Toblerone
03-04-2011, 11:26 AM
This is my third year making syrup on a 2x6 flat pan. The first two years I ran about 500 gallons through it. I never cleaned the pan between boils, I drew off while the syrup was just showing signs of thickening, and I made about 12 to 15 gallons of nice Grade A Dark syrup. I cleaned the pans at the end of the season. There was a good amount of niter but it wasn't excessive.
This year I tried to step things up a bit with 100 taps and I've gone through nearly 500 gallons in my first three boils. I tried to get closer to syrup before I drew off this time.. and I got fairly close but was never ever able to get it there.. even after getting 200-300 gallons into the thing. So I had to start drawing off so I could bottle.
Then I bottled 4 gallons and was quite pleased until I put a sample in the grading kit and it was quite a bit darker than the Grade B standard. The syrup had a good robust flavor but I guess it was still Grade C. Feeling quite let down I decided to drain everything and start over. After draining the remaining sweet from the pan I was left with the worst black sludge and nitre build up I've ever seen.
So I am back to a clean pan, and I boiled 150 gallons in it yesterday and I drew off some nice, but far-from-syrup, sweet that I will finish later. At the end of the day I saw a fair amount of niter buildup but I won't have time to clean it before running another 150 gallons into it tomorrow. Hopefully it won't get so fouled up again.
So my questions:
Can we still sell the syrup to the public?
With a flat 2x6 with long (along the 6' length) channels should I ever expect to get it to syrup density in the pan?
Am I running it too deep? I'm always timid about burning so I run it at 1.75" or so. Yesterday I tried to run it about 1" and it seemed better but boy I was afraid to leave the pan for a second should it foam up and burn.
How often should I be cleaning the pan? After every boil?
When I used to run batch method on steam table pans, I always was able to make some Grade A Light, but Grade A Dark is the best I've ever done on this pan. Anyone out there able to make Light on a 2x6 flat pan?
What am I doing wrong here?
This year I tried to step things up a bit with 100 taps and I've gone through nearly 500 gallons in my first three boils. I tried to get closer to syrup before I drew off this time.. and I got fairly close but was never ever able to get it there.. even after getting 200-300 gallons into the thing. So I had to start drawing off so I could bottle.
Then I bottled 4 gallons and was quite pleased until I put a sample in the grading kit and it was quite a bit darker than the Grade B standard. The syrup had a good robust flavor but I guess it was still Grade C. Feeling quite let down I decided to drain everything and start over. After draining the remaining sweet from the pan I was left with the worst black sludge and nitre build up I've ever seen.
So I am back to a clean pan, and I boiled 150 gallons in it yesterday and I drew off some nice, but far-from-syrup, sweet that I will finish later. At the end of the day I saw a fair amount of niter buildup but I won't have time to clean it before running another 150 gallons into it tomorrow. Hopefully it won't get so fouled up again.
So my questions:
Can we still sell the syrup to the public?
With a flat 2x6 with long (along the 6' length) channels should I ever expect to get it to syrup density in the pan?
Am I running it too deep? I'm always timid about burning so I run it at 1.75" or so. Yesterday I tried to run it about 1" and it seemed better but boy I was afraid to leave the pan for a second should it foam up and burn.
How often should I be cleaning the pan? After every boil?
When I used to run batch method on steam table pans, I always was able to make some Grade A Light, but Grade A Dark is the best I've ever done on this pan. Anyone out there able to make Light on a 2x6 flat pan?
What am I doing wrong here?