Our Process

This is a photo of Randy Mike and myself. Randy is working at the drawoff point and you can see the large red pneumatic valves which open to let the syrup out of the steam heated evaporator pan. Mike is filling a barrel with syrup which was just produced and I am replacing one of the hot water hoses as I have just cleaned a tank with scalding 200 degree F hot water. Keeping the stainless steel tanks spotlessly clean with scalding hot water produces a better flavored Pure Vermont Maple Syrup. In the foreground you can see one of the steam heated draw off kettles. These kettles are the ones in which the syrup is drawn into when it exits the evaporating system.

These are a few of the syrup samples from the crop we produced this year. Each sample represents a 55 gallon drum of Pure Vermont Maple Syrup. A 55 gallon drum of syrup weights 605 pounds of syrup and the drum weights about 60 pounds, therefore each drum full weights approximately 665 pounds. You can see the difference in color of the different parts of the season in these samples. The different colors represent different grades of maple syrup. As you can see the vast majority of the syrup produced is a very light color or what is called Vermont fancy grade. Each year The Green Mountain Maple Sugar Refining Company makes the majority of the annual maple harvest in the fancy grade category. There are some very important reasons for this as our process here is quite different than any other. We have designed and built all of the equipment here ourselves and started from the bottom up. We are able to make the finest quality, finest flavored, Pure Vermont Maple Syrup, using the least amount of energy. Please click on the grades leaf on the homepage for a further explanation of the Pure Vermont Maple Syrup Grades.

This is the side of the building on the entrance side where you would drive up to. We have many questions of why we named the Company The Green Mountain Maple Sugar Refining Company. So I would like to explain it now. Pure Vermont Maple Syrup is made from taking the sap of the sugar maple tree and reducing it. We reduce it in a few ways and we will get in more detail on how that is done, however, the final process, the boiling is done with steam. The conventional method of evaporating maple syrup to make syrup uses either wood, oil, or gas fired evaporators. These are large pans which sit on an arch base to which the heat source is burned. There are very high temperatures on the fire to which the pans are exposed to. Instead of heating in this manner, we have heat exchangers which carry the heat from the steam through the maple sap. The steam gives off its heat, changes to water or condensate, and this is the heat which makes the sap boil. We boil at a much lower temperature than a conventionally fired evaporating system would and therefore we are able to protect the delicate maple flavors in the syrup. A light colored and excellent flavored syrup is produced on our farm due to this process.

This is a shot of the Russo Economizer. This is a fuel and time saving invention that I will be rolling out to the maple industry. It has been installed for the 2005 season and has improved productivity significantly. I am very pleased with the results obtained and actually it has far exceeded my expectations. I can not disclose how the unit operates as I will be applying for a patent on the unit. However, if you visit the sugarhouse, you will be able to see the unit in operation.

These are the tapped maple trees and on the bottom picture you can get a close up view of the spouts which actually go into the tree. Each year beginning in February our crew will go and cut what are called tap holes in each tree. We use a 5/16 inch bit which is specially designed to cut a clean and round taphole in each tree. We will cut a tap hole no more than one inch deep in each tree. Normally we cut only one taphole per tree. It is important that we do not “over tap” our trees or we will be removing too much of the stored energy of the tree and cause the tree to decline in health. Remember the word tap means simply cutting a 5/16 inch hole in the tree prior to when the sap starts being produced or what we call sap”running”.

Each year, depending on the winter and our various references to weather guides, etc. we decide when it is time to cut the tap holes in our trees. As we are now tapping 50,000 trees, we need to begin the tapping utilizing available labor and keeping a very close watch on the weather. Deep snow requires the tapping crew to wear snowshoes which slows down the tapping process. Very cold weather slows it down also. Through all of this, we have to prepare the sugarhouse to begin operations as we are never sure when the first sap run of the season will begin. It is important for us to capture the sap of the first sap run as this can very well equate to a large percentage of the annual crop production. We are dealing with forces of nature and in doing so we have to utilize our skills as it is both an art and a science. We are stewards of the beautiful sugar maples and hundreds and hundreds of acres of timberland which we can keep from being harvested if we indeed continue to produce and sell our high quality product. It is our intention to provide as much information as possible to educate the public on this wonderful gourmet food item which is produced from the hardwood forests. It is exciting, challenging, and we are never sure from one minute to the next what will happen and when with regards to production as we are fully dependent on the weather.

This is a photo of a vacuum and a wet line which goes north from the sugarhouse. We use cedar posts to support the 3 inch schedule 40 pvc pipe which are further supported by heavy cable. We supply two lines one for vacuum and one for the wet (sap) this way we are ensured that the vacuum from the vacuum pumps reach all of the trees.

This is a photo of the mountain directly in the back of the sugarhouse. There is a significant elevation change from the sugarhouse to the top of this mountain and all of the trees are under production to the very top

Here is a photo of the sugarhouse complex as you enter the driveway. You will first see the sap tanks on the left as you enter and all of the pipes which are connected to the building. These pipes of course, carry the sap from the building to the tanks then from the tanks back inside when we are ready to process the raw sap into maple syrup.

