The new recommendation is to throw out the batch of maple syrup that has mold. Now, it is now not recommended to skim the maple syrup mold and use it as usual. Others online have reported stomach cramping and nausea. We have skimmed mold off of maple syrup and then used it with no issues. They state that simply removing the floating mold does not remove enzymes and toxins that may have been released into the syrup. Other people disagree and warn against using maple syrup that had mold in it. According to EplerвЂ™s Maple Syrup, the mold is non-toxic and can just be removed, cooked, and then used as normal. There are some mixed reviews about whether or not moldy maple syrup is dangerous. Processing the jars for 5-7 minutes should do the trick to keeping mold spores from living to make trouble in your finished maple syrup. But, if you make large quantities to have for the whole year, like our family does, then waterbath canning the maple syrup is a great way to use heat and sealing to prevent mold spore growth. The best preservation technique is to freeze the syrup. How do I prevent mold from growing in my maple syrup? The cold discourages the mold and can prevent it from growing. The cold temperatures helps to prevent and inhibit mold growth. You should always store open/unsealed jars of maple syrup in the refrigerator. The presence of oxygen and the dark warm basement where the syrup proved to be a great habitat for the mold to grow. When I poured it into the jars, it didnвЂ™t get a good enough seal and oxygen leaked into the jars as they sat in the basement.

When I got our finished maple syrup to the house, it had already began to cool. If you store the unsealed jars on a pantry shelf, this also encourages the mold to grow as this mold loves dry, warm conditions. However, if you do not have a proper seal, oxygen will be able to get into the jars allowing mold to start to form. If you properly seal your jars after placing your harvested maple syrup into them, oxygen will not be able to get into the jars and mold will not be able to grow. In order for mold to grow, they will need food, some water, oxygen, and warmth. Maple syrup should be clear, so if you see a cloud-like substance floating towards the top, youвЂ™ve probably just found mold. Sometimes itвЂ™s really obvious that itвЂ™s mold and other times you might wonder if you accidentally just dropped a small little piece of something in the jar. Oftentimes the mold on maple syrup looks like a cream/gray colored cloud floating towards the top of your syrup jar. But the high amount of sugar content within the syrup whisks away the water from the cells, making it the ideal home for unsealed, room temperature maple syrup.

But wait- you say, isnвЂ™t maple syrup liquid? Well, yes, technically it is. These xerophiles can only grow in dry places, which makes them different from many other types of molds. A rare type of fungus, called xerophile, is happy to make its home in your maple syrup if it hasnвЂ™t been processed correctly. More than likely the thing floating in your maple syrup is mold. We havenвЂ™t gotten sick, and havenвЂ™t worried about it either. We used that jar (and the rest of the jars) to create maple sugar to use on our homestead. Low and behold, it was just as delicious as the day it was poured into the jar. About 15 years later, I opened up a jar of that old maple syrup to see what it would look and taste like. After completing the harvest, the syrup was stored in the familyвЂ™s basement for years. In fact, some places will even go so far to say it will never spoil due to the high concentration of sugar! I know this is true from experience! When I was a kid, my whole family got together to make maple syrup. Maple syrup that is sealed and packaged correctly can last for many, many years. What should you do? This post will dive deeper into this topic and answer that question (and more!).

A few months later, you go to open one of your jars and you find mold floating in the maple syrup. YouвЂ™ve spent weeks collecting, cooking, and preserving sap to make maple syrup.