Finishing question

[Azitizz]

With the pan I will soon have set up. Im contemplating how to finish the sap. I see some people might finish it directly in the pan? I was wondering about that, is that possible or risky? I thought of installing a pour off spout on the side of the pan as I have seen on pictures of other pans but I simply thought as the sap goes down and gets thin on parts it will burn, also I would need the pan to be slightly off balance, slanted to encourage the flow to the spout. How is this done on most pans? I Imagined I would simply have to lift it up on one end with a pair of oven mitts or something and let it poor off from a corner into a smaller pot to finish. or to encourage the flow towards the spout.

Another Idea I had was to build a type of flap in the back of the firebox so I could close off most of the heat and choke the fire so that any thin layer of sap wouldnt burn.

Any thoughts?

[oneoldsap]

You absolutely don't want to invert your pan , it must be level . Am I understanding that your syrup pan doesn't have a draw off valve ? I've never finished syrup any way , other than on the evaporator , and don't understand why anyone would do it any other way . Specific gravity will move the syrup to the drawoff , if the pan is level . My experience has all been with much bigger rigs than yours , but syrup is syrup . You don't want to drain your pan with heat under it , you would toast it for sure !

[buckeye gold]

Am I correct in assuming your pan does not have dividers? I would not have a pan that wasn't divided into sections, anymore. so if your making one I'd recommend dividers. I went from a stock pot to a divided pan so I'm not sure if you can create a gradient in an undivided pan by adding a steady slow supply of sap on one side or not. On a divided pan you always are adding sap. When it's time to draw off through the valve I flood the opposite side with a steady stream of fresh sap and turn off the draw when i lose the color I want. I finish on propane. If your drawing syrup you just draw what you are sure is syrup, but that means a bunch of little draws on a small pan. It is also a good time to do your first filter pass at draw. A single prefilter will get a lot of niter.

[Ausable]

Hello Azitizz - Read Your post a couple of times and just like the others that have responded - I don't know if you are using a Batch Pan (one big open pan with no dividers) or a Continuous flow pan (pan with dividers) -- Both make Syrup - except they work a bit different from each other. In you post I can't determine (for sure) which one you are talking about. Once we know that - we can help.....Please let us know what type of pan you will be boiling on and what do you use for fuel...Mike---