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View the Ironwood Sugar Shack Video Here! In fact Ironwood teens already had the opportunity to tap the farm's maple trees and try out the new 150-gallon tank and processing equipment. The rustic wood cottage, located in the center of the maple groves, houses the holding tank and brand new stainless steel furnace where 100 gallons of sap have already been boiled and converted to syrup. "The entire process of boiling the sap took about eight hours," Plessner said. "It was pretty much an all-day process." Ironwood teens enjoyed all aspects of the project, recalled Plessner, including the collection of sap from the trees with spouts and buckets to boiling off the water. Boiling the liquid increases the sugar content to 66 percent and causes the chemical change that darkens the syrup to an amber color and gives it that characteristic taste. Depending on the weather and condition of the maple trees, it usually requires about 30 to 40 gallons of sap to produce a gallon of finished syrup. Teens used the continuous feed process to make the syrup, in which sap is pumped through tubing and placed in a large pan and heated, then more sap is added as water evaporates until a suitable amount of concentrated sap is present. The evaporation process is continued for 8-16 hours, then the batch is finished to the desired density. The heat has to be constantly monitored to avoid burning or scorching the liquid. Finishing the liquid at the correct temperature is critical to producing quality syrup. Once the syrup has reached the desired boiling temperature, it is ready for filtering and packaging. According to Plessner, Ironwood's first batch of the season turned out to be extremely high quality. "It was like drinking gold," she said.
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