Maple syrup, if stored in glass jars and properly canned, should last indefinitely. Plastic jugs are less reliable and are only rated for around 18-24 months of storage. Properly sealed glass jars, on the other hand, have been known to keep maple syrup fresh for 50+ years stored in a cool, dark place.
Whether you’re canning up your own maple harvest, or re-canning store-bought maple to get it out of the plastic jugs, the process is the same.
The first step in making maple syrup is concentrating the sap. It starts at somewhere between 1 and 3% sugar, and it’ll take about 40 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of maple syrup. If you’re just getting started, read this primer on making maple syrup at home.
If you’re just tapping a few trees, there are plenty of ways to make maple syrup without an arch too. Propane boilers, wood stoves, cinder block boilers or a professional maple sugaring arch all get the job done one way or another. Regardless of how you boil down the syrup, you’ll arrive at the endpoint and need to can maple syrup to ensure that it stores properly.
When is Maple Syrup Finished?
Maple syrup is done when it reaches 7.5 degrees F above the boiling point of water. Most people know from science class that water boils at 212 degrees F, but that’s only true at sea level.
Water actually boils at different temperatures based on your elevation. For every 500 feet above sea level, water boils a degree cooler.
Our home is just about 1000 feet above sea level, meaning that water should boil at roughly 210 degrees F. We cook our syrup to 217.5 degrees, or as close as we can get.
During the final finishing process, the temperature rises rapidly and it’s hard to stop at that exact point. Depending on how even the heat is applied, there may also be places in your finishing pan that are warmer or cooler. This is a guideline, and don’t drive yourself nuts trying to hit it exactly.
Finishing maple syrup on the stove. While we boil our syrup outdoors on a wood-fired arch, we bring it into the house for finishing on the stove where we can control the final temperature more precisely.
Old school Vermonters don’t bother with a thermometer. My neighbor who has been sugaring for more than 50 years determines when it’s done by how the sap runs off a spoon.
He showed me, and the subtle differences in texture were barely noticeable, but after 50 years he knew just what to look for. For now, I’ll stick with my digital thermometer, but after 5 years of sugaring, I’m getting close to being able to determine it by sight.
Filtering Maple Syrup
Once your syrup reaches 7.5 degrees above the boiling point of water, it’s finished and ready for filtering. Most producers filter their syrup through cotton or cloth filters to remove what is known as “maple sand” or extra mineral deposits within the syrup.
Personally, I love maple sand. It settles to the bottom of the jar, and when the jar is empty, I eat the maple sand with a spoon as a special treat. It’s a bit gritty but full of maple flavor and sweetness, a bit like very soft maple candy. I tell myself that it’s a great way to get my minerals, but really it’s just downright delicious and I see no point in filtering it out.
That said, if you’re hoping to sell the maple syrup or give it away as classy gifts, others might appreciate a cleaner finished syrup. If you’re making any quantity of syrup, invest in a cone filter stand with reusable cloth cone filters. For really small operations, cheesecloth or coffee filters is a bit cumbersome but it gets the job done.
If you filter the syrup, it’ll cool as it’s going through the filter and should be re-heated before canning in jars.
Home canned maple syrup ~ This batch is unfiltered and it has mineral-rich maple syrup sand at the bottom. If you want a cleaner look in the jar, filter the syrup before canning.
How Long Does Maple Syrup Last
The shelf life of maple syrup depends on how it’s canned. Plastic bottles are rated for 18 months to 2 years of storage if unopened. Plastic containers are porous and the syrup will begin to darken and change after as little as 3 months in a plastic jug.
Those novelty log cabin tins full of syrup are cute, but you shouldn’t keep syrup in them for more than 6 months.
If you really want keep syrup in your long-term food storage, canning in glass jars is the way to go. If properly canned in sterile glass jars, maple syrup will keep indefinitely. Jars have been opened after 50 years and were just as good as the day they were stored.
For best results, keep the sealed jar in a cool dark place. Even with imperfect canning practices, maple syrup should last sealed in glass for at least 2 to 4 years.
How to Can Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is naturally high in sugar and so long as it’s canned properly and sealed hot in a sterile jar, it should keep indefinitely. The biggest risk is mold spores, which will begin growing in an improperly sealed glass jar after about a year.
Believe it or not, mold doesn’t ruin maple syrup. Surface molds can be scraped off the top, especially if you’re using wide-mouth jars.
Begin by sterilizing glass jars. We use standard mason jars since we have them in abundance from our other summer canning. The best way is to soak the jars in water overnight, to allow any mold spores to bloom.
