How does a partitioned pan work?

[rookie]

How does a partitioned pan work? right now i have a 2x2 flat bottom pan that I boil over a home made 55 gallon drum arch. I want to upgrade next year, maybe make a new arch. it just seems like it takes me a long time to boil not so much syrup. should I put fire brick in my current arch, maybe a grate to put the wood closer to the pan?

[Cuseman1000]

A partitioned pan forces the SAP to flow in a direction towards the draw off point. The closer to the draw off point the higher the sugar concentration. With your 2x2 pan your going to boil off less than 10 gallons per hour. The more surface area the higher the amount you can boil off in a hour.

[rookie]

yesterday it took me about four hours to boil ten gallons of sap. i just don't think the heat is getting to the pan properly. I still don't understand the principle behind a partitioned pan. does the sap that has more sugar content go towards the draw off? are the partitions slightly sloped?

[Cuseman1000]

Is the SAP boiling hard or very little? Chances are that amount is all your going to get out of that pan. In the divided pan SAP goes in one end, then the syrup comes out the draw off point. the pan dosent need to be sloped or it may not work in the way it was.designed to.

[rookie]

the boiling is varied. some times its a rapid boil other times just steaming. thanks for the info on the pan.

[DrTimPerkins]

I still don't understand the principle behind a partitioned pan. does the sap that has more sugar content go towards the draw off? are the partitions slightly sloped?

A partitioned pan is used simply to make a batch process into a (semi-)continuous process and to simplify the operation. With a partitioned pan, you only need deal with the input (sap) and the output (syrup) at one place each, and this can be readily automated with floats and an auto-draw. With a batch process, the operator ususally has to deal with the inputs and outputs from each pan (or kettle) individually, and manually.

A very nice description of how a partitioned pan operates was posted on this list just a few days ago. If you look around, you can probably find it.

Secondly....get a copy of the 2006 edition of the North American Maple Producers Manual. It will answer your questions very well.

[Cuseman1000]

Instead of dumping out the syrup like you probley do the divided pan is meant to draw off the syrup that is finished to the point you want it at, while leaving the syrup that isn't finished still in the pan.

[rookie]

ok I think you've explained it pretty well. will i still need to draw it off to finish it more in a pot or will it be ready for filtering

[Maple Hobo]

Its a continuous flow pan (the channels)
It allows you to continually add fresh sap without deluting the concentrated sap at the other end.

Think about batch processing. 50 gallons of sweet water boiled to get out possibly 1 gallon of syrup... then empty and refill then start again...

Next was a stepped batch process. A row of pots you kept moving forward and boiling like an assembly line. The 1st pot is raw sweet water and by the time you keep rolling thme forward as it reduces, you get finished syrup out of the lat pot in a rolling batch without the cold start for each pot.

The continiuos flow is like the row of pots all coiled up and automaticaly pouring into each next pot.

If you have a back pan it will warm up the cold raw sweet water and keep your smaller front pan at a hard boil for a faster processing.

The idea is to reduce the time, labor and costs in making the maple syrup.

Add a controled gravity feed from your raw sap tank. A float box version allows you to control the depth of the water in your pan and helps a lot. if you pre-heat of the cold sap it will help the single cont. flow pan work better.

Invest in an automatic draw off for the outlet on your pan. Its a thermostat that controls a valve to let the syrup off at a preset temperature. This item can move forward with you to later arches/pans... INVESTMENT.

[Cider Hill Maple Farm]

OK, you boil all day maybe two days to get the sweet in the pan. When working with a partitioned pan, at what point do you call it close enough to syrup at the draw off side? ( I do have a finishing pan, but why not use the evap. to do most of the work) The sap has a nice color and smell. But the temp. isn't seven deg. over the boiling point of the sap and the hydrometer test isn't close. It's so close that I don't want to add anymore raw to the batch! So I drew off maybe a gal. until the color change was obvious and shut down. Any pointers would help!!

THANKS!!!

[Southtowns27]

Draw some off and check with the hydro. If it's still too light, dump it back into the pan. If it's really light, dump it back into the first partition, if it's fairly close, the second to last partition, and boil some more. Check again. Repeat as necessary. Keep adding sap to maintain a constant level in the pan as you do this. Eventually, you will have syrup at the drawoff but it can/will take quite a while on a small flat pan.

