Shoe's Sugar Shack Maple Syrup
ABOUT SHOE'S SUGAR SHACK...
Shoe’s Sugar Shack is a family-owned and operated maple syrup business in Mason, MI. Shoe’s Sugar Shack (SSS) was founded in 2012 by Steve, Marsha, Lesley, and Michael Schumacher. SSS honors the memory of Steve’s father, Elmer Henry “Shoey” Schumacher, who managed an apple orchard in Baraboo, WI for 21 years after retiring from the shoe business. Shoey loved the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing, and was an advocate of preserving forested lands. Steve shares this same belief. Lesley has Bachelors and Masters degrees in Entomology from Michigan State University, and enjoys identifying maple trees and any pest problems in the forest. She is the Academic Advisor for the Department of Forestry at MSU.
2013 marked the maiden season for SSS. During its first season, SSS had approximately 900 taps and produced about 300 gallons of pure maple syrup. To collect the sap, SSS uses a combination of food-grade bags and stainless steel pails. When the temperature is below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and then climbs to 40+ degrees during the day, sap will flow in the maple trees (a “run”). Each day this occurs, a collecting crew assembles in the evening and heads out to the woods, armed with 5-gallon food-grade buckets. Each bag or pail is removed from its tap and emptied into a 5-gallon bucket. The bag or pail is then placed back on its tap to collect sap for the next run. We have a custom collecting wagon that pulls behind a tractor. The wagon has a main reservoir that pumps sap into a 550 gallon storage tank. After all the taps are collected, the tractor and collecting wagon are driven back to the sugar shack. The sap is transferred to stainless steel storage tanks via a pump system.
Now, it is time to boil the sap and turn it into maple syrup! It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of pure maple syrup, depending on the sugar content (brix) of the sap. SSS uses a steam-away evaporator system to turn the sap into syrup. The steam-away helps the sap boil faster and enhances evaporation of the water in the sap. Lots of firewood is needed to produce syrup. Before the season begins, SSS is busy cutting firewood (mostly downed ash trees, thanks to Emerald Ash Borer). The wood is split with a log splitter and loaded onto pallets for ease of use. The evaporator is powered by a wood fire, and the fire must be tended constantly while boiling (every 7 minutes!). SSS carefully monitors the sugar content via a hydrometer and special gauges attached to the evaporator. When ready, a valve is opened and the syrup is filtered and then transferred into the canning unit (for immediate bottling) or into food-grade, self-sealing pails (for longer-term storage). New additions for the 2014 season are a valve that automatically draws the syrup off when it has reached the appropriate temperature. In 2015 we increased our sap storage capacity with the purchase of a stainless steel bulk tank.
Next, the syrup must be canned and labeled for individual sale. SSS has many sizes and bottles available to meet the needs of our customers. The smallest bottle we sell is 8oz, and the largest is 1 gallon, with many sizes in between. To prepare for canning, the syrup is filtered through a filter press to remove any impurities and provide a better quality product. Then, the syrup is pumped into a canning unit and heated to a minimum of 180 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature ensures the maple syrup is safe to consume, and also helps to seal the bottles. The syrup is carefully transferred to the bottles, which are briefly inverted to ensure the hot syrup touches all surfaces of the bottle. SSS built an addition to the sugar shack that is strictly for canning and producing maple candy. We have a fully-operational kitchen in the canning room. SSS is working to perfect the process of making maple candy, and we wish to put our own twist on this classic treat.
SSS received certification from the Michigan Department of Agriculture in Spring 2014. SSS maple syrup is currently available at the following locations: 1) Red Cedar Antiques in Williamston, MI; 2) Hearty Harvest in Remus, MI; 3) the Big Rapids, MI Farmer's Market; 4) the Williamston, MI Farmer's Market; and our main location in Mason, MI. Please contact us at shoessugarshack@gmail.com for orders, or call one of our staff.