The spores themselves are hardy and might live through boiling. Once the jars have been soaked, boil them submerged in water for 10 minutes. Be sure to dry the jars before filling.
For canning, make sure the syrup is between 180 and 200 degrees. Below 180 degrees for packing and it may not be hot enough, but reheating the syrup above 200 degrees F can cause it to darken.
Since we don’t filter our syrup, we pack it straight from the finishing pan. That saves any reheating step and allows very hot syrup to go directly into a sterile canning jar.
Leave as little headspace as possible, ideally around 1/4 inch. The lower the headspace, the more likely your jar is to seal appropriately.
Fill maple syrup jars nearly to the top, leaving as little headspace as possible (without slopping it on the rim). Somewhere around 1/4 to 1/8th inch is ideal. This will help the jar seal quickly and ensure that the air in the jar is sterilized by the heat from the syrup itself.
Some sites will tell you to take the sealed jars and actually, water bath can them submerged in boiling water. This “canning” step isn’t actually necessary.
The jars have already been sterilized in boiling water and the syrup was actually heated to well above the boiling point of water. This extra cooking step will thicken your syrup and change the color and final consistency.
Since syrup is so high in sugar and has such a high boiling point, the only “canning” that’s required is to bring it up to temperature and then pack it hot in a sterile jar. The jar lid should “pop” just like with any canned good, assuming that the headspace is around 1/4 inch.
This is due to the high temperature of the syrup, which heats the air in the small headspace so that it expands. When the syrup cools, the air inside contracts and creates a vacuum seal.
If you’re canning store-bought maple syrup for long-term preservation, the process is the same. Sterilize the jars and then bring the temperature of the syrup up to between 180 and 200 degrees and fill jars to within 1/4 inch of the top before sealing.
Storing Maple Syrup
Once the syrup is “canned” in glass jars, it should last indefinitely, but at least 2 to 4 years even with sloppy practices. Keep the jars in a cool, dark place out of direct sunlight.
Once the jar is opened, store it in the refrigerator for up to a year.
If any mold develops, just scrape it off the top. The mold is actually developing on a thin layer of water condensing on top of the opened syrup, but it isn’t penetrating down into the whole jar due to the very high sugar content.
Other Ways to Store Maple
Beyond just maple syrup, there are a few other maple products that also have a long shelf life. We make maple sugar on our stove and it’s quick and easy. A single batch takes about 20 minutes start to finish, and all we use is a saucepan and a stand mixer.
When maple syrup is heated to a much higher temperature, somewhere between 255 and 260, it’ll crystalize into sugar when stirred. Heat it without stirring, and then turn off the heat and get to work stirring either with a sturdy spoon or stand mixer. The stirring process takes about 5 minutes (and some serious elbow grease) by hand, or about 2 minutes with a paddle in a stand mixer.
The result is fine granular maple sugar that will keep indefinitely in a tightly sealed jar.
Maple sugar can be used 1 to 1 in place of brown sugar in any recipe, and it’s a great way to incorporate your maple harvest into your day to day cooking. With homemade maple sugar in the house, we rarely see the need to buy any cane sugar at all.
Maple candy and maple cream are also good storage options, but they’re less versatile for cooking. Maple candy is also a pretty intense temptation in the house, and doesn’t last long…so it’s not the best option really if you want long-term maple preservation.
Maple Recipes
If you’re canning maple in bulk, you’ll probably want to find ways to use it beyond just pancakes. Here are a few of our favorite ways to cook with maple syrup:
- Maple Banana Bread
- Maple Pots de Creme (like creme brulee)
D and D
Ashley- Thank you so much for clear and concise instructions for making maple syrup! Last year was our first year and much of our syrup became crystallized – like rock candy; or it had a good layer of sand in the bottom of the jar.. I did not want to give this as gifts with the crystals or sand in the bottom. We enjoyed what we poured off the top. This year we have done additional research and we are expecting better results. We have some cooking right now. We have experimented with making it darker or lighter in color and flavor. Plus, I am filtering the syrup through flour sack dish cloths which is working fine.
I have a friend who does not filter and her syrup comes out clear…she’s been making it for many years. Will keep you posted on our “finished” results.
Ashley Adamant
Wonderful! I’m so glad it was helpful to you.
The darker and lighter color has to do with how much sugar is in the original sap. Later in the season, there tends to be less sugar in the sap and it has to cook longer to reach the right concentration, which makes for darker syrup.