[500592]

i would do both things that you said

[BoarsNest]

OK, you boil all day maybe two days to get the sweet in the pan. When working with a partitioned pan, at what point do you call it close enough to syrup at the draw off side? ( I do have a finishing pan, but why not use the evap. to do most of the work) The sap has a nice color and smell. But the temp. isn't seven deg. over the boiling point of the sap and the hydrometer test isn't close. It's so close that I don't want to add anymore raw to the batch! So I drew off maybe a gal. until the color change was obvious and shut down. Any pointers would help!!

THANKS!!!

I still consider myself a rookie, but what I've been doing with my 2 x 5 flat divided pan is draw off small batches maybe 1 qt or a little more at the point my thermometer is 219 or a little higher. I draw until it's just under the 219 pt. I tested the syrup and it was about 55 brix. I did this several times until I had enough in my finish pan. It took about 1/2 hr in my finish pan to get it to the correct density. Maybe that will help.

[Cider Hill Maple Farm]

Thanks for the reply everyone, I'll work on the info received! Still pretty hard to learn as you go huh!! Best of luck to all!! I'll see what we can do with this 100 gals. of new sap! Thanks Again.

Shawn,

[Dave Puhl]

I remember my flat pan days.... seem like you cook all day for a little syrup....A divided pan will let you add raw sap with out mixing with your almost done syrup...and draw off without taking the pan off...try to run your pan 1" or so deep ...but dont leave it alone...pre heat your sap...I made one out of copper pipe it was a serpintine deal like a mountian switch back road..just remember heat likes to go up..I had a barrel on a stack of pallets and a shut off valve and the sap went in the bottom I fasten my preheater to a piace of tin...this layed up along the barrel and I adjusted the flow with the valve ...I could get 160 degree sap going into the pan... have it so you can take it away and still cook if you run out of sap.....as for a grate inside yes get air up threw your fire..split your wood fine....I had a little draft blower off a wood stove and made a pipe that blew air into the fire...you can put tin along side your barrel to reflect heat and keep the wind off... hopr this helps....

[Maple Hobo]

Bulk Evaporators vs finishing pans.

The Bulk Evaporator puts a lot of heat and evaporated really fast... Think Surgery with a chain saw.

Finishing pans give a more even and precise/controled heat so you can hit the mark more consistantly on your finished product... Think Surgery with a scaplel.

[johnpma]

Great info here!! Question regarding the partitioned pans. I understand the concept of the flow of sap to syrup but at some point you will be out of sap to boil. So what moves the sap that is semi done in the pan? After your final draw off what do you do with the pan, and what left still in the pan?

I purchased a continuous flow pan for my barrel unit. It also has a preheat pan with it......this is gonna be interesting

[Sugarmaker]

Move the remaining near syrup to a smaller container/s on your stove and continue o boil to syrup.
Regards,
Chris

[RC Maple]

Everyone has to figure out at what point their dwindling sap supply tells them it is time to shut down the evaporator while leaving enough liquid in the pan to allow for steaming while cooling without the level in the pan getting too low. If it is going to be a while until your next sap run do what Sugarmaker said and take of the near syrup and continue to boil to correct density and keep the rest of the sweet cold until your next boil and start with the sweet in the section of the pan closer to the drawoff. If it is the last boil of the season, once cooled, drain all of it off and finish it.

[johnpma]

Thank you for the help. After the boil do you clean the pan or wipe the pan out? I'm assuming part of the pan will hold some thick near syrup?

[DrTimPerkins]

Bulk Evaporators vs finishing pans.

The Bulk Evaporator puts a lot of heat and evaporated really fast... Think Surgery with a chain saw.

Finishing pans give a more even and precise/controled heat so you can hit the mark more consistantly on your finished product... Think Surgery with a scaplel.

Good analogy.

[RC Maple]

Thank you for the help. After the boil do you clean the pan or wipe the pan out? I'm assuming part of the pan will hold some thick near syrup?

I do clean the pan out before every boil. Before I light a fire I drain the pan while filtering, wipe it down, scrub if necessary, and refill once sap and pan are both as clean as possible. I have a small flat pan so it is easy for me. Others with bigger pans can't easily do this - one advantage of small equipment. Everyone has a setup that works for them but as fast as filters can plug up when I start clean each time - I don't think I would want to fire up without cleaning out between boils.