homemade water jacket canner

[SilverLeaf]

In conjunction with this thread (http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?p=135292#post135292), I'm just curious if anyone out there has figured out a cheap way (less than $100) of making a small water jacket canner that would be appropriate for small producers?

Would it work to take like a 12 Qt stock pot and somehow tig weld it inside a 20 Qt stock pot and put a spigot on it (connected to the inside stock pot)?

Any other ideas? or is this just a pipe dream?

[RileySugarbush]

I was just thinking the same thing! Though I was considering soft copper tubing soldered between the pots and bolting with spacers at the top to hold them firmly concentric.

[Haynes Forest Products]

That is the trick to get the drawoff pipe thru from the inner tank out past the outer tank and keep it water tight. DONT FORGET TO VENT IT........BOOM:o

[xyz5150]

Time for a new forum how to build maple equipment cheap. I wonder how many threads the word cheap shows up in?:lol:

[Haynes Forest Products]

I use it all the time. Finding a CHEAP way to build something is right up my alley. That is why I have 2 welders Im to cheap to have someone else build what I can do CHEAPER. Using a $50.00 PID temp controller is Cheaper than a $400.00 one....BUT it that PIP fails and you burn up $6000.00 pans then Cheap aint good. Its like having a $500.00 hunting gun and spending 10 days of your life trying to bag the deer you always wanted and then you put a CHEAP scope on it. The kind that if a twig hits it it goes of line so your always guessing:mad: I wonder how many guys hear spent alot on a ring for the wife and then asked the jewler if it would be cheaper if they wrapped it in a Ziploc:emb:

[xyz5150]

Hay Haynes speaking of rings and CHEAP is your 3rd wife wearing your first or second wife's wedding ring?:lol:

[Haynes Forest Products]

She bought her own and I clipped it in her nose.......SEE she is a Michigan girl and I like to keep her close;)................................JUST KIDDING:lol: The good thing about the place I get my wedding rings is I can trade them all in on a nice upgrade. She does have a good sence of humor. Just not when Im in the room.

Any man that refuses to lie to a woman has no regards for her feelings

[3rdgen.maple]

Haynes I thought your 3rd wife was the same one as your your 1st one and 2nd one? So you bought the same girl 3 rings? Guess she didnt like the first 2 very much.

[SilverLeaf]

Haynes I thought your 3rd wife was the same one as your your 1st one and 2nd one? So you bought the same girl 3 rings? Guess she didnt like the first 2 very much.

It maybe woulda helped on those first two tries if that tag that said "cubic zirconia" had been removed....

:lol:

[3rdgen.maple]

She has to be the same one Im not sure there are more than 3 women in the US that could put up with him long enough to hear wedding bells. :D

[SilverLeaf]

I was just thinking the same thing! Though I was considering soft copper tubing soldered between the pots and bolting with spacers at the top to hold them firmly concentric.

I like the way you think, Riley. The bolting with spacers idea is effective, yet cheap. A couple questions for ya:

1) What were you thinking of for the drawoff spout? I was just browsing the plumbing aisle at my local hardware store and everything they've got is brass, and even with that I couldn't find anything that would give a nice taper that would work well for bottling. Maybe I just need to find a bigger store...
2) (Warning: dumb question ahead) can copper be soldered to SS?

[RileySugarbush]

My current bottling rig is a stainless pot on a hot plate, with a copper fitting soldered in the side at the bottom and a ball valve with a 45° copper fitting. We filter right into it a bottle right away.

It works ok, except the ball valve has a lot of friction so we need someone to hod the pot when it gets low. Plus if we aren't careful, the hotplate will generate a little niter due to hot spots.

So, yes you can solder copper to stainless. There are several threads on here describing how. Basically, sand everything very clan, use Harris Stay Clean liquid flux, and use a very low flame to keep the stainless from getting too hot.

[SilverLeaf]

My current bottling rig is a stainless pot on a hot plate, with a copper fitting soldered in the side at the bottom and a ball valve with a 45° copper fitting.

Is that a brass ball valve or is that copper too?

[Haynes Forest Products]

If solder will stick to it then they can be joined. Silverleaf look on line for coffee maker valves they are no drip and the handle will return to closed when you let go. They can also be locked open if you push the handle back. Good for cleaning. One problem with soldering SOME things is the heat. By the time some get hot enough to solder the other one is burning so its best to tin them both and then you only rally need to get the solder to melt to get them to join

First two the same 3rd is the present one and the 4th hasnt been born yet:o we all get together as friends because we live 500ft from each other.LIFE IS GOOD:D

[user587]

I made a water-jacketed filter-canner as described in the original post - see pics:

http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/g478/user587/Filter-Canner/

Maybe a bit more than $100...

Turkey fryer (30 or 36 qt, cannot recall) from Craigslist ($50) includes the burner, stand, pot, etc... 44 qt. "Bayou Classic" outer pan ($90 amazon) plus a few stainless pipes and fittings. I found the stainless valves on ebay, 5 for about $50. Then I made copper downspouts for a few bucks. I took the time to install ports for thermocouples in both the water jacket and the syrup pot, then off ebay got a 2-port temp. gage with 2 K-thermocouples for about $25.

I'm hanging the large filter cones inside, they don't really fit well, probably should have gotten the smaller size. Live and learn...

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g478/user587/Filter-Canner/th_0224111242a.jpg (http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/g478/user587/Filter-Canner/?action=view&current=0224111242a.jpg)

[SilverLeaf]

Nice rig you got there, Scott!

[SweetbriarLane]

Scott, did you put probes on the ends of the wires?

-bruce

[user587]

Scott, did you put probes on the ends of the wires?

-bruce

No, I put the wires through 1/4 soft copper tube, left about 1/8" out of the tube, then crimped the end of the tube around the wire. Then I drilled a 1/4" hole through the pipe cap/plug, and put the copper tube (with thermocouple wire inside) through the hole. Then siliconed in the end of the thermocouple wire right up the the bimetal tip, and also siliconed the end of the copper tube into the pipe cap/plug.

[user587]

I made a water-jacketed filter-canner as described in the original post - see pics:

http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/g478/user587/Filter-Canner/

Maybe a bit more than $100...

Turkey fryer (30 or 36 qt, cannot recall) from Craigslist ($50) includes the burner, stand, pot, etc... 44 qt. "Bayou Classic" outer pan ($90 amazon) plus a few stainless pipes and fittings. I found the stainless valves on ebay, 5 for about $50. Then I made copper downspouts for a few bucks. I took the time to install ports for thermocouples in both the water jacket and the syrup pot, then off ebay got a 2-port temp. gage with 2 K-thermocouples for about $25.

I'm hanging the large filter cones inside, they don't really fit well, probably should have gotten the smaller size. Live and learn...

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g478/user587/Filter-Canner/th_0224111242a.jpg (http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/g478/user587/Filter-Canner/?action=view&current=0224111242a.jpg)

Used the unit yesterday for the first time - it works quite well. It is sooooooo nice to shut down the finishing burner, then casually transfer the syrup into the filters, and then not be in a panic rush to get it into bottles while it's still hot. I pre-heat the water jacket to about 190, the syrup comes throught the filter at 195 first, then 190, and it just stays right there for as long as I need to fill bottles. Plenty of time to take out pre-filters, etc... Temp readings on the water and on the syrup help to know for sure that it remains hot. Final bottle packet at high 180's.