Maple syrup is a useful ingredient to have on hand, and it can be used in many unconventional ways aside from the usual. Apart from topping pancakes and waffles, it’s an excellent natural sweetener that can be added to tons of recipes ranging from cookies to smoothies. But if you’ve had a bottle in the door of your fridge or pantry for a long time, then you might have noticed it becoming studded with crystalized sugar particles. While it means a little more work for you than simply pouring the syrup from the bottle, don’t worry. This occurs naturally and is actually very quick and easy to fix.
When maple syrup crystallizes, that simply means the sugar has separated from the liquid. When the sugar separates and clumps together, you end up with small chunks of sugar in your syrup. To fix this, all you need to do is recombine the sugar and liquid. To accomplish this, you’ll need to gently heat the syrup so the sugar can dissolve again.
How to reheat maple syrup to dissolve sugar crystals
There are two ways to heat maple syrup so that the sugar crystals dissolve away again. The simplest way is to place the whole opened glass bottle inside a small pot of simmering water. This will reheat the maple syrup inside the bottle while melting the sugar crystals without burning the syrup itself.
If you prefer to only heat the amount you’ve poured or portioned for a recipe, you can add it to a small saucepan with a teaspoon or two of water. Again, use gentle heat to warm the syrup, and pay close attention to the syrup as it warms up. Stir it frequently to avoid burning it too. Once the crystals have dissolved, use the maple syrup as you would.
Both of these methods will work for any of the four maple syrup grades, but you might want to avoid simmering plastic bottles. Once it is ready to use again, you may also want to add a pinch of salt to upgrade your maple syrup.
