Pan with dividers or with out.

[1badsapper]

I plan on purchasing a new pan this year. What I don't quite understand is some pans have dividers. What is the advantage of the pan with dividers and how does the sap flow thru them to the faucet for the finishing.

[SadSams]

How far are you from Cumberland, Wisc? Reason I ask is Andersons is having the all day open house this saturday. You would get alot of questions answered there

[1badsapper]

About 250 miles, I'm way over on the lake side about 45 miles N. of Green Bay. I seen the open house on their website, just can't make the trip this weekend, but thank you for responding.

[Jec]

The dividers cause the less dense syrup to not mix with the more dense syrup (or almost syrup). The fresh sap entering the pan furthest from the draw off pushes the denser syrup around the dividers. That causes all the dense syrup to collect near the draw off. In the different compartments there will be a different sugar content. This is called a gradient. The whole point of these is to not draw off huge batches at once. You can draw off more frequently. It makes the pan more efficient. The dividers usually have the corner cut out of them. That is where the syrup moves through.
Hope this helps,
Joey

[Ausable]

I plan on purchasing a new pan this year. What I don't quite understand is some pans have dividers. What is the advantage of the pan with dividers and how does the sap flow thru them to the faucet for the finishing.

Howdy 1badsapper - I'll be basic cause I don't know what You know.... If you have an open pan and no deviders and you boil and add sap and boil and add sap and finally run out of sap and cook it down to near syrup - that is the Batch Method. Now - as I guess You know the Flow Through Method is the Pan or Pans with deviders. I have a basic Flow Through set up and I'll explain what I have and how it works -- and Yes it is superior to the Batch Method..... My rig is home-made. My arch is made from a 250 gallon fuel oil tank with the top cut off where the bend starts and re-enforced with angle iron and my pan or pans sit on that. My pan is made from steel - picture an open flat pan 2' wide X 5' long. left undivided it is a batch pan. To Make it a flow-through we devide it. In the back toward the stack are the two sap pans - each 12" x 24" and in the front are the three syrup pans each 8" x 36" (How You devide it is up to you - by figureing where You wan't your flow to start and end). Now - again my sap pans are flat and not as efficient as a raised or drop flue setup. The sap would be added in my first sap pan - go back toward the stack and through a one inch opening into the second sap pan - go through the second sap pan into the first syrup pan (I have an isolating plug at this point) through the first syrup pan through a one inch square opening into the second syrup pan - through the second syrup pan and into the last syrup pan (have another isolating plug at this point) and down the last syrup pan to the draw off valve.......Boring Huh? Ok - when I Start a boil on my flow through evaporator - I fill the whole thing with about 3 inches of sap and start a boil going - boil the whole thing down to about 1 1/2 inches before I start to add more sap - and try to regulate my sap valve to keep between 1 to 2 inches of sap in my pans as I boil and boil (I don't have a float valve setup to regulate flow and maintain a level). Now as this boiling and adding fresh sap progresses what you have further downstream is getting to resemble maple syrup. And as we move along some more we will draw off a sample in a test cup and carefully check with a syrup hydrometer - whoops - to thin - gotta boil somemore. Finally - You will reach the point where you make a draw off and -Yippiee - it is near syrup and You make your first draw off - Now that you have things flowing through the old evaporator you will be making drawoffs more frequently (It might be a Quart - a Gallon - all depends on your evaporator) So You keep this process going adding sap at one end and pulling off syrup for testing on the other end. ---------I'll stop here -- there are many little tricks to learn - like leaving your pans sweet when you pull your fire -- but - another time on that ----- I hope I helped some - Best of Luck -----Mike-----

[1badsapper]

Thanks Mike, It make sense now. I will be using a warming pan which I will add from so I must add to the side farthest from the draw off side is how I understand it. This has been a great help to me, and thank you for all of your time.
Thanks again!
Ric Oestreich

[1badsapper]

Thanks Joey, Now I have the big picture. Completely understood. Thank you!!

[jmayerl]

Badsapper-
There will be seminars and an open house at maple hollow in merrill before season starts, it is usually the 2nd weekend in feb. I'm in shawano and its about a 80 minute drive. I would think its not much farther for you. It will give you a chance to meet some of us and probably get a lot of answers. Good luck, we're always learning.

Jeff

[1badsapper]

Thanks Jeff, Merrill is about an hour and a half from us. That will work out great, I plan on having a new pan by then. Did you buy your's from Smokey Lake? I talked to those guys last spring after season, good folks. I have to contact them about what I need for a pan. How do I get info. on the Merrill gathering?
Thanks
Ric Oestreich

[jmayerl]

Yeah I had a 2x6 flat pan set up with 2 separate pans, both with dividers. Jim made the rear one for me for last year and I just bought a drop flue pan from him for this season. Smokey lake is top of the line quality for pans. As far as maple hollow goes you can get a catalog ordered from them online and it will have the open house dates on it. I was there yesterday and joe didn't have the date set, there to busy until christmas is over. Joe at maple hollow is great also, lots of knowledge and friendly.

[1badsapper]

I found Maple Hollow & got on their mailing list, thanks for the tip. I'll be in touch with Jim @ Smokey Lake. It's nice to have a reference.

[Ausable]

Thanks Mike, It make sense now. I will be using a warming pan which I will add from so I must add to the side farthest from the draw off side is how I understand it. This has been a great help to me, and thank you for all of your time.
Thanks again!
Ric Oestreich

Ric - You are welcome.... I had used the Batch Pan method for years. When I would look at the various flow through pan set-ups. I would ask myself - What the heck makes this thing work --- and I really wasn't positive till I did my first boil on my own Flo-thru rig - then the learning process really kicked in. One nice thing about a basic home-made flo-thru evaporator - is that you can see what is going on and that makes it a good learning tool. Asking questions and poking around on this site I also learned about Drop-Flue and Raised-Flue Sap Pans - that really has me going daaahh! for a long time. Another thing - and this is very basic and I didn't do it for years---- Buy a couple of Syrup Hydrometers - so You know for sure - You have Maple Syrup and not the thin stuff - Can't believe I was Dumb on that score for so long..........Mike---