Why is my divided pan acting like a batch?

[Starting Small]

I have boiled about 70 gallons on my 2X3. It is divided into 3 sections. The last 2 sections are brown like syrup but not the right consistency. Even my first section is kind of brown. Is there something I need to do to get the gradient correct? I have boiled on 3 different occassions and still have not had any syrup to draw off. When I test on the hydrometer it still hits the bottom and does not float yet. I have not used a thermometer. Maybe I am drawing off too often to check and when I pour back in it is getting mixed. Running about an inch depth to inch and a half in the pan. Thanks for the advice!

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

You are probably going to have to boil another 70-100 gallons before you have a draw. Get a thermometer, when it gets to 217-218, start checking with your hydrometer. Waiting for that first draw is a killer.

[Fishgill]

Just keep it up. It takes alot of sap before you get to draw syrup. I have cooked off around 155 gals and still haven't drawn off any syrup. I also run it at 1.5 inches or less and flood it to 2 inches when I shut it down. With my pan 2 inches is around 10 gals. So I figure out of the 10 gals in the pan there is approx. 3 gals of syrup. I should be able to draw off on my next boil and draw off every time after that.

[Starting Small]

Wow, I had no idea. I guess I have a long way to go. Does it make any difference of it getting mixed up if I do many small boils (20-30 gallons) vs doing an all day boil?

[jmayerl]

Yes it makes a huge difference if you only do really short boils for a few hours. As soon as you stop feeding sap in, it allows it to start mixxing back together. To help with this, draw off about half of your last compartment (maybe a gallon or so) when you are getting ready to stop boiling for the day. Then when you get the next boil up and going, slowly add it back near your draw off.

[TwinBay]

Hi there- Am I to understand that you leave boiled sap in the pan between boils? What if you only are able to boil on the weekends? The boiled sap will have sat for 5 days. Does it matter....

40 taps- 4 gals
95 taps- 13 gals
133 taps......gotta stop soon

[Starting Small]

Yes I leave the boiled sap in the pan. I cover it but it sits there. Probably not the best scenerio but I do not have enough taps, time, and my wife is not patient enough to deal with me boiling everyday. I hope that when I do boil I am killing any bacteria that may develop.

[GratiotCoMiMaple]

I have boiled on a 1/2 pint which is a 2x3 with 2 dividers if memory serves......
You will want too drip the sap in from a preheater tank if possible and by the time the sap gets to the opposite side of the pan it should be close too being syrup. It takes quite awhile to get the syrup near the draw off to be close too syrup. You will eventually notice a change in color in each divider. You will also probably not want to get over 3/4 to 1" depth in the pan. I ended up installing a thermometer near the draw off and it really wouldn't finish on the unit. You need to draw off a little at a time when it is close and finish the syrup on the kitchen range or turkey cooker or something. What you are currently doing now is a batch boil and you may end up with darker syrup than if you finish off each amount quicker. The longer the sugar molecules are boiled the darker they get. Myself, I don't have a problem with darker and often times stronger flavour syrup for pancakes and waffles. The light colored vanilla flavoured stuff is great on ice cream.

Good Luck,
Kurt

[Starting Small]

So now that it has mixed due to me starting and stopping the boils, will that mean that I should be able to draw off quite a bit when I do start to draw?

[PerryW]

Hi there- Am I to understand that you leave boiled sap in the pan between boils? What if you only are able to boil on the weekends? The boiled sap will have sat for 5 days. Does it matter....

Since the partially-concentrated sap in your pans has been boiled, it seems to keep much longer than raw sap. Sometimes I will do well over a week between boils and I have never detected an off-flavor. I would make sure that all your raw sap has reached a boil before quitting on sunday nite.

[PerryW]

So now that it has mixed due to me starting and stopping the boils, will that mean that I should be able to draw off quite a bit when I do start to draw?

Yes, you would tend to get big draw-offs.

I tell people to concentrate on making steam and don't worry about the time between draw-offs. As long as you are removing water, you will eventually make syrup. Big draw-offs mean less fiddling with filters and syrup handling.

