|
|
|
|
|
Birch SyrupBirch syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of birch trees, and used in much the same way as maple syrup. It is used for pancake or waffle syrup, to make candies, as an ingredient in sauces, glazes, and dressings, and as a flavoring in ice cream, beer, wine, or soft drinks. It is condensed from the sap, which has about .5 to 2 percent sugar content, depending on the birch variety, location, weather, and season. Birch sap's sugar is about 42 to 54 percent fructose, 45 percent glucose, with a small amount of sucrose and trace amount of galactose. The flavor of birch syrup is distinctive. Making birch syrup is more difficult than making maple syrup, requiring about 80 to 100 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup (twice that needed for maple syrup). The tapping window for birch is generally shorter than for maple, primarily because birches live in more northerly climes. Birches have a lower trunk and root pressure than maples, so the pipeline or tubing method of sap collection used in large maple sugaring operations is not as useful in birch sap collection. The sap is reduced using reverse osmosis machines and evaporators in commercial production, using low-heat, low-pressure extraction, as the sap is prone to scorching. Birch sap is more temperature sensitive than maple sap, because fructose burns at a lower temperature than sucrose, the primary sugar in maple sap. Birch sap is also acidic, so the metal taps, buckets, or tanks used in maple sugaring will give birch sap a metallic taste, and plastic or ceramic tools and utensils must be used. Most birch syrup is made in Alaska, about 1000 gallons a year, with smaller quantities made in Russia, Canada, and Scandinavia. Because of the difficulties in production, birch syrup is about five times as expensive as maple syrup. References Alaska Birch Syrupmakers' Association Best Practices. Birch: white gold in the boreal forest. 2004. Deirdre Helfferich. Agroborealis 35:2, pp. 4-12.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|