Another beginner thread

[mathprofdk]

Hi all,

First, this place is awesome. Seriously awesome. I easily just spent 3 hours "researching" (as my dad likes to say).

So I'm doing my first sugaring this year in the suburbs outside of Chicago. All my friends and neighbors think it's pretty crazy and yet a little cool. My wife... well, let's not go there.

I have a couple things I'm struggling with now, particularly my evaporation rate. I'm sure it's no surprise, but man does this take forever. Right now, I'm using a single turkey fryer cranked to the max with a hug stock pot (maybe 24" diameter) on loan from a friend. I cooked for about 20 hours this last weekend and evaporated maybe 30 gallons of sap. Is this normal for a set-up like this? At this rate, I can hardly keep up with the flow, since it doesn't seem worth it to try to boil anything when I get home from work.

I have a welder friend working on a 2'x2'x6" pan for me, which should increase my surface area by 30% or so.

I know that sometimes I fill the pot too high, and the boil can slow significantly, so I'm planning on keeping it much more shallow this weekend. I was filling up to maybe 4-5" deep last weekend, and reading here it sounds like 2" would be better to keep a faster boil.

Any other recommendations for a small-timer? I have some ideas for the future, but so far I'm only tapping our single tree (it's HUGE, though) and one of a neighbor. I may scale up in the future by tapping other friends and neighbor's trees in town. Only if I can get make/buy a more efficient evaporator, though.

Thanks for any tips.

~DK

[Kev]

can you rig a stand up to preheat in a different pan so the sap you are adding goes in warmer or even hot?
adding small amounts often is better than dumping a bunch in once in a while as it allows the boil to remain at a higher rate
use blocks or something to hold heat into the pot instead of letting it escape around the sides should help improve evap rate also
hope this helps.
from what I have read on here I think there are some real experts on fryer evaporaters on here.

[xyz5150]

Your going to need another burner for a 2x2. my first year i tried two burners on a 2x4 only boiled right over center of the burner maybe a 8 inch dia circle.Then i added a third burner and it worked ok boiled about 5 gph. the propane cost as much as the syrup would have, man was that fun.

[RevDoc]

The turkey fryer/cooker is normally good for 1 gallon an hour evaporation on average, so you are actually above the norm.

You will make a decided step up in speed, if you switch to a stainless steel 6" deep, full size steam table pan, which is roughly 20"x10" in dimension, and holds 5 gallons.

I bought 2 at a restaurant supply house, (with covers). One pan fits over two kitchen stove burners, and boils out around 2 gallons an hour.

The biggest advantage is that they will work as finish pans, should you ever decide to get an evaporator, and you now have two nice covered SS pans for your kitchen, 11 months of the year.

*NOTE:

If you boil in both pans inside your domicile, the walls will sweat, the ceiling drip, paint will peel, and wall paper becomes floor paper, no matter what you do.
(If you can hear my foot tapping, good. This might be on the test. It WILL be mentioned in the divorce request.)

[steve J]

I started years ago with turkey friers and if I recall I could make a gallon in about 13 hours when I had two friers going at once. But word of warning if you try to run your pots low and your sap starts to froth up you will suddenly find yourself with a large hole in bottom of your pan I did exactly that.

[mathprofdk]

I started years ago with turkey friers and if I recall I could make a gallon in about 13 hours when I had two friers going at once. But word of warning if you try to run your pots low and your sap starts to froth up you will suddenly find yourself with a large hole in bottom of your pan I did exactly that.

Ha - I already ended up with a charred charcoal mess in a roasting pan on my first attempt! :D

I've since had decent luck with the big pot, with almost a gallon produced so far. It's just slow and inefficient.

Any thoughts of using some bricks to make sort of a protected area around the burner to contain the heat - for this year at least? A friend might be able to hook me up with some. He works with glass and has built his own furnace using these, so I'm sure they'd hold up to any heat that little burner could put out.

I'm in city limits, so I like using the burner rather than a wood-based system. I'm not even sure that would be legal, but no one would probably say anything. If they haven't called the cops on me yet about cooking meth in my backyard, I'm probably safe.

If my friend hasn't already made me the pan, I'll look into one of the restaurant pans for next year for sure. I can also preheat some in a pan on my grill. So far, those are the only heat sources I have. Well... I do have a free-standing fire pit. Maybe use that for pre-heating?

It's a little crazy living in the suburbs. I grew up in the country heating with wood (and making box-elder syrup... yum!) and I still can't get used to paying these crazy prices for firewood. Not that propane is cheap, either.

Thanks for the tips so far. At least I'm not too far off base for a beginner.

[Kev]

Ha - I already ended up with a charred charcoal mess in a roasting pan on my first attempt! :D

I've since had decent luck with the big pot, with almost a gallon produced so far. It's just slow and inefficient.

Any thoughts of using some bricks to make sort of a protected area around the burner to contain the heat - for this year at least? A friend might be able to hook me up with some. He works with glass and has built his own furnace using these, so I'm sure they'd hold up to any heat that little burner could put out.

I'm in city limits, so I like using the burner rather than a wood-based system. I'm not even sure that would be legal, but no one would probably say anything. If they haven't called the cops on me yet about cooking meth in my backyard, I'm probably safe.
If my friend hasn't already made me the pan, I'll look into one of the restaurant pans for next year for sure. I can also preheat some in a pan on my grill. So far, those are the only heat sources I have. Well... I do have a free-standing fire pit. Maybe use that for pre-heating?

It's a little crazy living in the suburbs. I grew up in the country heating with wood (and making box-elder syrup... yum!) and I still can't get used to paying these crazy prices for firewood. Not that propane is cheap, either.

Thanks for the tips so far. At least I'm not too far off base for a beginner.

which burb you live in if you do not mind me asking?
oh and for short term you could use regular 8 or ten inch concrete blocks
or even the cheapest 16 inch pavers stood on end, anything that will not burn and will direct the heat to the pan instead of your shins or the yard

[mathprofdk]

which burb you live in if you do not mind me asking
Batavia - far west side.

[Kev]

Batavia - far west side.

Ah yes I did not go to a boat racing meeting last night in your town due to cookin syrup. Have friends there. its a small world
LOL one day going through there, I said to my brother man a guy could tap a Sh** load of trees here!

[Maplehobbyist]

I did a boil over the end of last week and the weekend on a turkey fryer and timed everything (I was interested in seeing how long an LP gas cylinder lasted--it turned out to be 20 hours) and I ended up with about a gallon of syrup and 31 3/4 hours of burn time. I kept the pot (enameled hot water canner) pretty full (within 3" of the top) since it was the only place I had to keep extra sap. Plus I was preheating the sap in the kitchen before I added it to the pot, so as not to lose my boil. Plus I was putting what sap I could in the freezer and skimming off the ice (crystal fractionalization(?), so my chemist friend tells me) before I preheated it. This probably works out to about a gallon an hour though I didn't keep track of how much sap I had (when you run out of storage space, not matter how much you've got, it's too much), so I'd be happy with 30 gals in 20 hrs. Maybe I don't crank my burner high enough. I'm definitely thinking about resurrecting the sugar shack (tragic accident a few years ago) for next year and figuring out a different way to boil. Though I must say a turkey fryer in the garage is better than a stove in the kitchen. Anybody got a 2'X4' they want to get rid of?

[mathprofdk]

one day going through there, I said to my brother man a guy could tap a Sh** load of trees here!

Very true - the city is FULL of maples!

Anyone have any thoughts about tapping city trees that are in the parkway? I'm assuming this is a big no-no?