This is a photograph of the building where the finished syrup is stored. It is an insulated and cool building so the syrup will stay cool and retain its color and freshness. You can see the barrels being brought down on the tractor and then brought inside with the hand-truck. On the bottom photo you can see the pile of barrels full of syrup in storage.

In this photograph you can see the sap in the 6 inch pipe going from the releaser to the storage tanks. When the level of the releaser is such that it needs to pump out the pumps automatically start and pump out the releaser. There are two 10 horsepower pumps which start and you can see the volume in this picture. The six inch pipe is shooting out about 10 feet in that photo.

Here you can see the empty barrels piled and stored ready to be filled with Pure Vermont Maple Syrup. The barrels are brought inside and washed with scalding water prior to being filled with the fresh crop.

Here you can see the steam exhaust stacks, the roof vent, and two wood fired appliance stacks.

This photo shows where the pipes all come together and are on their way to the releaser. This photo is just outside the sugarhouse prior to entering the building.

This group of photographs shows a part of the sugarbush looking North on Route 109 from Waterville.

These photos show where the 5/16” tubing enter the 1 inch branch lines.

These photos show the 1 inch branch lines entering the 3 inch mains. The tee system allows the sap to flow down the wet pipe, while each 1 inch line stays connected to the vacuum line on the top of the tee.

These are the 3 inch lines coming in from the woods down to the sugarhouse.

This is a photograph of the ten each ten horsepower vacuum pumps which supply vacuum to the releaser tank.

Here is a photo of the electrical hook up for the ten vacuum pumps.

Here is the 300 horsepower generator which supplies electricity to the entire operation. The generator produces 200 kw of single phase electricity.

This is a photo of the releaser tank. Here, vacuum is applied to the tank, sap comes in to the tank and when at a certain level the sap pumps start to empty the releaser to the large tanks outside the building. You can see the manifold of 6 inch outgoing sap lines on the left hand side of the releaser

Here is another photo of the three inch outgoing manifold from the releaser to the outside tanks. Note the 6 inch butterfly valves on the pipes.

These are the 10 horsepower pumps which pump the releaser out when it reaches a pre determined level. These pumps are specifically designed to grind up ice up to three inches and pump it over with the sap. We get large chunks of ice coming in at the beginning of each run which used to clog the pumps.

These are the main electrical distribution panels. The second photo shows myself and our electrician Pete Tilton from Waterville who has done the majority of the electrical work in the sugarhouse. He is a very talented man and a good friend, and is always available to assist when needed as he lives in the next town.

These are the 3 inch incoming lines entering the releaser. There are four wet and three dry a total of 7 lines.

This is a photo of a real workhorse our wood range which cooks, bakes and heats the sugarhouse. With a huge firebox and an oven which heats from the bottom, it is truly the finest wood range ever made. One unit can heat, cook, and bake, and for sure very easily heat an entire house. It can also be hooked up to heat hot water for domestic use.

This is a photo of the steam gauge given to me as a gift from a dear friend Harry Atkinson. Harry is probably the foremost steam expert in the United States and has done extensive work in high pressure steam evaporation of maple sap.

These are the sap filters which filter the sap coming in from the large storage tanks outdoors. They are very easily cleaned and changed.

Here is the reverse osmosis. The unit very simply removes water from the sap and brings the sugar content up so we can boil less and save fuel. We bring our concentrate up to 15% or more and the unit will process 5000 gallons of raw sap per hour.

This is a photograph of the steam connections to the evaporator pan. I have one steam pan which measures 8 x 10 feet, heated by high pressure steam. I designed the pan myself and it works very well indeed.

This is the photograph of the steam boiler. This is a 250 horsepower steam boiler which makes high pressure steam. The burner at the front of the boiler will burn 75 gallons per hour of number 2 oil at high fire, however, the burner is fully modulating and will run from 25 gph to the full 75 gph. It is a four pass boiler which means the hot gasses travel inside four times prior to going up the exhaust stack. It is a very old but very efficient unit. It has been completely rebuilt and is inspected annually for operation.

Here I am opening the 8 inch steam valve which will allow the steam to flow from the boiler to the evaporator pan.

This is a photo of the 12 x 12 inch stainless steel filter press which filters the syrup after it comes out of the evaporator pan. In addition we use 24 inch cylinder filters which are shown on the next 2 photos.

These are four each 1 horsepower pumps which are used to pump the syrup through the filters. These are high pressure, high temperature iron piston pumps. They do a very good job.

This is a photograph of the drawoff on the side of the evaporator pan. Note the two each 2 inch valves which are pneumatically operated. When the syrup is boiled to the correct sugar percentage the valves will automatically open and allow the finished syrup into the stainless steel tanks for final density testing prior to being filtered. The system works great and when the valves open and guests see 50 gallons or more of syrup coming out in one draw, they simply stand in awe.

Here is a photo of the high pressure steam kettle. We use this kettle at the end of each and every boil. We completely drain the evaporator pan of all the sweetness into this kettle, we then boil it into syrup and filter it. We scrub and boil the evaporator pan each boil to ensure the highest quality product produced with the most excellent flavor.