How much sap

[curtis buck]

I have been cooking on a 2x4 flat pan for 12 years. I currently tap between 50 and 75 sugar maples with one tap in each tree, my woods would allow at least double that but with an 8 to 5 time gets a little short. I recently bought a 2x8 leader "Vermont" it has 3 pans a 2x2 syrup pan a 2x3 front pan with 2 inch drop flu and a 2x3 back pan with 7 inch drop flu it is on a wood fired arch.My question is how much sap would I need on hand to fire up the new evaporator. Thanks for any input.

[PerryW]

I have been cooking on a 2x4 flat pan for 12 years. I currently tap between 50 and 75 sugar maples with one tap in each tree, my woods would allow at least double that but with an 8 to 5 time gets a little short. I recently bought a 2x8 leader "Vermont" it has 3 pans a 2x2 syrup pan a 2x3 front pan with 2 inch drop flu and a 2x3 back pan with 7 inch drop flu it is on a wood fired arch.My question is how much sap would I need on hand to fire up the new evaporator. Thanks for any input.

I'm guessing it would take about 50 gallons of sap to fill the pan to normal operating levels (1-2 inches deep in all three pans).

Once the pans are full, it would probably take another 150-200 gallons to get the pans sweetened enough to start drawing syrup off.

Once the pans have been sweetened, I'm guessing your evaporator will evaporate 40-50 gallons per hour, so i wouldn't be afraid to fire it up even if you only had 30 gallons (especially if you were going into a cold or warm weather period where storing raw sap is not a good idea).

[maple flats]

That evaporator should boil away about 30-35 gph, more with pre heater and air over fire. I was told it take 3 hrs worth of sap to make first boil so about 100 gal will sweeten the pans enough to guard against freeze damage. After that you can boil smaller batches but you need to decide between short boils and fresh sap or longer boils and older sap. Both contribute to darker syrup.