I’ve heard quite a few people have trouble with crystallization, and end up making rock candy, but honestly, that’s never happened to us. I’ve been told it has something to do with boiling it too hard as it’s finishing. Try turning it down to a gentle boil once it comes closer to finishing and you might have better results.
If you’re getting too much sugar sand, maybe you’re tapping red maples or silver maples? They look quite similar this time of year, but the sap has a higher mineral content. Either way, it’s delicious, but that might be one reason.
Skip Stupak
Check boiling point of water for your elevation and check your thermometers. The only time I ever got crystals was when my syrup got boiled to high cause my thermometer was off. 222 was too high.
Tim K
Well-written, very helpful article Ashley,
I want to share my experience with people whose syrup crystallizes. This is my first year attempting to make maple syrup. I over-heated part of my first batch and ended up with caramel (not the worst of mistakes). I over-boiled the second batch during finishing, and the syrup became very crystallized after putting it in jars. (Crystals form when there isn’t enough water left in the syrup to keep the sugar dissolved at room temperature.) I salvaged this by partially boiling down the next batch of sap and then adding in the crystallized syrup from the jars. I warmed the mixture and stirred until all of the crystals dissolved, and then finished off by boiling to the correct temperature. Now everything is good. I could have achieved the same result by just adding water to the crystallized syrup and reboiling to the right temperature, but I had warm sap available and I didn’t want to chance adding any off-flavors that might come with tap water.
(Helpful hint: Loosen crystals stuck in the jars by pouring warm sap into the jars and swirling around until the crystals can fall out. May take several tries to get all of it out.)
Ashley Adamant
Great advice, thanks so much for sharing!
Pattihabby
Hi ! We are tapping our trees today, our 25th year of making maple syrup. I just wanted to comment on the crystals you spoke of. As she said, the optimum finish temperature should be 7.5 to 8 F above your boiling point. Ours here in NE Ohio is 210, so we boil to 218F. Now, If you are below that point, you will still have moisture in your syrup which will give you mold…If you are over, you are entering the candy stage which will give you crystals. I just thought I’d fill you in on the reasons for crystals. Enjoy your Sugaring Season ! Patti
Cathy
My husband helped our daughter make maple syrup last week. Some of the buttons didn’t go down, is this bad? How do we redo them? I have the syrup in the frig for now.
Ashley Adamant
You don’t have to keep those in the fridge unless you have so many that you cant use them in the next month or two. They’ll still keep for months at room temp, but they will go off after a while. Just use any unsealed ones first and you’ll be fine.
You could attempt to reseal them, by reheating the syrup on the stove, but that’ll darken it and affect the flavor.
Sarah
Since you are not Waterbath canning how long should your jars take to seal
Ashley Adamant
They seal as soon as the syrup has cooled. Ours tend to pop pretty quickly, but I haven’t timed it. I’d say that just about all of them seal within an hour, most of them faster. If they’re not sealed by the time the syrup cools to room temperature, they’ll never seal and you should use those first.
Don Becker
I have a question regarding freezing maple syrup. Will the syrup expand in the glass container like water and break the jar? Thanks.
Ashley Adamant
We always use smooth sided mason jars (the ones that say “freezer safe”) and leave a bit of headspace if we’re going to put it in the freezer. I always did that just to be safe, but a quick bit of research and the consensus on the internet is that it does expand a small bit when frozen. As a general rule, use the ball wide mouth pints because they have completely straight sides anytime you’re freezing in mason jars. It’s the “shoulders” of the jar that cause the jars to break as the frozen liquid pushes into those when it expands.
STAN
WHEN CANNING IN MASON JARS DO YOU HAVE TO TURN UPSIDE DOWN FOR A SHORT TIME AFTER PUTTING RING AND LID ON
Ashley Adamant
You can, and some people say that helps them seal and sterilizes the cap, but we never do. Just start with a clean cap and put the lid on quick and they all seal fine and stay good.
Tootie
Thank you for a great amount of information. My son started doing maple syrup so we are learning as a family. I am visually impaired so we use the electric roaster method to avoid me and open flames. It works awesome. I do finish on my gas stove inside and it has been great. We also partially freeze the sap and remove the ice on top. This really helps increase my yield from a batch. We are not homesteaders but I have always gardened and canned and believe in doing things from scratch. Thank s again.
Margaret M Warner
When canning store made maple syrup can you use for example log cabin or does it have to be 100 percent pure maple syrup?
