Pancake syrup

[MustangGal]

We are having pancakes for dinner tonight, and I started thinking about pancakes in SHTF situations. They are quick, easy, and cheap - especially if you make them from scratch. So, do you store pancake syrup - the shelf life on the regular stuff is about a year. Or would you make your own with maple sap (I don't think that is really an option here) or make a syrup with sugar, water, and some flavorings?

[Maid Marion]

Hey MustangGal........might just have one answer for you here. Don't know about actual store bought maple syrup storage but........The old time Mapleine imitation maple flavoring lasts forever and makes thin but great tasting syrup. You can use corn syrup in it to make it thicker if that is your preference. One 2 fluid oz bottle makes 24 pints of syrup. WalMart and several other grocerie stores have carried it. Have so much I haven't checked lately. I addition, once a batch of this syrup is made up it does not require refrigeration and will last for a month or more in any closed container on a shelf.

[MustangGal]

Thanks! I was wondering if that might be the way to go. Sugar is easy to store.

[EX121]

You can make berry syrup from most any kind. I've made it like jelly but with out the pectin. Just kinda cooked it down slowly.

[MustangGal]

Ohhh, I hadn't thought of that! Chocolate gravy would be really good too. I am storing several tubs of cocoa.

[Gus14]

If you have good storage conditions the generic maple syrups store for a long time. I currently have one in the fridge now that was bought in 2005. We have been using it and there is no problem at all.
The real maple syrup last 1-3 years depending on packaging and storage.

Making a maple bridge is a little tricky but can be done. Mine was made from a galvanized box bottom, a lodge square skillet and a lodge 24" cast iron pan. The toughest part is regulating height of bridge and level of heat. Once I boiled off a lot of water and turned maple sap into tar, I learned the right combination and for the past couple years have produced enough for my family's use...almost. It's pretty inefficient and I do have quite a bit of product loss due to the inefficiencies but the fix is pretty low on the priority scale right now.

You can do it with a good cast iron pot and a wood stove as long as you pay close attention to it.

[miked2345]

If you didn't have any syrup, perhaps honey would be ok?? Granted, it's alot thicker, but the shelf life is almost forever...

[EX121]

I've never done it but I have read that you can tap birch trees like a maple and make syrup.

[cabingal3]

i get two cups of sugar and one cup of water and bring to a simmer.stir the bottom of the pan a bit to make sure theres no sugar residue.take off the stove and add some maple
flavor...but honey has no shelf life.it would be nice to have a store of honey i suppose.:confused:

[1Admin]

Real Maple syrup we were gifted has lasted well for 8 years or more now.

[cabingal3]

pancake syrup

wow.i did not realize maple syrup lasts so long.
i know honey never goes bad but i sure have seen it n a clump and crystalized alot of times.i wonder how u get it unhard?:confused:

[qrprat77]

wow.i did not realize maple syrup lasts so long.
i know honey never goes bad but i sure have seen it n a clump and crystalized alot of times.i wonder how u get it unhard?:confused:

Warm it up in a hot water bath. Personally though, I don't mind the crystals in the honey.

Sorgham is a good source of syrup if you don't mind the molasses flavor, I prefer Red Ribbon Cane Syrup (Steen's is gooooooooood stuff, and it comes in a can!) but it's heavy on the molasses too. Grandpa use to cut the Steen's with some Mrs Buttersworth. Usually it didn't take long to transistion to the 100% stuff :)
In lean times, I've had Jelly on my hotcakes, but my favorite is fig preserves. If you have a fruit source, making a compote is good idea. Got a dairy cow? Well dagnabbit, you can make yerself some of them high fallutin' Blintzes with sour cream and compote.

[cabingal3]

now u are talking my kind of language qrprat77-love that kind of syrup.went down to texas a few years ago and brought this good ole Steens syrup home with me.sure did miss it.my granny would make biscuits with real butter and ice cold milk.we would pour that syrup on the biscuits.man.the best to this day.i loved it.whee doggy.figs!oh man.u are making me homesick.well there is figs up here in oregon.few and far berween.