Really good pancake and waffle syrup.

[Captain Dirty]

An historical note. In colonial days maple sugar competed directly with cane sugar from the West Indies. Sweetnes and lack of strong flavor were desirable for baking. That is why "Extra Fancy", "Fancy", and "Grade A" were the light grades. "Grade B" (amber) and "Grade C" (dark) had a lot more flavorants and much stronger taste. As sugar and sweetener production became more industrialized and cheaper, proprietary maple syrup makers, e.g. "Vermont Maid" and others blended cheap corn sweeteners with the darker maple syrups. But it doesn't taste the same.

 

[Tinhack]

Yuck! Molasses just doesn't do it for me. Tastes like ocean tar. Maple syrup/flavor all the way. But, I no longer have pancakes. When "they" did away with the Aunt Jamima brand mix, I quit buying it. Yep, and I don't watch football or baseball any more either.

 

[etpm]

For a different taste ... Sorghum syrup that is almost like a molasses taste mixed with maple syrup.

I have wanted to try sorghum for some time, thanks for the reminder. I will try to remember to order some this evening.
Eric

 

[Doughknob]

I love sorghum, just not on pancakes. Sorghum on cornbread is the bees knees!

 

[LD1]

There is actually 4 grades of maple syrup now.

I have seen the verbage change but it's something along the lines of golden for the lightest, amber then dark Amber then very dark (or sometimes robust)

Technical way to grade is how much light will pass through the syrup. Similar to window tint. The tool to measure it is pretty cheap and we use one.

But the lightest has to have between 75-100% light transmission. Amber is 50-75, dark Amber is 25-50, and the darkest is 0-25.

Anything between 20-35 is what we like best.

We have made as dark as 22, a d as light as the 60's.

It's extremely hard (if not impossible) to get the lightest grade as a home hobbiest. The syrup just cooks too long. Have to to get the evaporation. Larger pans processing 30-50 gallons of sap per hour have a better chance of getting early season light stuff.

 

[ArlyA]

There is no substitute for maple syrup. Its real or its fake.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Tinhack--I stopped using Aunt Jemima after a friend gave me this recipe.

HAIR RAISING PANCAKES

Dry Mix
1c White Flour
1c Whole wheat flour
½ c Powdered Milk
½ c Wheat germ
¼ c Corn meal
1T Baking powder
1t Baking soda
1t Salt
1t Cinnamon or Nutmeg [I use 1/2t of each]
2T Sugar [May omit it here and substitute 1t Honey, Molasses, etc when making batter]

Mix dry ingredients and store in refrigerator

Batter
1c dry mix
1 Egg
1T Oil [3T for waffles]
≈1c Yogurt, Milk, etc. to desired thickness

 

[etpm]

I love sorghum, just not on pancakes. Sorghum on cornbread is the bees knees!

Ordered me some sorghum syrup just a few minutes ago. Now I can try it.
Eric

 

[Jstpssng]

There is actually 4 grades of maple syrup now.

I have seen the verbage change but it's something along the lines of golden for the lightest, amber then dark Amber then very dark (or sometimes robust)

Technical way to grade is how much light will pass through the syrup. Similar to window tint. The tool to measure it is pretty cheap and we use one.

But the lightest has to have between 75-100% light transmission. Amber is 50-75, dark Amber is 25-50, and the darkest is 0-25.

Anything between 20-35 is what we like best.

We have made as dark as 22, a d as light as the 60's.

It's extremely hard (if not impossible) to get the lightest grade as a home hobbiest. The syrup just cooks too long. Have to to get the evaporation. Larger pans processing 30-50 gallons of sap per hour have a better chance of getting early season light stuff.

There's also commercial grade... that's what is used in the pseudo syrup, as well as for things like maple flavored bacon.

Like many, I prefer the darker grades. Every time that you cool the sap while boiling it gets a bit darker. Occasionally I try to do a light run just to do it; that's what I give for Christmas gifts.

I haven't made syrup in a few years though, I started redesigning my homemade evaporator and haven't gotten it finished.

 

[Panik]

Notes:
Piloncillo is a version of Mexican brown sugar. It usually comes in truncated cones that are a standard size.
I have found that cheap vanilla and imitation vanilla flavoring both to be not worth buying. Good vanilla is expensive but since not much is used per recipe the cost per use is insignificant. So I suggest just using the good stuff in the above recipe. It just tastes so much better.

On a note entirely unrelated to maple syrup, but I miss the heck out of being able to get piloncillo to put in my coffee. Every place I've looked where I live now doesn't stock it.

Then again, I also seriously miss being able to get real cafe con leche and buttered cuban bread. Pretty much everyday from sophomore year through senior year of high school we'd get to school early and cram into someone's care and run over to the gas station that had been converted to a mom 'n' pop breakfast joint for good coffee and a pack of camels. Quit smoking, but man do I still miss the combo of good cuban coffee and a smoke on a "winter" morning in Florida.

I love living in the stix, but I also miss the food and cultural diversity of living in Tampa.