# Maple syrup **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587 "2007-10-13T16:19:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/41 "2007-10-14T11:03:57Z")
Some of the high price derives from the fuel intensive reduction of sap to syrup.I’m in a syruping area and cordwood is currently~$150. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/42 "2007-10-14T11:51:32Z")
“Maple-flavored syrup,” regardless of how Olde New Englandey you can make the picture on the label, must be no less than 1.5% maple syrup (I believe by volume, but it might be by weight). And that is precisely what Vermont Maid, Log Cabin, and the rest use – 98.5% corn syrup, 1.5% maple (plus additives of course). ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/43 "2007-10-14T13:07:47Z")
You know **Johnny L.A.** , we _ **really** _ have to get you to a **Sugardope** one of these years, then you’ll learn (from the horse’s mouth, so to speak) all, you ever want to know about maple syrup. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/44 "2007-10-14T20:46:22Z")
[QUOTE=Ichbin Dubist] I don’t think my ratio was that high; the first time I did it I collected about 60 gallons (I mostly filled a 55-gallon food-grade drum I bought, plus whatever was collected on boiling day). I’m sure I got at least 7 or 8 quarts out of that. [/QUOTE] I used to make it, and the rule of thumb was 40:1. [This site](http://employees.csbsju.edu/ssaupe/biol327/Lab/maple/maple-sap.htm) goes into some detail on the subject, and includes the following: > [@](#): > > It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. Thus, there is a 40 to one ratio of sap-to-syrup. The lower this ratio the better because it means that less boiling is required to produce a gallon of syrup. At St. John’s our average sap/syrup ratio is almost exactly 40. However, early in the season our sap/syrup ratio is usually slightly higher (50 or 60 to one) but it declines toward the end of the season. The reason this occurs is because the concentration of sugar in the sap varies with the season. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/45 "2007-10-15T02:46:21Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] You would not believe how much peanut butter costs here; I keep telling Thais this is what poor people in the US often live on. [/QUOTE] How does that square with the fact Thai cuisine now contains substantial amounts of peanuts? Surely they must grow peanuts in Thailand at this point, and peanut butter is a natural use of the crop. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/46 "2007-10-15T03:40:30Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] How does that square with the fact Thai cuisine now contains substantial amounts of peanuts? Surely they must grow peanuts in Thailand at this point, and peanut butter is a natural use of the crop. [/QUOTE] You might think so, but a lot of the world sees peanut butter as an American peculiarity. Peanuts are grown as a cash crop in many countries, but I don’t think that many of them make peanut butter out of the crop. Not much demand, since other cultures don’t seem to share American tastes for the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/47 "2007-10-15T04:39:49Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] How does that square with the fact Thai cuisine now contains substantial amounts of peanuts? Surely they must grow peanuts in Thailand at this point, and peanut butter is a natural use of the crop. [/QUOTE] Peanuts are grown, and bags of boiled peanuts bought from a street vendor are considered a treat. YOU, as a Westerner, may think peanut butter is a “natural use of the crop,” but to the Thais, it’s strictly for Westerners and thus priced expensively. Found mainly in foreigner-oriented grocery stores. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/48 "2007-10-15T04:44:29Z")
BTW: I introduced the wife to peanut butter, and she loves the stuff. Eats it straight out of the jar, though; rarely as a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587/49 "2007-10-15T17:46:37Z")
[QUOTE=KlondikeGeoff] The sugar maple tree grows only in North America. To get the syrup, or even the sugar, they just boil it down until all the water evaporates and the produict is left. Most people find that difficult to believe, thinking something must be added. [/QUOTE] I was watching “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and the proprietor in Portland, Oregon, was touting that fact that they pay extra to get organic maple syrup. I’m thinking, you go out in the woods, stick a tap in a tree, collect the sap and boil it down. \*What’s more organic than that?? \* Is it to say they don’t fertilize the trees with anything nasty? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/422587.md?page=2)