View Full Version : Evaporating on Kitchen Stove - NEVER AGAIN!!
PapaSmiff
03-03-2011, 09:36 AM
Well, I know I'm addicted now! I ran out of Propane fuel for my Turkey Fryer, wouldn't be able to get more fuel for a few days, and decided to evaporate on the kitchen stove - with four pans running at once. I couldn't stand to see the excess sap piling up in buckets buried in the snow.
Since I was getting much better evaporation rates than my single turkey fryer, I was excited! My wife was away at work - what she doesn't know won't hurt her. I'll open a few windows.
About an hour into it, I noticed that the entire house was full of steam. So I opened more windows and shut the heat off. The dogs can huddle together for warmth.
Then I noticed water dipping onto the floor near a doorway. When I looked up, I knew I was in big trouble! The walls were dripping water everywhere. The white, textured ceilings in the next room were getting stained from dripping "junk" from the kitchen walls - probably from the last time we filled the kitchen with smoke from oven drippings. In the kitchen, there were now dripping stains on every wall.
OK, I stopped evaporating in the kitchen. I'll just have to learn to deal with my addiction. Is there an MPA organization somewhere - Maple Producers Anonymous?
Luckily, we had already planned to paint the kitchen this weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to clean up the stains before "the boss" gets home. Wish me luck!
Dude, that is like #1 no no and has been talked about on this site numerous times..yikes..
PapaSmiff
03-03-2011, 09:40 AM
Yes, I know. But Step Number One is to acknowlede that I have a problem.
Yes, I know. But Step Number One is to acknowlede that I have a problem.
yes, job well done then..but yikes!
SilverLeaf
03-03-2011, 09:51 AM
decided to evaporate on the kitchen stove - with four pans running at once.
Been there, done that! And like you, was actually quite impressed with the boil rate. :D
I'm actually a dissenter from the standard viewpoint that the boiling in the kitchen thing can't be done. I made it work for three years. But the key is that you need adequate airflow. It's not enough to just close off the kitchen and open the windows - you've got to have a definite flow pattern (I'm talking fans in the windows) pulling fresh air in and pushing moist air out. Plus it helps to have one of those oven range vent hoods that pipes the steam directly outside. Anything short of that, though, and as you found out, just say no!
Just tell her you were cleaning the walls before painting...
ennismaple
03-03-2011, 10:48 AM
What you did is what I tell people to do when they complain about the price of syrup. Go ahead and tap your own trees and make it on your kitchen stove! By the time they're paid for the damage to the paint and wallpaper it's far cheaper to buy my syrup!
What you did is what I tell people to do when they complain about the price of syrup. Go ahead and tap your own trees and make it on your kitchen stove! By the time they're paid for the damage to the paint and wallpaper it's far cheaper to buy my syrup!
Well, I am gonna create a sign in my sugarhouse with those words!
3rdgen.maple
03-03-2011, 11:03 AM
Boiling in the house is also a good way to remove the wallpaper on the walls. I think however you are only slighlty addicted and have not been completely bitten yet. Why do I say that you ask? Well its simple you wouldnt be painting or doing anything on the honey do list during sugaring season. :D When my lady moved in years ago she asked me to do a few things for her and I said sure as long as you wash the holding tank, go collect the sap, fire up the evaporator and boil, then filter what you made, bottle it, then lable and grade what you made and when your done with that reload the firewood in the sugarhouse you burnt up, empty the ashes out of the evaporator, wash all the prefilter and filters you used and then clean up the sugarhouse I will be glad to help you with your list you have for me. Well I didnt touch the list and she didnt clean,gather or even boil.:rolleyes:
Flat Lander Sugaring
03-03-2011, 04:36 PM
WELCOME papasmiff,
My name is Rusty and I have been coming here for several weeks now still with no end in site:lol:
BryanEx
03-03-2011, 04:42 PM
The trick to making syrup in the kitchen is to open and close the beer fridge as often as possible to offset the heating aspects of the boiling pots.
Ausable
03-03-2011, 05:04 PM
Well, I know I'm addicted now! I ran out of Propane fuel for my Turkey Fryer, wouldn't be able to get more fuel for a few days, and decided to evaporate on the kitchen stove - with four pans running at once. I couldn't stand to see the excess sap piling up in buckets buried in the snow.
Since I was getting much better evaporation rates than my single turkey fryer, I was excited! My wife was away at work - what she doesn't know won't hurt her. I'll open a few windows.
About an hour into it, I noticed that the entire house was full of steam. So I opened more windows and shut the heat off. The dogs can huddle together for warmth.
Then I noticed water dipping onto the floor near a doorway. When I looked up, I knew I was in big trouble! The walls were dripping water everywhere. The white, textured ceilings in the next room were getting stained from dripping "junk" from the kitchen walls - probably from the last time we filled the kitchen with smoke from oven drippings. In the kitchen, there were now dripping stains on every wall.
OK, I stopped evaporating in the kitchen. I'll just have to learn to deal with my addiction. Is there an MPA organization somewhere - Maple Producers Anonymous?
Luckily, we had already planned to paint the kitchen this weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to clean up the stains before "the boss" gets home. Wish me luck!