[Brent]

A few thoughts from our Half Pint days
1 pour the tested stuff back into the pan right beside the draw off
2 keep the depth closer to 1"
3 you start with the original flooding of the pans at about 10 gallons which when boiled down will only make 1 quart, while you're boiling to get to that you are likely going to add another 60 - 80 gallons at the farthest channels. On a small rig like the Half Pint we seldom got a real draw the first day.
4 the gradient of the syrup will mix and migrate overnight. We used to put a small piece of stainless over the ports between the channels overnight to help stop the migration.
5 if and when you get a syrup thermometer, remember they are notoriously inaccurate. Boil and test and when you get syrup, note the temp. The will repeat pretty well if you don't vary the depth of immersion. Test boiling plain water in the kitchen, watching the immersion depth making it the same as on your evaporator, not the temp and shoot for 7 deg more than that in the sugar shack.

Ahhhh Maple (frustration) Syrup !!!

[Starting Small]

That is great information, just what I was looking for. The old saying that "the more you learn the more you realize you don't know" is true!

[Starting Small]

Also do most of you keep a constant stream of sap going in from the preheater or do you jhst add a bunch at a tine to get it back go the level you want?

[ackerman75]

You need to "tinker" a bit to figure out how fast you need to add the new sap coming in to maintain the deapth that you want and so days the sap boils off at a faster rate but once you have done it for awhile you will get a pretty good idea of how fast or slow you need to trickle it in.

[wnybassman]

Trickling is best because you won't kill the boil nearly as bad. I like trying to match the rate of evaporation or trickle in slightly faster than that to help compensate for occasional draw-offs.

[maple flats]

Just feed it in at a rate to maintain the 1" level. Do not flood the pans, that mixes everything. Just raise the level very slowly to about 1.25" before shut down and make sure it all boils before shut down. After cool, drain from both sides into separate pots and know which was from the draw off side. When you are ready to boil again, switch sides (unless you cleaned the pans) and add draw off pot to new draw off and vise versa, add very slowly alternating from one side to the other or if possible add both at same time to help minimise mixing. Start fire.
You don't really need to drain the pan(just stop fueling and shortly before boil stops add to proper level) nor flood the pan. I used to but no longer do. I just stop fueling and just when the boil quits in my syrup pan I close the feed valve, cover the pans and leave. I boil with 3/4" over the flues in the back pan and 1" deep in the syrup pan. It only evaporates down about 3/8-1/2" to start my next boil. As long as you have 1" at boil stopping you will be good.
That first draw does tank a long time, seems like far too long but as stated above, if you are making good steam just be patient.
Do have something to cover the pan(s) with upon shutdown to keep the product cleaner.
Have fun!!!

[buckeye gold]

With a small flat pan like a 2x3 or half pint it's all pretty simple. First of all to drain or not drain the pan; it doesn't matter, because the gradient can be reestablished very quickly. Keep your supply turned off until you get a boil started then start feeding' If you want the gradient to return faster then add faster. Yes. this will bring your depth above optimum, but again soon as you get the gradient turn it down to a drip and watch until depth returns to optimum, then turn up supply. You should be able to do this in an hour. Depth is not as critical as you may think, it depends on when you want to draw. Two inches, in these small flat pans will boil quite well, but if your close to a draw take it down to a half inch or to where you entire syrup side is syrup. Some have made gates to slow non syrup flow into the syrup side at draw, but this means you have to stand ready to let more sap into that channel fast. When I'm ready to draw i turn the supply way up to push syrup to the draw off, then watch the color closely at the draw off valve. As far as making syrup in the pan, I don't. It takes too much cooking for to little syrup at draw. I take several small draws of near syrup (you decide what concentrate) and finish on a gas cooker. New sap boils faster and when your finishing you have two evaporators going at once and thus are more productive. also you have more heat control and sampling with a thermometer and hydrometer is easier. Also, that concentrate has been ran through a prefiliter and your cooking less niter. I found the waiting game is longer finishing syrup in the pan as it takes more and higher heat to finish, and these small units are often less efficient at keeping the heat in the arch.

