First test Boil….HOLY COW

[GramaCindy]

Did a test boil today, well okay a simmer.;) Things went great, just a little newbie jitters but I am very happy with the amount of steam and heat in a very short time. Put a small room fan in from of the ash door, really got cooking with that!https://picasaweb.google.com/103968764779354846524/FirstTestBoil?feat=directlink

[BryanEx]

GramaCindy... two questions for ya;

1) The ceramic blanket on the door... did you add that when you bricked and if so, how hard was it to drill through the door for the mounting bolts?

2) Is your stack double lined? If not, I think you are way too close to wood to be safe where it passes through the metal siding of your shed. If it's a single sheet of metal it will be glowing red after boiling syrup for hours on end.


- Bryan... who's very jealous because my Mason is still a couple months away.

[GramaCindy]

GramaCindy... two questions for ya;

1) The ceramic blanket on the door... did you add that when you bricked and if so, how hard was it to drill through the door for the mounting bolts?

2) Is your stack double lined? If not, I think you are way too close to wood to be safe where it passes through the metal siding of your shed. If it's a single sheet of metal it will be glowing red after boiling syrup for hours on end.


- Bryan... who's very jealous because my Mason is still a couple months away.

Bryan, The door came with the fireblanket….our stack is single lined and is a good 4" away from the wood cross beam, with firebrick insulating it in between, if need be, we will add fireblanket to that as well.

[BryanEx]

….our stack is single lined and is a good 4" away from the wood cross beam, with firebrick insulating it in between
Ah... it looked like a piece of 2 x 4 to help support the vertical stack which is why I was concerned. Firebrick makes sense. Have a blast with your new toy!

- Bryan

[GramaCindy]

Ah... it looked like a piece of 2 x 4 to help support the vertical stack which is why I was concerned. Firebrick makes sense. Have a blast with your new toy!

- Bryan

and thank YOU Bryan for the heads up so to speak, I will be keeping an eye out for the heat on stack.

[maple flats]

I would still protect the wood better. The basic rule of thumb is 36" from a single wall pipe. Either use ceramic blanket, or layers of tin spaced 1" or more. Each layer spaced an inch cuts the distance in half. Thus 1 layer is 18", 2=9",3=4.5". The problem likely would not happen this year, but the extreme heat makes the wood gradually off gas until you have charcoal. Charcoal ignites at 300 some degrees. Be safe, keep it fun!!

[Dennis H.]

Very nice little evap that you got there. You will be a pro firing that thing in no time.

I would seriously look into adding some more protection to the wood framing of the wall. I say this from experiance and it happened just as Maple flats said.
On my old barrle evap I had single wall flue to the ceiling than a thimble that converted it to double wall. I had a box framed into the ceiling joists to support the thimble. I than had vermiculite poured in around the double wall flue and thimble to added measure. Well when I tore all that out when I got my new evap I found the wood to look just like charcoal!! Man that scared me. Needles to say I now have Ceramic blanket around the rafters and plywood for the roof and I also have sheet metal spaced away from the wood fro the ceiling joist. I now can sleep better at night.

[Kev]

Very nice little evap that you got there. You will be a pro firing that thing in no time.

I would seriously look into adding some more protection to the wood framing of the wall. I say this from experiance and it happened just as Maple flats said.
On my old barrle evap I had single wall flue to the ceiling than a thimble that converted it to double wall. I had a box framed into the ceiling joists to support the thimble. I than had vermiculite poured in around the double wall flue and thimble to added measure. Well when I tore all that out when I got my new evap I found the wood to look just like charcoal!! Man that scared me. Needles to say I now have Ceramic blanket around the rafters and plywood for the roof and I also have sheet metal spaced away from the wood fro the ceiling joist. I now can sleep better at night.

now you got me... I will be climbing up in the attic of the shack to check the condition of stuff tomorrow.

