Wood-firing sap is a traditional craft that relies heavily on achieving a vigorous, rolling boil to evaporate gallons of thin sap down into thick, dark syrup. Boiling the collected sap of maple trees efficiently requires long, active flames that lick the entire underside of the evaporator pans.

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Growing up, we boiled the sap from our twelve maple trees in a stockpot nestled into a hole cut in an old drum. Nothing beats sitting by that fire after a long winter, tending to the boiling sap and using leftover wood for the woodstove or whatever wood we could find in the bush. We would finish it off on the kitchen stove, using our fingers to taste the very last bits of sweet syrup left in the pan.

 

Nowadays, we have expanded to 1,200 trees, and we - intentially - use a balanced mix of both hardwoods and softwoods. Dense hardwoods like sugar maple, oak, or ash provide a high-heat, steady base temperature, combined with softwoods like pine, spruce, or cedar that burn fast and hot, creating the big, licking flames needed to rapidly drive off steam.

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This intense, direct heat from burning wood produces a distinctly, dark syrup with a robust, complex flavor profile - evoking the nostalgic taste we know from the olden days - for several reasons:​​

• Caramelization and Maillard Reactions: The high, uneven heat generated by burning a mix of dense hardwoods and fast-burning softwoods creates localized hotspots against the evaporator pans, gently caramelizing the sugars and encouraging Maillard reactions that impart rich, deep, molasses-like undertones.

• Natural Smoke and Flavor Infusion: Traditional open evaporators allow subtle wood smoke aromas to mingle with the rising maple steam, layering in rustic aromatic qualities that modern, closed stainless-steel vacuum evaporators often miss.

• Extended Evaporation Times: Because wood fires can fluctuate compared to modern, thermostatically controlled oil or steam burners, the longer and more vigorous boiling process concentrates the natural minerals and invert sugars, yielding a heavier, darker grade of syrup with an intensely bold maple character.