Pancake Syrup

When I was growing up in the 50's in Appalachia, my folks didn't always have money for the extras.
 
They would put regular sugar in a cast iron skillet, and stir constantly, until it was a very dark brown, but not melted.
Then hot water would be added, with furious stirring involved, and maybe a pat of butter, if we had it.
The result was  a dark brown liquid, not a thick syrup-y as todays are.
 
Does anyone else remember this being done?

My grandfather preferred to use King's Syrup, my grandmother molasses.

I personally can't stand your typical "maple syrup" - I like sugar free syrup much better.  It's the only sugar free product I like (don't drink diet or anything)  but sugar free syrup is much sweeter and has a better taste.  I also like the fact that when I eat out I get an un-opened bottle usually, versus a bottle that has been refilled 50 times and sneezed on and lord knows what else.  :)

What do you mean by "typical maple syrup"?   It is hard to believe that you are talking about REAL  maple syrup.

I hope by "typical maple syrup" he means the ordinary pancake syrups (Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth, Log Cabin, etc.), which I can't stand either.  For me, it has to be Vermont pure maple syrup or a good strawberry or blueberry syrup.

While I love the flavor of real maple syrup, it overwhelms the flavor of pancakes.

Just  curious....................what do you use real maple syrup for?

plb


While I love the flavor of real maple syrup, it overwhelms the flavor of pancakes.

Use less?

Growing up in Texas in the 50's it was Karo at the G'parents in East Texas & Vermont Maid at home in DullAss. Now, I love REAL maple syrup (although blueberry is a nice change) and could never go back to an artificial substitute. Maple syrup is also great in oatmeal & on ... vanilla ice cream!

plb


While I love the flavor of real maple syrup, it overwhelms the flavor of pancakes.

Try the Vermont Fancy Grade A syrup, which is the color of honey and has a delicate flavor, which is almost impossible to overwhelm the flavor of the pancakes.

last year for the first time I tapped my sugar maple trees and made my own syrup. Maple syrup is by far the best for pancakes in my book. Turned out great compared with this Grade A commercial version.

Hey Tumbleweed, my Mother used to do almost the exact same thing only she boiled the sugar water until it was reduced and added Mapeliene maple flavoring............those were the days..........now you either have to spend big bucks for real maple syrup or get the shelf brand made with High Fructose Corn Syrup.

6star


I hope by "typical maple syrup" he means the ordinary pancake syrups (Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth, Log Cabin, etc.), which I can't stand either.  For me, it has to be Vermont pure maple syrup or a good strawberry or blueberry syrup.

Yes this is it exactly.   I've never had real maple syrup, which I'm sure is delicious.  But the fake stuff I don't like, sugar free tastes much better.

plb


While I love the flavor of real maple syrup, it overwhelms the flavor of pancakes.

I totally agree. I mean I can use less but then the pancakes can seem a little dry even if they are mighty tasty. Sometimes you just need the right combo to pull off the perfect set of pancakes.

plb


While I love the flavor of real maple syrup, it overwhelms the flavor of pancakes.

really?
 
....
 
really?
 
Pure maple syrup isn't very strong.
 
But, you can always try different grades which have different flavors.
 
 
As a child, I wasn't allowed (due to health reasons) to have a lot of artificial stuff or high sugar products. There were many food items I couldn't eat. As a kid, for the most part, it stunk - BUT - I had to have pure maple syrup, I couldn't have the "made from maple syrup" stuff. Less sugar and nothing artificial. It was the one advantage. Because it was expensive, my brothers got the fake stuff. My mom and I had the real. My brothers didn't care for the real stuff (as kids) because it wasn't as sweet or strong. I loved it. I'm they feel different today.
 
Costco sells pure maple syrup from Canada that is 3x the size of the same product in the regular grocery store for the same price. So it's not too brutal of a cost considering we do pancakes or french toast about every two to three weeks, as it lasts a long time.
 