BILL --- hahahaha --- You have arrived. Soiled the Domain of the Queen Bee with that Maple Stuff.... Now I know - that You know - better than to do something that FOOLISH..... But against all sane reasoning - You went ahead and did it anyway -- That my friend is a true MAPLE ADDICT -- AND YOU WERE SNEAKY TOO - THE WIFE WASN'T HOME - Another desireable quality in the making of maple syrup -- keep up the good work ----- Mike
morningstarfarm
03-03-2011, 05:26 PM
The real sign of being an addict is if you found a way to blame it either on the. Kids or the dog.....anyways thanks to the great laugh...lived that one a decade ago...but I had permission, and then derision... :o
if you are running your turkey fryer in the yard and have propane for the house (big tank) do what i did for both my gas grill and my homemade coffee roaster(2 units) run a line from the house. just cut the band off the regulator barb for the low pressure out. use a quarter turn ball valve (between house and fryer) to regulate the amount of flame. use a real gas valve not a liquid valve as they leak with vapor. That way you can still put the regulator back on with a hose clamp if you need to use it with a bottle. I used soft line the whole way so I added a extra valve where I did the take off. So i turn it off there also when not in use. for me it was both savings in the cost of propane and I never run out of gas half way through a coffee roast or when the steaks are part way done.
3fires
03-03-2011, 08:03 PM
After last year I was officially banned from the kitchen. :rolleyes:
Leinie
03-03-2011, 08:41 PM
A few years ago I tried that and the microwave ' vent fan above the stove absobed too much moisture and quit working. The lcd control display was also all messed up.
After a few weeks it all dried back out and started working again , thank God. or that would have been an expensive quart of syrup.
wnybassman
03-03-2011, 09:31 PM
My first batch this year I boiled down 8 gallons of sap in the kitchen, and every year I finish all my syrup in the kitchen once I get 90% of it done outside. I have a humidity meter in the kitchen that reads 35% or so normally, and can keep it around 40-44% while boiling by just keeping the front door cracked open and a window fan in the window sucking the moisture out.
Haynes Forest Products
03-03-2011, 09:43 PM
I do remember warning others if you decide to cook in the house take time to get to Home Depot for those paint samples:mad: It does remind me of the time I lit a few Kerosene lamps and fell asleep. When I woke One was making carbon nerdles and they were floating all over the house. Have you ever tried to wipe them up:cry:
ComputerSteve
03-11-2011, 11:41 PM
Last year (our first) we boiled in pans on the kitchen stove. It generated so much steam all the windows fogged up, and the remaining wallpaper started curling at the edges. We had to open several windows and turned on all exhaust fans to save the inside of the house. When we were done the entire kitchen was coated with a sticky sheen. This year most of the boiling is being done at a restaurant we have access to.
anybody ever try whacking apart an old gas furnace with an angle grinder or something and converting it to an evaporator for a small system ?
ComputerSteve
03-12-2011, 05:00 PM
Kev - The furnace idea is interesting. I know an HVAC tech that should know how safe that would be. Our plumber has already proposed piping a natural gas line to the barbeque. If the old furnace idea would work, I could just have the plumber add another line for the evaporator. For me where I live in the burbs, wood or gas are probably a horse apiece, as I would have to purchase either fuel type. I think gas would tend to be a cleaner fuel. Summer is going to be a busy time planning for next year :)
Ausable
03-12-2011, 07:28 PM
Last year (our first) we boiled in pans on the kitchen stove. It generated so much steam all the windows fogged up, and the remaining wallpaper started curling at the edges. We had to open several windows and turned on all exhaust fans to save the inside of the house. When we were done the entire kitchen was coated with a sticky sheen. This year most of the boiling is being done at a restaurant we have access to.
Hahahaha --- Lets see now -- You Boiled Sap in Your Own Kitchen and darned near destroyed Your house - turning all the walls into Fly Paper. So - You learned not to do it at your house... That part makes sense. But then You say "This year most of the boiling is being done at a restaurant we have access to." ..... Why the heck do You want to destroy a small business in these hard economic times ..... Did they serve you a rotten meal and then overcharge you or something? Dang ComputerSteve - You sure know how to get even ---lol----- Mike
ComputerSteve
03-12-2011, 07:59 PM
Hahahaha --- Lets see now -- You Boiled Sap in Your Own Kitchen and darned near destroyed Your house - turning all the walls into Fly Paper. So - You learned not to do it at your house... That part makes sense. But then You say "This year most of the boiling is being done at a restaurant we have access to." ..... Why the heck do You want to destroy a small business in these hard economic times ..... Did they serve you a rotten meal and then overcharge you or something? Dang ComputerSteve - You sure know how to get even ---lol----- Mike
This restaurant and equipment is designed for, and is used daily, at a level of cooking that puts our boiling down maple syrup to shame. We were able to boil down 43 gallons of sap today in 4 hours. The massive range hood vents eliminated all steam instantly while running at a fraction of their designed capacity. In reality, we could probably do three times as much sap and still not tax there equipment capability. That's what's capable when the equipment is properly designed to handle the load.
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