Boiling on an old propane stove

[Friar_Athanasius]

I will be boiling for the first time - probably next week by the looks of the weather in Michigan - and will be using an old commercial twelve burner gas stove. The evaporator pan will fit on eight on the burners. Should I keep the burners on full the whole time or will the pan scorch?

[ADKMAPLE]

keep it as full as possible, your gonna want a heavy boil to make syrup

[Ausable]

I will be boiling for the first time - probably next week by the looks of the weather in Michigan - and will be using an old commercial twelve burner gas stove. The evaporator pan will fit on eight on the burners. Should I keep the burners on full the whole time or will the pan scorch?

If You have a large pan with no dividers and making your Maple Syrup by the batch - rather then drawing syrup off from time to time - I would boil full tilt as already suggested. - Keep at least 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches of sap in the pan all the time and You wont have any scorching -- also make sure your pan and stove are level. Another thing I would do on the spare burners - is to have a couple of large pots (simple preheaters) each at least half full of sap - heating up to use to maintain the level in your main pan ---- Good Luck -- Mike

[Friar_Athanasius]

I do have a pan with dividers and it has taps on opposite sides so that the flow can be alternated to cut down on the niter.

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

Thats a good idea. And i like the simple preheater idea too. You could boil pretty fast for your first year that way.

[whalems]

That is exactly how a boiled the last 4 years and it works just fine. But it is very slow. Commercial stoves do not put out the btu's like turkey fryers do.

[Bill'sSugarShack]

Could use extra burners as preheaters...and use 1-2 to finish syrup on..

[maple flats]

I hope you are connected to a bulk tank, little 20# or even 100#ers get lots more expensive than bulk delivered price, even though they are all way too expensive.

[Friar_Athanasius]

We are hooked up to a meter with regards to the gas so that shouldn't be a problem.

I will also use the other burners for finishing so that will be good.

[xyz5150]

Just keep the sap level at least a 1.5" deep and you can put all the heat you want on that pan. When i used that pan i ran it about a .5" above the temp ports. Make sure that its level front to back and side to side so the syrup (concentrate) can move towards the draw off. Nice to see you on trader.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

You can put ceramic blanket on the 2 longest sides of the pan to help hold in more heat. Just lay it up the sides of the pan and let it curl onto the surface of the stove top too. Can't block off all 4 sides because the gas needs air for proper combustion but 2 sides shouldn't affect it any. Just place with it some and see how it works. Any gain in efficiency is a plus.

[Friar_Athanasius]

Just keep the sap level at least a 1.5" deep and you can put all the heat you want on that pan. When i used that pan i ran it about a .5" above the temp ports. Make sure that its level front to back and side to side so the syrup (concentrate) can move towards the draw off. Nice to see you on trader.

Thanks for the help! Can I have a thermometer screwed into one of those ports (I bought one) and still have it .5" above the port?

[xyz5150]

Yes the thermometer needs to be submerged in syrup to read correctly. you are going to need two thermometers one for each draw off for reversing flow. What kind of thermometer did you buy?

[Friar_Athanasius]

I got the thermometer at Haighs in Bellevue. It is made by Bascom Maple Farms and has a 6" stem with 3" dial which starts at 0 and goes to 50.

Is it possible that I can, in the evening, just let things boil down so that the sap is below the screw-in thingy and then switch the thermometer to the other side?