Full size hotel pan evap rate

[Troutman10]

I'm new to switching over to firewood as I used a Turkey Fryer last year. I'm buying a full size 6" deep steam pan made by vollrath on Friday. I know there's alot of variables but what can I expect for an evap rate using firewood?

[spencer11]

maybe 2 gph per pan. i had 2 last year and got 3-5 gph.

spencer

[emo]

I found this on Mother Earth News web site about building a DIY evaportator:

It takes about 100 square inches of pan surface to boil off one gallon of water per hour. Steam-table trays are approximately 12 inches by 20 inches, or 240 square inches, which means each pan will give you approximately two gallons per hour of boiling

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/2000-02-01/Do-It-Yourself-Evaporator.aspx#ixzz1luotwtTo

That holds about right from what I have experienced. I get 2 of my 3 pans to boil and get a little over 4gph when I get them boiling good. Depth does not make as big a difference as surface area on the evaporation rate, but too little depth and it is easy to burn, more depth and you have to work a little harder to get to boiling, plus it is easier to boil over if the sap is too deep. I have had to pour cold sap into a pan to prevent it from boiling over; I usually keep about 2 inch in the pans.

[jmp]

FYI: if you run your sap shallower you can make lighter syrup if that has been an issue. Just my two cents. Good luck guys!