How do you "STOP" boiling for the night

[Maplesapper]

We have a 2 X 4 three partitioned pan. How do you stop for the night? Do you have to boil all the sap out of the pan or do you get a friend help you wrestle the pan off the fire?
I understand the drawoff method as the sap is constantly being added. Then finish the draw-off sap on a small propane burner.
But how do you stop between boils?. Even with 2" of sap in the pan, that leaves approx 10 gallons in our pan, and weighs almost 100 lbs-- tough to move that much hot sticky liquid. And then inevitably have to relevel the pan for the new boil a few days later.

Thanks;
100 buckets tripping in the woods

[steve J]

Unless its going to be real cold at night there is no need to remove what you been boiling as the sugar content will keep pan from freezing. If its expect to be in the teens or colder I normally wait until evaporator is cool and then draw off the pan into a couple of large stock pots and put them down in my basement. Prior to putting that sap back in evaporator to boil I run it thru a filter that help reduce sugar sand in evaporator.

[Maplesapper]

Thanks Steve- I like the filter idea also

[PerryW]

My evaporator is full of sap for the entire season. I never drain it until the end except for a mid-season pan cleaning if necessary.

When I'm expecting a hard freeze, I make sure and boil until the levels in both pans are as shallow as possible (1-2" deep) and make sure my holding tanks and feed pipes are empty. Then I let the sucker freeze solid. That's right, sometimes both pans are frozen solid and I've never had a problem in over 20 years.

[Maplesapper]

Thanks Perry- Your 20 years trumps my 2 years, so I am all ears.
Two questions. If I dont boil everyday, is it ok to leave the boiled sap in the pan, perhaps with a cover? And Two, when you stop boiling for the day, do you just top up the sap pans to maintain a safe depth and let the fire die down?

[steve J]

Yes you need to maintain sap in pan until totally cool or you could burn or warp pan if inside of arch was still fairly hot. I also leave my door open just to be safe but I tend to play everything safe when it coms to the pan.

[steve J]

You have the same rig as I have and the sides of it are angled so no chance of mice climbing it . So unless there are ways they can fall in from abouve you probably do not need to cover it.

[Maplesapper]

ok thanks. My door is piece of sheet metal, so no problem there. Ha, and my blower is the brides travel hair dryer.....but dont tell her yet..

If the pan is always kept full, is there any problem mixing batches of sap? Or is that something the commercial folks are concerned with vs the backyarders?

[steve J]

If you leave it full once you start to boil again and are ready to start allowing new sap to come in I normally will draw off a a couple of coffee pots full of hot sap and pour it into the starting point of the second channel. That tends to get the syrup back into balance with your darkest in the last channel and clearer in the first channel.

[Maplesapper]

Will try that for sure.
My rig is 2X4, and then I draw-off and finish in two hotel pans, and finally a large stock pot with propane. I put out 100 taps this year vs 40 last year, so I need to get my gph way way up..

[PerryW]

Thanks Perry- Your 20 years trumps my 2 years, so I am all ears.
Two questions. If I dont boil everyday, is it ok to leave the boiled sap in the pan, perhaps with a cover?

yes. I only cover the pans if I'm expecting more than a few days until the next boil.



And Two, when you stop boiling for the day, do you just top up the sap pans to maintain a safe depth and let the fire die down?

When the sap in the feed tank starts getting low, I will push the float down and increase the sap level in the back pan by and inch or two. If the tank is now dry, I will quit firing and keep an eye on the sap levels while I clean up.

If there is still sap in the tank, I will throw a few small pieces of wood in the arch (don't fill it up!) and boil for a few minutes.

Then I check the sap level again and repeat this process until the feed tank is completely empty. You might want to keep a pail or two of emergency water on hand until you master this procedure.

A few times, I have guessed wrong and throwing some chuck of still flaming wood out in the snow and kept the doors open, but haven't needed the emergency water (yet).

Of course, if I know I will be bioling the next day, I don't worry too much about leaving some sap in the feed tank. I will usually quit firing immediately after a syrup take-off.

[maple sapper]

I do the same as far as pulling syrup off pan and then shut down. I have a sight guage I made on the ceiling area on the line coming in. I used a Tee with a veritcal clear tube and valve and vacuum breaker on top. I marked the different levels of my tank on the sight guage. I placed a piece of electrical tape at the area that I call shut down. when we get to this area, I use cedar. This burns flashy and fast. Then I open the door and flue wide open to vent it as fast as possible.

I do not drain pains except midseason cleaning and go boil to boil.

[palmer4th]

I'm new at this, and actually only have one boil under my belt. I have a 2x4 barrel evap, and when I finished my boil the barrel was right full of RED coals! So I was worried about shutting down, I added 2 inches of sap to the pan (4" total) and by the next morning it was back down to 2 inches. I thought that worked great.