North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Jim Fruth" <jfruth@tds.net>]

Mark Angermayer asked, "I've never tried to make syrup before but all this 
talk has me interested.
You said not to tap a sugar maple after bud break or the syrup will be
unpalatable.  Is the same true for a red maple?
Mark,
   When the buds of any maple begin to swell, the tree is giving off amino 
acids that affects the taste of the syrup.  It is still palatable. 
Normally, this syrup is sold to commercial processors who have a method of 
multiplying the (maple) flavor by four times which masks the off-flavor.  It 
is best done in a jacketed steam kettle but you can in a pressure cooker but 
I wouldn't advise it.  I tried it once........................all it takes 
is to drop a spoon on the stove or a loud sneeze and the stuff BOILS OVER 
INSTANTLY!!!!!!!  When mine boiled over, it went off with so much force that 
the weight on top of the pressure cooker's cover shot through the upper 
floor.