English tin Lead???

[twitch]

I bought An old wood fired leader evaporator. It has english tin pans that are in pretty good shape. How would I tell if they were put together with lead solder or not. How do you clean the tin? I would really like to use them but i am kind of worried about the lead.

[DrTimPerkins]

I bought An old wood fired leader evaporator. It has english tin pans that are in pretty good shape. How would I tell if they were put together with lead solder or not. How do you clean the tin? I would really like to use them but i am kind of worried about the lead.

Any english tin evaporator is going to be lead-soldered. Nearly evaporators made before 1994 (or 1991 for Leader Evaporator) are lead-soldered.

Do NOT use pan acid with tin evaporators. Others on this list probably have good suggestions on cleaning.

See http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/LeadOut.pdf for more information. It is possible to make maple syrup with lead below the action level....just takes a bit more care, and requires periodic testing.

[whalems]

If they are english tin they are most likely lead soldered. That being said if you leave the sugared over tin alone and exspecially the soldered joints. the lead dosent have contact with the sap. There are test strips available to see if there are lead levels to high. Lots of producers still use english tin. Hope this helps. Mike

[whalems]

Dr. tim types faster then me:)

[twitch]

thanks that is what I thought I am so glade i found this site. nice deer pic.

[twitch]

do you think it would be worth it to have new pans made

[TapME]

twitch, call the hardware store over at mafia mall and see if they have the lead test kits there. I use english tin and just let them sugar over and wash them to start the next season. I use a cotton rag and warm water and it's good to go after a warm water rinse.

[twitch]

I will I'll go to the Mafia Mall.