drawoff valve

[tbear]

Last year I had the machine shop guys make me a 2x4 stainless steel flat bottom pan. I was lugging the heavy brut out to the truck when it dawned on me that I didn't have a way to empty it other than scooping the not yet syrup out! I struggled through with it this year but want to have a stainless steel drawoff valve put on it. I boil over a cement block arch. Am I going to have problems with the valve getting to hot? The arch will be about two inches shorter than the pan but the valve will still get really hot. Comments? Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks!

[Russ]

Get a valve with a rubber coated/insulated handle... and/or wear gloves.

[tbear]

Good idea! I'm a little more concerned with the little ball inside the valve melting or maybe giving the syrup a plastic taste...I threw out several gallons of syrup this year because of plastic...I'm a little gun shy!

[Ohio Maple Blaster]

My S/S valve is about 3" on the outside of the arch, with 1" S/S drain pipe actually going inside of the arch. It does radiate heat and will melt snow if I pack it around it. But never gets hot enough to ever create steam or boil the water left behind. Aside form that the insides are rated to 450 degrees. So my advice would be to make sure your valve has a decent heat rating.