Help! Syrup taste like metal

[3 Boys Syrup]

I have an older 2x6 ENGLISH TIN evaporator, i purchased a bottle of leader pan cleaner and i followed through with all the instructions and it went very well. All of the sand and nasty stuff cleaned up nice, but the next evening i boiled and boiled and finally drew off syrup. I tasted it and it has a very strong metal taste. I understand that by removing all of the sand i exposed the raw tin causing syrup to taste funny BUT HOW TO I FIX THIS? i left the pan tonight with the flue pan valves shut off and the front pan with sap that is near syrup. My question is by letting the almost syrup cool and settle overnight, will that be enough to coat the entire finish pan so my syrup taste good again?

[happy thoughts]

My question is by letting the almost syrup cool and settle overnight, will that be enough to coat the entire finish pan so my syrup taste good again?

I don't see how that would work. Sugar is soluble so won't form any sort of barrier, It will just dissolve.

I'm guessing the pan cleaner did you in. You're not supposed to expose tin to strong acids or bases and it appears your pan cleaner is some dilution of phosphoric acid. I've used the product called Naval Jelly which is phosphoric acid to remove rust. It is strong stuff and makes rusty metal smell awful. If that's what you're tasting, you have my full sympathy.

Don't know what to tell you about fixing it other than maybe having it retinned. Hopefully someone else will have more helpful advice. Maybe filtering will help improve the taste. I'm assuming any dissolved metals will fall out with the niter. With older English tin which I understand may have used lead solder, you're going to want to do a good job of that anyway.

[500592]

I would boil some more to get a sugar sand coating and drain it but don't clean it again and did you scrub the joints cause that will expose lead because all English tin pans have lead.

[DrTimPerkins]

Pan acid should NOT be used with English tin pans, and should only be used carefully with lead-soldered SS evaporators. I think it says that on the bottle. I'd call Leader Evaporator Co. and see if they have any suggestions.

English tin is simply tin-coated steel. Tin itself is not toxic and doesn't corrode (oxidize) very fast compared to steel, which is why it is used. The oxides of tin however are somewhat toxic, which is why you do NOT want to use acids in cleaning of English tin.

My suggestion, which you're not going to like, is to toss out the syrup. You'll have to check with Leader about what to do about the pans. It will probably depend partly upon what acid you used, how much you diluted it, how long you left it in the pans, what condition the pans were in before, and what condition they're in now.

[CharlieVT]

Pan acid .....should only be used carefully with lead-soldered SS evaporators.....
Questions regarding pan cleaners:

Dr. Perkins et al,

I've been searching this site for more info on cleaning my soldered stainless pans. I used a home lead test on the solder and got a negative result in spite of rubbing pretty hard with the test swab. The test showed positive on the control test strip.
However, I did not sand or scrape the solder to a shiney surface, so the oxides and niter maybe isolating the lead content. It is an older pan.

Question: There is some niter build up on the walls of both the syrup pan and the flue pan which I would like to remove. What precautions should I take in using a comercial pan cleaner obtained from a maple supply house? The label only states "food grade acid". (I'm surprised I didn't get a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) with the bottle).

I understand I shouldn't scrub the soldered joints of the pan, that I should neutralize the acid with baking soda after use, and that I should flush the pan with baking soda after draining the neutralized acid.

What other precautions should I take?

And a related question: The pan cleaner states: "not recommended for flue pans" on the bottle. Why? Is it just the concern that a flue pan would be harder to rinse out thoroughly? I can see this being a bigger concern with a drop flue pan, but mine is a raised flue pan. With careful neutralization of the acid with baking soda, and thorough rinsing I don't see a problem. Am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read and reply.

Warm Regards from the Deep South of Vermont.

[maple flats]

My guess is that you exposed the lead solder and have a high lead content. Go to a hardware or plumbing supply and get some lead test strips. See if you get a reaction.

[3 Boys Syrup]

I contacted leader and The guy said that he is almost positive that the metal taste in the syrup is from the acid, not from the tin. When I rinsed the acid and water out the first time I only used maybe a half pound of baking soda. The guy from leader said i Should have used more like five pounds of baking soda. So last night I washed the finish pan with lots of baking soda and began to boil sap again. I did not have enough sap to make syrup last night but when I do I will let you know how it taste.