how much through flat pan

[supersapper]

how many gallons of sap should i be able to boil off before removing to finishing pan? boiling on a 55 gal drum with a 2x2 pan. thanks for any help!

[wnybassman]

I would say you could boil off roughly 4 gph in a 2x2 flat pan

[supersapper]

i guess i should clarify my question. how many gallons can i boil off before removing to finish pan? today a ran 40 gallons through, then drained off to finish. can i go 50-60-100 gallons before draining? i guess i am worried about getting too concentrated on my wood-fired evap.

[sugar ED]

how many gallons of sap should i be able to boil off before removing to finishing pan? boiling on a 55 gal drum with a 2x2 pan. thanks for any help!

thats what I boiled with for years (till this year) Ok depends on how deep ur pan is and how big ur ba_ls are lol, If no way to draw off but, to remove from heat, the whole pan ,than give ur self aleast 4 to 5 inches above syrup for boil up (be ready to add a drop or two canola oil ) if needed to keep in pan ,than remove pan .But mine,about 5 mins of small ,riseing bubbles ....( I would keep a big dipper and a S/S pan Gallon or more size on back of stove) and I would remove as much as I dared,into pan than add more sap to keep on going... Hope this helps and good luck!!! Ed p.s. after a day or so cooking look out for sugar sand to much in the pan and u gots a brown or brunt pan just remove pan and put thur a few filters and back at it.

[wnybassman]

i guess i should clarify my question. how many gallons can i boil off before removing to finish pan? today a ran 40 gallons through, then drained off to finish. can i go 50-60-100 gallons before draining? i guess i am worried about getting too concentrated on my wood-fired evap.


Oh.

In a 24"x 24" pan you'll have 576 cubic inches running at 1" deep, which converts to 319.16 fluid ounces or 2.49 gallons. So using an average 40:1 syrup ratio you "should" be able to roughly put 100 gallons through it and take it to 1" deep.

This a handy volume calculating site: http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/liquidvolume.php

[supersapper]

thanks for the info. i have been keeping the level at 3-31/2"and a light to medium boil. hard boil uses ALOT of wood!!!

[wnybassman]

thanks for the info. i have been keeping the level at 3-31/2"and a light to medium boil. hard boil uses ALOT of wood!!!

If you keep it at 3 inches, you would need to feed 250-300 gallons of sap through to worry about those three inches being close to syrup. 3" in a 2x2 is 7 1/2 gallons.

[wnybassman]

Also, if you keep it lower, say 1 to 1 1/2 inches it will take less energy to maintain a good boil. Then invent a way to slowly drizzle fresh (preferably warmed) sap into it.

[eustis22]

Hi...I used a large coffee can (34 ozs) with a pinhole in the bottom to drizzle sap into the boiling pan...it's suspended over the boil so it warms the sap a little and I notice my boil is now constant vs continual cooling/heating.

[WI Sugarpop]

Up till this year I used a 2x4 flat pan and boiled off 10 gph and did 120 gal batches. I would think that 60 gal batches would be good for you. Now I have a 1 1/2 x 2 syrup pan over the fire and i still do 120 gals and then draw off and now the syrup is lighter. I've been getting about 13 gph now.

[BoarsNest]

I have a 2 x 5 divided flat pan and we boil at 15 gallons per hour. I have a preheater that gets to 150+ degrees with a float valve that feeds the tank. This seems to work well, but next year I need to make a fluted pan because I just want more gph. We draw off about 1/2 gallon at a time.

[Mac_Muz]

I run a 55 gallon barrel stove, with a 21x36 inch pan. On a good day it will boil off about 5gpm. On a separte metal table I use a 20qt stock pot I fitted with copper tubing bent in "S's" then bent in a 'U' to fit 1/2 way round my 6 inch stove pipe. I cover the copper tubing with one section of 8 inch stove pipe not hooked back to it self, which holds in heat, and can make the sap in the tube boil if I get the pot level right.

The other day I discoved if I place a tin can with a hole in it, just like the most primitive drizzler, but in the pan, and held down with a clean rock inside the can, the 3rd section in my pan will remain boiling when cool sap is flowing. That will speed things up a bit since all 3 pan sections will boil hard.

I drive a hard boil as hard as i can, adding fine split pine apx every 7 minutes.

When you have 80 to 120 gallons of sap and the boil rate is 5 gpm, it takes a long time. This year I added 2 inches of fiber glass insulation to the pans sides so much as I could, and the area of boil in each section is larger with no cold air contact on the pan.

The only area missing fiber glass is the rear wall, which has a little, but the smoke stack is in the way, so in part it is insulated, and then the copper coil cover aid in that isulation idea as well.

The drizzler can is punched thru on the side as low as possible, not on the bottom.