Pan Maintenance: You can switch sides for syrup draws or you can use one side for two or three boils then drain the pan and clean up the niter and flip the pan around if your set up works better working from one side. Remember small pans can be handled easily ( I think some forget this), so take your pan down often and scrub it out and clean the pan bottom. Cleaning the pan bottom is maybe one of the most overlooked maintenance items. You'll be amazed how much ash and creosote insulates your sap from heat. I have a scraper on a long metal handle and scrape my pan bottom a couple times through the day when I fire. At shut down I do not wait for my fire to die completely down, my time is better spent doing other things. I will skip a firing when I see I'm close to saps end and let the fire decrease to coals and some wood. If there is a draw close I will take it to save or finish on gas. With about 10 gallons left I dump it all in and let it stand. I will check back in a couple hours or until steam slows way up (sometimes this is 4 hours) and then cover it. If your late at night then you may want to douse the fire and kill the heat some. I usually am ready to stop by 5:00 pm or so and cover the pan before I go to bed. You would be surprised how much sap steams off from the residual heat in the arch, it's like a head start on the next boil. remember your not concerned about the gradient.

Well this is my synopsis of how I run my half pint. I have three years on this half pint and make 15-20 gallons a year on it. I think I am fairly efficient in my approach. The key is small allows you some option that aren't available to bigger units.

[steve J]

I used a mason 2x3 for a few years now on a mason 2x4 with blower. I did not have a thermometer in the 2x3 and never actually got it to finish on the evaporator but rather had to finish it on turkey frier. But things I found work best is do not flood pan more then 1" deep. When you leave syrup in pan wait to you start to get a boil then open the preheater valve to a trickle to maintain your 1" after 20 mins or so do some draw offs and pour that into the start of your second channel this helps separate the sap from the syrup and seems to get the syrup closes to your draw off valve. Like state above it takes a lot of sap when your start from scratch before you have some syrup . You probably need 12 to 15 hours depending on evaporation rate.

[crawflyer]

I have found that if you load wood like crazy and stare at your thermometer it reaches 218 faster.

[Starting Small]

Wwhat is the reason that most people do not or are not able to finish their syrup on this size evaportor? Just not getting hot enough or worries about buring the pan or something else?

[PerryW]

Wwhat is the reason that most people do not or are not able to finish their syrup on this size evaportor? Just not getting hot enough or worries about buring the pan or something else?

when you have a small flat pan (like a 2x3), the sap only travels a few feet from the cold sap inlet to the drawoff. On my 3x10, the sap travels about 30 feet from cold sap to drawoff. Additional, the flues in the sap pan have a tremendous evaporation advantage. By the time my sap travels 30 feet, most of the water has evaporated. In a small pan, the sap tends to intermix more making it difficult to establish a gradient over the few feet that the sap travels.

[Vermont Creation Hardwood]

I have a 30"x 36" front flat pan that's divided and a 2'x3' rear flat pan not divided. I've found the batch method easiest on these small pans. The front pan is the one with best evaporation, so it takes the bulk of sap. I fill both full to start if I have plenty of sap. They will hold 30 or so gallons. The front one will receive several additions before the back one loses significant water. I keep boiling till I have no more sap and then dump it all in the front pan, fill the back with water, and take it down as low as I dare, about a half inch. Then I finish in the house. I've found that slow boiling DOES NOT reduce grade nor produce a lot of niter. I rinse my pans between batches, and sometimes give them a quick scrub. Most of my syrup is fancy and not much of the darker grades.

[CTfarm]

I have a Mason 2x3 arch but bought a flat batch pan and preheater for it. I start by filling the 2x3 with 5 gallons and then fill up the preheater.
Once I get a boil going I open the preheater valve to a trickle, adjusting it to maintain a ~1.5" level in the 2x3. I boil through all my sap(usually 35 gallons in about 4.5 to 5 hours) and take the concentrate down to about 1/2 inch. The temp is usually around 215+. I drain it into a pot and finish it off in the comfort of my kitchen while enjoying a cool one. Has worked out for three boils so far this season. Has come out A to fancy in color. Put it on my cereal every morning.

5491

[HHM-07]

make sure your pan is good and level, if it is just a little off it will mess you up.

Dick