Hickory Syrup

[mcginnis6010]

Well just finished a fresh batch of hickory syrup today.19 jars in total. I gotta say that I love hickory syrup much more than maple and not many people have heard of it. We usually sell a lot of it but we keep a few jars ourselves. The other thing I love about it is that you can make it all year round. Unread of maple when you can make it only during a short time of year.

[Danzn Bar]

Please tell me more..................I've got a lot of hickorys.  Trying maple syurp this year for the first time.  but hickory sounds interesting.  Is the process the same as maple??
Thanks DB

[mcginnis6010]

No doing hickory is actually different than maple. With hickory you really wanna find a shagbark hickory and take the loose pieces of bark and scrub them clean of lichen dirt and bugs under cool running water then dry off excess water. Then you preheat your oven to 350 degrees put the bark on a cookie pan and roast them for about 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure none of them burn otherwise your syrup will have a burnt taste. Once you take them out let them cool enough to be able to handle them. Then put them in a pot, cover with water and let the water get to a boil immediately turn temperature to a simmer and simmer for 25 minutes. You'll see the water take a deep amber hue. After the 25 minutes are up remove the bark and strain the hickory extract to remove any small particules of bark into a stockpot with temperature at a simmer.  Then begin adding 2 cups sugar to every 1 cup of liquid. Stir occasionally. Keep simmering until desired consistancy. I add an extra ingredient to mine but that my friend is top secret.

[TRACY]

Very cool. There is a small company near my area that makes and sells it. Similar process as you described. They use all hickory barks but say shag is easier. They also log and get bark that way.


Tracy

[mcginnis6010]

Yea you can use any hickory species but the shagbark is preferred as it doesn't harm the tree using the loose bark as it becomes a renewable resource for the syrup production. I'm the only one around my area that makes it.

[JW_Halverson]

Oooh, I so wanna try this stuff!

[richardzane]

Heard local tribal members talking about "tapping" hickory, but never boiling the bark.
that sounds fascinating ...too bad we don't have shagbark on the property!

[crooketarrow]

  I grew up with my granddad makeing it. We always had a jar in the fridge.  He made it a little differently made but basic the same. He and I do as well always used shag bark hickory.
  He'd add anywhere from red rasberry juice to a little honey.
  I'm like you it blows maple away and you can collect shag bark ,bark anytime a year.
  I made some 2 springs ago makes me want to go out bark hunting.

[mcginnis6010]

Yea maple has nothing on hickory. I absolutely love it but I do still like REAL maple syrup hickory will always be my favorite.