Better brew kettle for finishing/bottling- single layer or multi-clad??

[DSKUP]

I'm looking to buy a brewers kettle with integral drain valve and thermometer for finishing small syrup batches, and also for heating syrup before bottling. Most folks say that thinner guage stainless makes for better heat transfer in an evap pan. So when it comes to the brew kettle, what would be a better choice:

a) Single layer, 1mm thick bottom
b) 1mm aluminum, sandwiched between two 1mm layers of stainless
c) 1mm stainless with aluminum clad bottom

I'm thinking b and c would heat more evenly, but maybe more slowly? Does even heating make any difference in syrup making? Obviously I am interesting in maximizing heat transfer.

Thanks!

[Mdot76]

i was just about to post a similar question. The brew kettles look promising for small batchers like me. Last year i made about a half gallon syrup from three taps and a stock pot. Today i boiled off sixty three gallons in two pans i had made up from stainless steel sliding boards, 2foot by 3foot each. Works great but i now am struggling with filtering and finishing. I keep getting sugar sand in my finished syrup. looks good when i bottle but sand settles out when syrup cools. anyway brew kettle looks like it might be a low cost answer. How are you planning on filtering? sorry to highjack your post with more questions but it seemed related.

[JRCunningham]

I must confess my experience here has less to do with Maple syrup than anything else--but nonetheless might be helpful, so I'll chance it and share.

I like to make sauces like Bernaise and Hollandaise, and I've experimented over the years with each type of saucier/pan--different thicknesses, construction types, quality, etc. I've settled on an All-Clad windsor pot--which is a flared-side saucier pan that is aluminum sandwiched between stainless (your option b--although the aluminum is thicker than 1mm). I have found this combination to be perfect for making sauces, because the pan heats extremely evenly, from the bottom all the way to the rim. As a matter of fact, I've gone to the length of measuring temperature gradient up the side of the pan (the inside), and it's impressive how evenly the pan heats. I find this characteristic to be more desirable than a thinner, faster heating pan-simply because I don't want a layer of fried gunk on the bottom of the pan. I made a LOT of really crappy eggs benedict hollandaise before I figured out that my pan was making it impossible to spread the heat around--I even bought a round aluminum plate to go on my gas burner to spread the heat around before I settled on a better pan.

Since sauces are thickened by evaporation of water (an uncanny resemblance to the sugaring process), I've taken this approach to my really small batches--I finish them in the windsor pan. No complaints with the outcome. Being slower to heat up than a thinner pan is outweighed by the even heating. Of course, when the heat is turned off, it cools slower, but I've not found this to be a problem, as the pan begins to drop down in temp immediately after the heat is turned off.

Again, I apologize that this isn't exactly the scenario you have in mind, but bought maybe my experience with pan composition would be of some help.

All the best,

--J.R.

[Brent]

OK here's what you need to know about filtering and bottling that was a hard lesson for us and many others on this forum.

You can put your syrup through any filter you want that makes it crystal clear, heat it up for bottling and a few days later you see the white film on the bottom
of the bottle. WHAT !??? I filtered it !!!!!!

Yup you did, but unless you used a water jacket style canner to reheat it ... you simply made more sand. You want about 185 deg to do sanitary bottling. You put the syrup in a pot or single layer canner and crank up the heat. The layer of syrup on the very bottom will exceed 195 degrees and be making NEW sand. If you have a real hot heat source you may even hear popping sounds as you make a tiny bubble of steam that colapses as soon as it leave the bottom.

So get a maple canner or a brew kettle, or a double boiler in the kitchen and control the WATER temperature to never exceed 185 and you'll see the clear syrup you filtered stay that way in your bottles.

[DSKUP]

Thanks for the replies, very informative!