[GramaCindy]

Thank you everyone, I will forward your comments to "he who must be told" today. We will repost the results soon. Better safe than sorry:cry:

[3rdgen.maple]

Thank you everyone, I will forward your comments to "he who must be told" today. We will repost the results soon. Better safe than sorry:cry:

She who must be obeyed that is no way to talk about your husband:rolleyes:

[adk1]

thanks Grammacindy, I have been wanting too see some pics of my future evap in action!

[GramaCindy]

She who must be obeyed that is no way to talk about your husband:rolleyes:

Oh but yes it is…..one of my favorite comments to date!!! He is all for doing what I research during the week!

[captnsteve]

Was it hard to brick the new evaporator? mine is supposed to arrive tommorrow and want to get it hooked up asap.how long do the bricks have to set before use . thanks

[GramaCindy]

Was it hard to brick the new evaporator? mine is supposed to arrive tommorrow and want to get it hooked up asap.how long do the bricks have to set before use . thanks

Hey Captnsteve…I dry fit my bricks this year as we are building a "sugar shack" this summer and will need to move. I guess WFMASON is using some of my photos for his website for bricking. I am a gal, never tiled before but did this in less than 4 hours with a good wet, tub saw at my disposal. EASY AS PUNCH! I had 86 bricks and 6 patio blocks for the back area. No problem. Just keep doing the puzzle pieces and all is good!

[captnsteve]

Thanks for that,i might dry fit mine aswell going to try for a new shack next year,hoping anyway . say your pics might print it off and use it as a guide .mine is the 2x3 mason only takes 65 bricks . thanks again

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

i just keep a bug sprayer full of water to spray down roof rafters where stack is close :lol:
as long as I am not a business, home owners cover stupidity :D

[sbingham]

GramaCindy, I have been watching your posts right along on your new WF Mason cooker.
The other one on Loren's truck the day your's was delivered was mine.
I ordered a 2x6 with a blower from Bill last fall. I am very pleased with the quality and workmanship!
I also bricked mine on Saturday, dry fit also as I hope to put up a sugar shack this summer. I have not fired mine up yet, maybe this weekend. This will be my first year with a continuous flow pan...could be interesting.

[captnsteve]

Grama cindy got my new mason bricked ,you were right didnt take long with the right saw . done a little test boil worked great cant wait for tomorrow

[michiganfarmer2]

Thank you everyone, I will forward your comments to "he who must be told" today. We will repost the results soon. lol

A chic who likes to make syrup. too cool

[GramaCindy]

Grama cindy got my new mason bricked ,you were right didnt take long with the right saw . done a little test boil worked great cant wait for tomorrow

That's great to hear Captnsteve….I am doing another test boil this weekend to see how long it takes to get rid of 30 gallons. Do you have sap? I am doing my tapping on Saturday, after the St. Pat's/ St. Urho's day parade pub crawl! Should be interesting:rolleyes:

[GramaCindy]

GramaCindy, I have been watching your posts right along on your new WF Mason cooker.
The other one on Loren's truck the day your's was delivered was mine.
I ordered a 2x6 with a blower from Bill last fall. I am very pleased with the quality and workmanship!
I also bricked mine on Saturday, dry fit also as I hope to put up a sugar shack this summer. I have not fired mine up yet, maybe this weekend. This will be my first year with a continuous flow pan...could be interesting.

I hear you on the "continuous flow pan" scares the heck out of me actually! I did a test simmer. all went great. 10 gallons was high simmer and steaming to beat the band within an hour! I am doing another test boil this weekend. I cleaned the pans in the first test boil with a very small amount of Dawn and am concerned about soap residue.:o

[Southtowns27]

Dawn is a no-no. If you need to clean niter from your pans, use the "official" pan cleaner, can be found at your local dealer or in any of the catalogs. Otherwise, just simmer some clean water and that should do it. Make really really sure you have it rinsed out good and you'll be fine.
Don't be afraid to get that thing up and ripping. Realistically it should be at a full boil in less than 15 minutes if you fire it hard. Your wood should be no more than maybe 2" in diameter with that rig. Keep the air draft wide open and the firebox no less than half full. Fire one side of the firebox, then a couple minutes later, the other. Keep alternating and keep it hot! You'll be pleasantly surprised at how fast it'll boil. Also, don't run the pan too deep. Start out at about 1.5" deep. The shallower you run it, the lighter your syrup will be. So, after you get comfortable with the rig, you can drop your level to maybe 1" or slightly less. Just remember to use defoamer. It's also a good idea to keep a 5 gal bucket of water nearby just in case things get out of hand, if the pan gets dangerously low, just dump in the water. Yes, you'll lose the syrup in the pan, but you save the pan!
That's my input anyway, just want to try to help with the startup. Looks like you have a nice setup that'll be lots of fun! Happy boiling

