Where to buy raw maple syrup

[mypinkbow]

Any links were to buy real raw maple syrup online?

[lane]

as far as i know, raw maple syrup doesn't exist. i suppose a person could let tree sap evaporate to the point of syrup naturally without heat, but i haven't heard of it being done.
cc

[rawjojo]

It is my understanding that all maple syrup that is sold has been boiled down at really high temps which is why you are probably having a hard time finding it. I could be wrong because I have never really looked into maple syrup seriously ( I mostly use agave) but I am about 99.9% sure that all maple syrups have been boiled!

Hope this helps!
Jodi

[mypinkbow]

There are several of my rawfood cookbooks that call for maple syrup in their receipes????????

I wonder why if it is not raw?

I did try to substitue agave in it and it just didn't taste the same as the maple syrup did. I might try to use raw organic honey?????

[goodbeets]

Dear mypinkbow, I live in Maine and, unless you tap your own trees and drink the sap straight, it is definately a cooked product. I have a recipie book (raw) that calls for maple syrup. I am guessing because it is simply processed? I think in one book it says that Native Americans used to freeze the sap to evaporate some of the water and then put it in a container with hot rocks to cook off the rest. Also, some people are not into 100% raw so maple syrup may be ok with them. You gotta go with your gut!! (ha ha)

[rawjojo]

Hi Mypinkbow,

Yes.......it is puzzeling! I have had this conversation before with a few different raw "gurus" and we all sit there scratching our heads wondering how one of the most highly cooked products ever found it's way into "raw cookbooks". It's bazarre! Especially when there are so many other "raw" sweetners! go Figure!
Jodi

[eachpeachpearplum]

RAW maple syrup does exist! It is done by a freezing & defrosting method. You are basically removing the water by slowly defrosting and refreezing and what is left is the syrup.

I have searched all over for the link to no avail. Someone had posted a wonderful link to the chap who did it as an experiment, sucsessfully too.

So the yes it CAN be done but you will need to spend more time looking than I was able to do. :o

I have used raw agave lke for like and the results are great.

Cheers,

EPPP

[rawjojo]

Wow.......I had never heard of that, but like I said earlier, I never really researched it either. Sounds kinda complicated, I'll stick to agave.......but thanks for the info.
Jodi

[Shan]

I went to a town festival and there was a stand with people selling maple syrup, and so I asked her if she sold raw maple syrup. She seriously looked at me as if I had two heads. She had never heard of it.

[exurb]

RAW maple syrup does exist! It is done by a freezing & defrosting method. You are basically removing the water by slowly defrosting and refreezing and what is left is the syrup.

That sounds like a little bit of a "load" to me. Maple syrup as we usually know it is cooked down to 1/40th of it's original volume to develop the sugars. Personally I find anything that is freeze dried to not be raw in my opinion, others might have a different opinion and consider freeze dried stuff to be "raw". Freeze drying involes sublimation (getting the water crystals to go straight to a gas from a solid without becoming water in between). I personally avoid any so-called "raw" items that are freeze dried, as I find some of the representation and marketing therein can sometimes verge into dishonesty.

I find it hard to believe that you can take some really watery liquid, and in any reasonable, gentle method that will consume a reasonable amount of electricity (so that you could stilll afford to sell your product) somehow gently coax 98% of the water out of it, "slowly". I would also imagine that any non-heated maple syrup would be quite clear and colorless, as the sap is quite clear and looks pretty much like water because that's what it mainly is, so if a "raw" maple syrup had the caremelized sugar color like the cooked stuff, I would find raw claims even more dubious.

Some raw books explain that maple syrup is cooked, but they choose to use it anyway, because it is delicious and more "pure" than some other sweetening options. Some raw books are also a little outdated in terms of general knowledge of the raw community, such as things like wild rice which used to be prevalent but was later realized to generally not be raw. Much of the agave available is not truly raw either, you have to pick and choose there too.

These sweet syrupy things aren't a staple for me, I seem to do just fine sweetening things by including fruits in the ingredients, apples, bananas, if you really want sugary then dates, etc. I like whole foods generally better than "products". I am more concerned with heating and oxidizing a fat than something like a maple syrup, so if you like it it might not be the end of the world to use a little, just as many raw types use non raw condiments here and there and the earth doesn't stop rotating on its axis.

[Sheryl]

I think it was Rowan that found it at Whole Foods? If you do a search it's in the archives... I think she was going to post the brand.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[Coriander74]

Dear mypinkbow, I live in Maine and, unless you tap your own trees and drink the sap straight, it is definately a cooked product. I have a recipie book (raw) that calls for maple syrup. (ha ha)

ROFLMAO @ this visual of someone sitting in front of a maple for hours with a straw!!