Schiek's Maple Products

From Sap to Sugar, Dave Schiek is an expert you want to meet.

A tech teacher by trade with an “out-of-control hobby” of producing maple syrup, his family-owned business is into its third generation of maple sugaring. That's 75 years of syrup, evolving into a facility that produces about 675 gallons annually and is invested in energy saving practices.

Using a reverse osmosis machine that reduces the water content of the sap, greatly reduces the amount of wood he must burn to make the final sugar content. Their family must hand feed split hardwood logs into the 325 gallon evaporator to produce about 41 gallons of syrup every half hour.

When collecting sap across the 5,000 taps spaced over 35 miles, a lot of time is spent walking the lines and checking vacuum pressure reading for possible leaks. Beyond the work, Schiek shares: “I enjoy talking with the people who are return customers. Some of them have fond memories of their own families making maple syrup and others are new to the product. The customers make it fun. I also really like the other people in this industry. We are very open about sharing our methods, and we all work together to help each other out. There is real teamwork and cooperation.”

They specialize in maple syrup, maple cream, fancy sugar cakes, maple mustard, maple BBQ sauce, 4 varieties of maple roasted nuts, maple nut toppings and 10 maple seasonings.

Shoutout to The Chronical Express in Pan Yan & @lifeinthefingerlakes for spreading the news about Dave's unique trade.