5.

 

Maple Tapping Silvers – Firsthand experience

In the spring of 2020, my husband, children, and myself tapped about 20 silver maples on our riparian property on the Wisconsin River. We’ve loved maple tapping for years and were very excited to utilize the maples on our land.

*Wondering if you have silver maples? They are very distinctive in their shaggy bark…see image below.

 

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Figures 2, 3. Tapped Silver maples on Wisconsin River property, Oneida County, WI.

 

Silver maples are known to produce large amounts of sap, perhaps due to their ease of access to abundant supplies of water as a riparian tree species. In our taps, we collected about 110 gallons total during the tapping season.

 

Figure 4. Two days worth of Silver Maple Sap in peak season.

 

Personally, my favorite part of maple syruping are boiling days. It gives you an excuse to be outside all day, enjoying the sounds of nature and smelling a smokey fire and delicious boiling sap. I cannot overstate how incredible the smell of boiling sap is on a cool, fresh, spring day.

 

My husband and I created a quick and easy (and relatively inexpensive) evaporation system for our sap boiling. As you can see in the photos below, we used cinderblocks to create an elevated frame for our restaurant-style steam pans to sit on. The design was simple, and yet very effective. We leveled the ground before construction and added a few bags of sand to the floor. The cinderblocks are not cemented, and did a fine job of sealing on their own. As you can see, we created a smoke vent at one end of the structure. You want your smokestack height to be at least as long as the length of your steam trays to avoid smoking up your syrup. We used a simple metal sheet as a door.

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Figures 5, 6. Cinderblock evaporator.

 

It took an entire day to boil 40 gallons of syrup in this system. We boiled 3 consecutive Saturdays resulting in over 2 gallons of syrup! More than enough for our small family and Christmas gifts.

 

Figure 7. The finished product, a little over 2 gallons SILVER maple syrup.

 

Pitfalls of tapping Silver Maples

While my family had a great experience tapping silver maples, there are a few good reasons why they are not the MOST ideal tree for maple syruping.

1. As mentioned earlier in this post, silver maples have a lower sugar content compared to sugar maples. It will take more effort to achieve the same amount of syrup.
2. Silver maples usually have a shorter tapping season due to an earlier bud. When maples begin to bud, most syrupers will stop tapping due a change in sap flavor (grassy-tasting). If the syrup is for yourself and you don’t mind the flavor, continue tapping.
3. Silver maples produce more sugar sand, which are minerals found in sap. These excess minerals will take extra effort to filter (if you decide to filter). Some individuals will leave the sand to sink to the bottom of their jar and simply spoon out clean syrup.

 

In short, if you have access to silver maples and want to tap, go for it! They are a great option for maple syruping despite the few drawbacks. Some maple syrup is better than none!

 

 

By Amy Ester, Guest Blogger and Former TFT Environmental Educator