 
 

As a child growing up, it was homemade cane syrup or honey from my grandfathers's bees.  Occasionally I could talk my mom into buying Mrs. Buttersworth and I loved it!  Thank goodness my palate has improved with regards to the Mrs. Buttersworth genre of syrups.  I still love cane syrup and honey.  But I love "real" maple syrup.  If you think maple syrup is too strong, you would be blown away by homemade cane syrup.  It is getting harder to find, but I still have few sources.  Of course, I still love honey -- infortunately my grandfather is no longer around to provide me with it.  I have a few places that I favor -- Applewood honey from the Apple Barn in Tn is one of my favorites. 

Tumbleweed365


When I was growing up in the 50's in Appalachia, my folks didn't always have money for the extras.
 
They would put regular sugar in a cast iron skillet, and stir constantly, until it was a very dark brown, but not melted.
Then hot water would be added, with furious stirring involved, and maybe a pat of butter, if we had it.
The result was  a dark brown liquid, not a thick syrup-y as todays are.
 
Does anyone else remember this being done?

 

it's pretty much a simple syrup. Not abnormal at all. Recently had to do that when I suddenly realized we were out of maple syrup for breakfast. Out came the sugar and cast iron skillet. 

beth moffett


As a child growing up, it was homemade cane syrup or honey from my grandfathers's bees.  Occasionally I could talk my mom into buying Mrs. Buttersworth and I loved it!  Thank goodness my palate has improved with regards to the Mrs. Buttersworth genre of syrups.  I still love cane syrup and honey.  But I love "real" maple syrup.  If you think maple syrup is too strong, you would be blown away by homemade cane syrup.  It is getting harder to find, but I still have few sources.  Of course, I still love honey -- infortunately my grandfather is no longer around to provide me with it.  I have a few places that I favor -- Applewood honey from the Apple Barn in Tn is one of my favorites. 

 
Bill Kilpatrick who owns the Applebarn is a personal friend of mine.  I was in the Air National Guard with him and his brother, Joel for six years.  I was in Joel's wedding.  I have enjoyed the AppleBarn for many years.
 
Incidentally, Bill is a pharmacist who owned three pharmacy's in Sevierville.  He sold them all to buy the Applebarn.
 
Iwanago is a big fan of their candy apples.  I prefer their fried apple pies and ice cream.  I sure do enjoy the breakfast they have at their two restaurant locations.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN 

2/3 grade B syrup and 1/3 melted Butter. Mix it up and serve warm. You will never use anything else again. You also wont need to use much.
I know this will sound strange but try putting a little salt on your pancakes. If you want more full flavored and really golden brown pancakes add melted butter to your pancake recipe...Russ

Russ: clearly you love butter . Admittedly, like bacon, butter does makes things better!


(never heard of the salt trick, makes sense - salt/sweet - will try)

Scorereader


Russ: clearly you love butter . Admittedly, like bacon, butter does makes things better!


(never heard of the salt trick, makes sense - salt/sweet - will try)

You should add salt to the uncooked batter as well. I am not talking about alot. Same with the syrup/butter mixture. You do not need to butter the pancakes either. So in the end you will use the same or less...Russ

Russ Jackson

Scorereader


Russ: clearly you love butter . Admittedly, like bacon, butter does makes things better!


(never heard of the salt trick, makes sense - salt/sweet - will try)

You should add salt to the uncooked batter as well. I am not talking about alot. Same with the syrup/butter mixture. You do not need to butter the pancakes either. So in the end you will use the same or less...Russ

 
9 times out of ten, I put blueberries in my batter. My wife's not a pancake fan, except when I get fresh blueberries and load up the batter (I try to find local farmer or use Maine when in season). It is my favorite too. I don't go so far as using blueberry syrup, though. That stuff is much too sweet. I think the supple maple flavor from the pure maple syrup is sufficient.
 
 

If I am using Blueberry Syrup I make it myself. Just water, sugar, butter  and blueberrys. Cook it until the berrys bust then add some fresh ones. Taste it until you get the sweetness you like then add a little corn starch to thicken. I think the syrup is better when you have a mixture of cooked and uncooked....Russ

Another of my favorites was home made sorghum, which you don't see too often any more. I can find it at the Amish places, but nothing beats sticking  a piece of straw in the syrup as it is cooking down, and waiting till it cooled enough to lick off.
 