Ashley Adamant
There’s no reason you can’t can the fake stuff (to the best of my knowledge). It’s just corn syrup, and it should can just fine. As someone who makes maple syrup, it’s not something I’ve ever tried (or honestly even considered trying) but theoretically, you could can any sugar syrup as far as I know. It’s possible they put something in it that’d go funky flavor-wise, or some odd preservative that cant be heated…but that seems unlikely. Don’t use the low-calorie stuff though, that’s fake sugar and aspartame, etc won’t work for canning.
Theodore Dyment
Amazing stuff here so glad I came across this…. I made my second batch today. I was in a crunch on my first batch and quickly cleaned a few ball jars that had pickled peppers in them previously. This tainted my first batch of syrup and left it with a garlic taste. Ugh. I just finished my second batch and actually strained this one so when I put it in the jars it wasn’t above 180 (good to know this now). I used the hot bath method to seal the jars but they didn’t seal. So I tried it again…. is this bad or wrong to try and seal a second time? They’re cooling now but my guess is they won’t seal correctly. Ugh. I know now to not even bother filtering on my next batch and to make sure I can when syrup is above 180. I’m so hooked!
Heiderose MacDonald
Make sure there is no sap on rim and lid or it won’t seal.
Kim
Hi there
Is this the same process with the maple leaf glass jars with the twist plastic tops? I bought a bunch of the maple leaf shaped glass jars for my wedding thinking I would give them syrup but now I’m realizing there is a process to it. Just want to make sure I’m doing it right.
Thanks
Kim
Ashley Adamant
I’ve never used jars with plastic tops, but to the best of my knowledge, the process is the same. Fill them hot and then get the cap on quickly. I can’t really imagine another way to do it…but like I said I’ve never worked with plastic.
Donna
Maybe could you dip the plastic lid jar in paraffin, like when grandma did to seal jelly jars??? Just a crazy thought from a crazy old lady. Donna R.
MaryP
My advice is join a maple forum such as Mapletrader. This is where you get factual info. Also co op extension offices. Eating niter( sugar sand ) is not a great idea. Bad advice. Maple producers( we are former off gridders that had a 500 tap operation). do everything possible to filter this out. If you bottle, flip the jars over to sterlize, then turn them back over. No need to water bath after canning. If there is mold remove it carefully then reboil and put in clean container. Always refrigerate opened surup. Please research from reliable sources before messing with food products.
Sue gillett
How much syrup to make a pint of sugar
Ashley Adamant
I think you’re asking about making granular maple sugar? When you’re making maple sugar, it’s actually one to one. A pint of maple syrup makes a pint of maple sugar because even though maple sugar is cooked longer, the sugar fluffs up to take up the same amount of space. More information on maple sugar here: https://practicalselfreliance.com/maple-sugar/
Christina
Is it possible to can maple cream? If so, how long would I process it in the hot water bath?
Karen Miller
Help! We were just given the wonderful gift of a five gallon bucket of Grade A commercial maple syrup from Vermont, but I have no idea how to put it into smaller jars so we can share it with family and friends. I certainly can’t get the five gallon bucket into my refrigerator! Our daughter suggested buying a flat of Mason jars, running them through the dishwasher on hot heat, and then pouring the syrup into them. But I suspect that more than that has to be done to safely preserve the syrup for future use. ( We live in a city, and I have no canning experience.) Can you give me some advice about dividing this syrup into smaller portions, perhaps in glass jars, and how to do that in the right way? Thanks!
Ashley Adamant
Your daughter actually has a pretty good idea =) If you plan on giving it away to friends, it won’t have to keep for years and years until you use it all. Maple syrup keeps really well just in mason jars, provided they’re completely clean. If you portion it out, just tell people to keep it in their fridge or freezer until they use it all. No need to seal the jars then.
If you do want to safely “can” the jars and get them sealed for long term preservation, you’ll likely nee dot work in batches. Clean and dry mason jars, and then bring a batch of syrup up to a hard boil on the stove. It’s already completely cooked, so as soon as it boils hard turn off the heat. Pour it into the jars leaving a teeny tiny bit of space between the syrup and the top of the jar (1/4 inch). They’ll look really full, but having minimal airspace is important to getting the jars to seal. Work quickly after you pour it in, so they don’t cool, and put on a new canning lid on (2 part ball canning lids). Tighten them down and then leave to cool. The lid should “ping” sealed and then it’ll store for a long time in the pantry.
So basically, just re-heat the syrup and follow the canning instructions in the article. Know that the syrup will darken with re-heating, and the maple flavor will be more intense (like a grade B). That said, as a Vermonter Grade B is the very best, and that’s what I always buy. Darker syrup has more maple flavor, and we joke that it’s labeled grade B so we can keep it to ourselves.
