The Maple Syrup Thread

[mouse]

Let us discuss our love of the nectar of the gods, the golden amber liquid sugar that is maple syrup...

Twice a year there is a farm about an hour or so from me that opens to the public to sell maple syrup and syrup related nonsense (one of the perks of being from the northeast). The boys like going and I like spending too much money there. Last year we went and I spent way too much on a tiny bottle of syrup that they aged in a bourbon barrel and it was glorious. For some reason it was a little thinner than their regular stuff.

Earlier this year they made maple BBQ sauce which is amazing on any meat I've smoked that it's been lucky enough to be on. The had a hot sauce too that was pretty awesome but I couldn't think of food that I would put it on regularly enough, so I passed.

Typically I will buy a bigger bottle of the amber grade stuff because that's what the wife and kids like but I'm a big fan of the darker grades that are a little more bold.

A pairing I don't hear anything about is with peanut butter. If you haven't tried it you should. My go to breakfast on weekends is a bunch of eggs, with a bowl of cream of wheat that has a big spoon of peanut butter mixed in, chop a banana on top, and then cover it in maple syrup. Excellent...

[mgil]

I will buy Grade B when I can. Trader Joe’s will carry some good stuff on occasion.

There’s a woman in CT that makes Shagbark Hickory syrup that’s sublime.

[Allentown]

Last year we went and I spent way too much on a tiny bottle of syrup that they aged in a bourbon barrel and it was glorious.

Acquire some oak. No bark. Small pieces of bourbon barrel staves are ideal, but any small piece of oak will work. If it isn't bourbon barrel, wrap it in foil and toast it in the oven for a few hours, and char part of it (one side is good) with a propane torch. Get a mason jar, throw the wood in, and fill it up with Old Crow. Let it sit for a few weeks/months. Once you are bored, strain the bourbon out and drink it, it will taste 10x better. Let the jar air out a bit, then fill it back up with maple syrup. After a few weeks, you will have bourbon barrel maple syrup. Bonus- after you pour the maple syrup out, you can fill the jar back up with Old Crow, and you'll have bourbon barrel maple syrup bourbon.

[mouse]

Last year we went and I spent way too much on a tiny bottle of syrup that they aged in a bourbon barrel and it was glorious.

Acquire some oak. No bark. Small pieces of bourbon barrel staves are ideal, but any small piece of oak will work. If it isn't bourbon barrel, wrap it in foil and toast it in the oven for a few hours, and char part of it (one side is good) with a propane torch. Get a mason jar, throw the wood in, and fill it up with Old Crow. Let it sit for a few weeks/months. Once you are bored, strain the bourbon out and drink it, it will taste 10x better. Let the jar air out a bit, then fill it back up with maple syrup. After a few weeks, you will have bourbon barrel maple syrup. Bonus- after you pour the maple syrup out, you can fill the jar back up with Old Crow, and you'll have bourbon barrel maple syrup bourbon.

Life... revolutionized...

[Allentown]

Life... revolutionized...

You can do this with other woods too. Apple wood actually makes bourbon taste like apples.

[omaniphil]

Last year we went and I spent way too much on a tiny bottle of syrup that they aged in a bourbon barrel and it was glorious.

Acquire some oak. No bark. Small pieces of bourbon barrel staves are ideal, but any small piece of oak will work. If it isn't bourbon barrel, wrap it in foil and toast it in the oven for a few hours, and char part of it (one side is good) with a propane torch. Get a mason jar, throw the wood in, and fill it up with Old Crow. Let it sit for a few weeks/months. Once you are bored, strain the bourbon out and drink it, it will taste 10x better. Let the jar air out a bit, then fill it back up with maple syrup. After a few weeks, you will have bourbon barrel maple syrup. Bonus- after you pour the maple syrup out, you can fill the jar back up with Old Crow, and you'll have bourbon barrel maple syrup bourbon.

Have you done this before? This sounds intriguing.

[GrizzlyAdam]

A pairing I don't hear anything about is with peanut butter.

That sounds awesome. I'm a fan of peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches - gonna have to try subbing maple syrup for the honey.

[Allentown]

Have you done this before? This sounds intriguing.

Yup. I've been using pieces of wood from bourbon-barrel aged beer that Founders Brewing sells. So my "aged" bourbon is technically bourbon-barrel-beer-barrel-bourbon. Which can be made into a fairly catchy little tune that I frequently sing and drives my wife insane. The bourbon-barrel-beer-barrel-bourbon-maple-bourbon is pretty good.

[mouse]

That sounds awesome. I'm a fan of peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches - gonna have to try subbing maple syrup for the honey.

Also one of my favorite sammiches, the maple syrup is more breakfasty, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Maple syrup also makes mashed sweet potatoes super awesome... or toss sweet potato fries in a little cinnamon sugar and dip them in it... also awesome...

[Skid]

I make a wicked good turkey stuffing with maple syrup. I fry up minced onions/celery and butter, add in 3 packages of breakfast pork sausage cut into small chunks, and then cook to remove all water and the meat is browned. Add maple syrup to taste and cook a little longer. Mix with croutons, chicken broth and typical poultry seasonings, and stuff the bird! Everyone who's tried it raves about it as the stuffing is the best part of the meal!

[Allentown]

Related:
www.imdb.com/title/tt7909196/

[Cinic]

Maple syrup also makes mashed sweet potatoes super awesome... or toss sweet potato fries in a little cinnamon sugar and dip them in it... also awesome...

We got a Blue Apron meal a couple weeks ago and part of it was mashed sweet potatoes with butter and maple syrup. The syrup they provided was infused with habanero peppers. Straight, it tasted like maple syrup with some heat on the back end. It was really good in the potatoes.