I wonder what happened to all those old partitioned troughs that the syrup ran thru as it cooked down ?  Probably laying out in a field somewhere.

I'm very proud of the combination buckwheat/multi grain pancakes I make from scratch every Sunday. And, I also don't like the strong flavored variety of maple syrups that most people use.
So I buy the "fancy" grade A maple syrup. It's lighter in flavor than the "medium amber" most people use but very sweet and delicate.
Perfect for my strong flavored buckwheat pancakes.
I've been ordering direct from "Bragg Farm" in Montpelier, Vermont for years. They're the best in my opinion.

Russ Jackson


2/3 grade B syrup and 1/3 melted Butter. Mix it up and serve warm. You will never use anything else again. You also wont need to use much.
I know this will sound strange but try putting a little salt on your pancakes. If you want more full flavored and really golden brown pancakes add melted butter to your pancake recipe...Russ

I always add a pinch of salt to my pancake batter. And, a little baking soda for making them "golden brown".

6star

plb


While I love the flavor of real maple syrup, it overwhelms the flavor of pancakes.

Try the Vermont Fancy Grade A syrup, which is the color of honey and has a delicate flavor, which is almost impossible to overwhelm the flavor of the pancakes.

 

Ditto that. See my above post.

Tumbleweed,
 
My mom made the same kind of syrup, using brown sugar & water.  I still like it better than ony other store bought syrup excepting real maple syrup.  The best part was the syrup would still be warm whenpoured on pancakes or waffles.
My dad loved sorghum, but it was to strong for me.  We always got our sorgjum from a local church.  Every year the church folks would plant a patch of sorghum,then in the late fall they would make sorghum.  They had a old fasahioned grinder that was horse powered & 2-3 large copper kettles to make to sorghum.  We brought our own Mason jars that they filled with still warm sorghum.
Finally, the only store bought syrup we had was white Karo.  White Karo is still my favorite.

Sundancer7

beth moffett


As a child growing up, it was homemade cane syrup or honey from my grandfathers's bees.  Occasionally I could talk my mom into buying Mrs. Buttersworth and I loved it!  Thank goodness my palate has improved with regards to the Mrs. Buttersworth genre of syrups.  I still love cane syrup and honey.  But I love "real" maple syrup.  If you think maple syrup is too strong, you would be blown away by homemade cane syrup.  It is getting harder to find, but I still have few sources.  Of course, I still love honey -- infortunately my grandfather is no longer around to provide me with it.  I have a few places that I favor -- Applewood honey from the Apple Barn in Tn is one of my favorites. 

 
Bill Kilpatrick who owns the Applebarn is a personal friend of mine.  I was in the Air National Guard with him and his brother, Joel for six years.  I was in Joel's wedding.  I have enjoyed the AppleBarn for many years.
 
Incidentally, Bill is a pharmacist who owned three pharmacy's in Sevierville.  He sold them all to buy the Applebarn.
 
Iwanago is a big fan of their candy apples.  I prefer their fried apple pies and ice cream.  I sure do enjoy the breakfast they have at their two restaurant locations.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN 

Paul,
Having eaten all over the Planet and having lived in Brentwood TN for 5 years, AND having a Daughter who could live anywhere on the Planet and chose to come back to TN and is raisng her kids, my Grandkids, in Franklin TN, I can vouch for the uniqueness, quality, flavor and beauty of the basic foods of TENNESSEE and the History, Love and Passion that goes into preparing them! Biscuits & Gravy anyone??   

As a kid we would tap the two HUGE sugar maples in the yard. The BEST syrup i ever had---bar none. i remember   that whenever we got a nice fluffly snow fall during "Sugaring.we would drizzle the heated syrup from the kettle in the clean snow---awesome candy!!!  Now that i am living in Oklahoma and not Massachusetts, i tend to buy true sorghum syrup and keep agave necter on hand all the time.

Growing up in Central New York we always had maple syrup, though once we were out and mom didn't realize it and gave us dark Karo syrup....Blecchhh!!!

I don't order pancakes or waffles out unless I know they have real maple syrup...to me anything else ruins them.