Good luck!
Mandie
I live in the south so we aren’t going to be getting of our own maple sap any time soon. So, I found a company that makes organic maple syrup from Wisconsin. I’m so glad I found this post because I have been trying to figure out how to keep it long term. Now I’m buying their large case (cheaper in bulk) and going to re-jar it! This is awesome!
Ashley Adamant
Wonderful, so glad I could help!
mauricia
I would like to can maple cream. Can I use the same process?
Ashley Adamant
That’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer. I do believe it’s the same, just put it in the jars hot, and to the best of my knowledge maple cream keeps a long time. That said, I’ve never actually made maple cream, only maple sugar.
Ryan
Thank you so much for such amazing information.
Administrator
You’re welcome.
Jerry Gunsalus
how about freeze drying maple syrup ? I’d like know if this would be an interesting way to make sugars.
Administrator
That is an interesting thought. I have never done it that way before so I am not sure if it would work. Here is an article that I wrote on making your own maple sugar by cooking it down further and stirring. https://practicalselfreliance.com/maple-sugar/
Katie
Won’t work. You can’t freeze dry items that are mostly sugar or high in fat.
Heather
Hello! I love your jars! Where can I purchase them? Also if your preserving for long term, what type of kids do you use? They look like just screw on lids? I want to get jars I can reuse and clean the inside. The regular maple syrup jars you can’t fully clean to reuse. I used a bleach and then boiled them and they appeared cloudy in spots and a water line would not go away.
Ashley Adamant
These are just regular canning jars (like for canning jam, pickles, etc). They’re made by ball canning, but there are other brands too.
Mary Porter
We only use canning jars. Cheapest way to go. Once the syrup is in the jar, flip the jar over to sterlize the top. Eating the niter( sugar sand). Is NOT a good idea. That is concentrated yuck. Most people will get a nasty stomache. This is a food product. Saying ” sloppy” is NOT great advice. If syrup molds scrape off mold and reboil and put back in a clean jar.
Dave
Terrific article thank you. In case you or your readers might be interested yesterday I opened a mason jar full of syrup that I found in my grandfathers cold cellar in the Berkshires that’s over 80 years old. Delicious and unaffected by mold.
Ashley Adamant
That’s amazing, and a great test! It really can last forever if put up properly in glass. Thanks for sharing!
Jill
Thank you for these instructions! We usually purchase Maple syrup from the Amish, and it is much cheaper in a gallon vs smaller containers, but have moaned about having that much in our way in the fridge, now I can just re-can it in pints! And of course my Ball blue book would never tell me how to re-can something.
Melissa
We only have 5 trees to tap so we only get about a half pint out of each batch we cook down. Can we combine them after boiling to make larger jars to seal?
Ashley Adamant
Yup!
Kay
Hey there, do you know how well lids with reusable rings, like Weck jars, would work for this?
Total newbie here.
Thank you
Administrator
They should work just fine.
Lindsay
This is by far the best article I have found for canning maple syrup! Thank you!! You answered the questions I had a few years ago when we first started tapping our tree. Now I don’t have any maple trees 😌 However this is still helpful to me as I was wondering how to make maple sugar & re-canning store bought so thank you again!!
Lindsay
Administrator
You’re very welcome. We’re so glad it was helpful.
Kate
Ashley! This informtion is exactly what I needed. I found a deal on a 64 oz bottle of maple syrup but what am I going to do with all that!? I needed to find out how to store it long term and your explanation is simply perfect. Where have you been all my life?!!
Thank you!
Administrator
You’re very welcome. We’re so glad that you enjoyed the post.
Heiderose MacDonald
I made maple sugar by gradually dehydrating thick syrup in my woodcookstove warming oven, stirring it often until it turned into a light brown sugar. But I love the sugar rocks that form in my jars after a while of dehydrating, reminds me of my grandpa buying me rock candy when I was little. They would make a white sugar but always get eaten first, lol.
Did you know that
* maple syrup is a totally
natural food
*60ml (4tbls) of maple syrup =
the same antioxidant value
as a serving of broccoli
* maple syrup supplies more
than 100% of required daily
allowance of manganese, 37%
of riboflavin, 18% zinc
*zinc reduces risk of prostate
cancer
*maple syrup reduces risk of
heart disease
* maple syrup has no fat
* maple syrup has 2/3 as many
calories as corn syrup
* maple sugar is a great
substitute for cane sugar and
is full of antioxidants.
Administrator
That’s great! Thanks so much for sharing.