[GramaCindy]

Dawn is a no-no. If you need to clean niter from your pans, use the "official" pan cleaner, can be found at your local dealer or in any of the catalogs. Otherwise, just simmer some clean water and that should do it. Make really really sure you have it rinsed out good and you'll be fine.
Don't be afraid to get that thing up and ripping. Realistically it should be at a full boil in less than 15 minutes if you fire it hard. Your wood should be no more than maybe 2" in diameter with that rig. Keep the air draft wide open and the firebox no less than half full. Fire one side of the firebox, then a couple minutes later, the other. Keep alternating and keep it hot! You'll be pleasantly surprised at how fast it'll boil. Also, don't run the pan too deep. Start out at about 1.5" deep. The shallower you run it, the lighter your syrup will be. So, after you get comfortable with the rig, you can drop your level to maybe 1" or slightly less. Just remember to use defoamer. It's also a good idea to keep a 5 gal bucket of water nearby just in case things get out of hand, if the pan gets dangerously low, just dump in the water. Yes, you'll lose the syrup in the pan, but you save the pan!
That's my input anyway, just want to try to help with the startup. Looks like you have a nice setup that'll be lots of fun! Happy boiling

I thought i had read that you may need to clean up the "flux" in the pan…dagnamit! I will rinse, rinse and rinse. and then do a REAL test boil! Thank you!

[Southtowns27]

I thought i had read that you may need to clean up the "flux" in the pan…dagnamit! I will rinse, rinse and rinse. and then do a REAL test boil! Thank you!

To clean the flux, a mild vinegar/water solution will do just fine, or "official" pan cleaner. Basically you need a mild acid solution and simmer it for a few minutes followed by lots of rinsing with clean water. Hope this helps.

[GramaCindy]

To clean the flux, a mild vinegar/water solution will do just fine, or "official" pan cleaner. Basically you need a mild acid solution and simmer it for a few minutes followed by lots of rinsing with clean water. Hope this helps.

Thanks Southtowns27…will do:rolleyes:

[adk1]

Dawn is a no-no. If you need to clean niter from your pans, use the "official" pan cleaner, can be found at your local dealer or in any of the catalogs. Otherwise, just simmer some clean water and that should do it. Make really really sure you have it rinsed out good and you'll be fine.
Don't be afraid to get that thing up and ripping. Realistically it should be at a full boil in less than 15 minutes if you fire it hard. Your wood should be no more than maybe 2" in diameter with that rig. Keep the air draft wide open and the firebox no less than half full. Fire one side of the firebox, then a couple minutes later, the other. Keep alternating and keep it hot! You'll be pleasantly surprised at how fast it'll boil. Also, don't run the pan too deep. Start out at about 1.5" deep. The shallower you run it, the lighter your syrup will be. So, after you get comfortable with the rig, you can drop your level to maybe 1" or slightly less. Just remember to use defoamer. It's also a good idea to keep a 5 gal bucket of water nearby just in case things get out of hand, if the pan gets dangerously low, just dump in the water. Yes, you'll lose the syrup in the pan, but you save the pan!
That's my input anyway, just want to try to help with the startup. Looks like you have a nice setup that'll be lots of fun! Happy boiling

I plan on keeping some sap in a bucket nearby rather than using water.

[Southtowns27]

That works too :)

[steve J]

I also use a mixture of lemon juice and water let it set and it will lift all the maple scum off the bottom within an hour. I will be fireing mine for first time with sap tomorrow as the trees were running good when I left this morning.