I need Tips For a First Time Evaporator Boil

[DonMcJr]

Getting a Leader Half-Pint a Week from Thursday...;)

Been Boiling Batch on a Turkey Fryer...So new to the whole draw off Method.

The evap will be brand new...so what do I have in store for myself before a first boil?

Do I have to stoke it and heat it hot once before actually Boiling?

Do the firebricks get put in with some kind of fireproof caulk that has to dry?

Do I have to pre-boil something in the new pans?

My questions could go on and on lol and I am sure when I buy it they will tell me and have instructions but the next 10 days anticipation is gonna kill me so I gotta talk about it!:cool:

[PerryW]

install firebricks w/ refractory cement. It comes in a gallon plastic containers and spreads on just like joint compound. It does have to dry, not sure how long. You may have to cut some bricks in half. Score them w/ a masonry blade in a skil saw or wing it w/ a hammer & chisel.

There were some pretty good detailed posts last season from half-pint owners about drawing off syrup directly from the half-pint.

[Sandy]

Don, we have a Mason evap about the same size as your new rig. Like Perry says, use ONLY refractory cement and follow the instructions on the cement container about thickness and drying time. We bought some that was "pre-mixed" (wet) in a bucket as opposed to buying dry powder cement and mixing it with water ourselves. Just a bit more expensive pre-mixed, but more convenient, and we knew the mix wouldn't be too runny. We bought two large buckets (about 3 gallons total) of refrac cement for our rig.
Leader has pretty good instructions on their web site for assembling and using your new evaporator. A few things we learned the hard way- keep the preheater sap pan valve opened slightly at all times to constantly add drips of sap to the boiling pan to avoid boiling sap too low and scorching your pan. A constant small drip doesn't interrupt your boil as does a big run-in of fresh sap. Never leave your boiling syrup/sap unattended. I know this sounds obvious, but it is amazing how easy it is to leave it to do a chore "for just a minute" but that's when your boil will take off and scorch your pans!
We cemented the arch, let it dry according to the instructions, assembled the stack & then did a "small burn" with just water in the pan to test for smoke leaks, pan level and fluid flow through the pan. Also, I felt like this would help "burn off" any impurities in the metal of the arch and pan. After that fire died out, we drained the water out and put in about 2" of sap, then lit a new fire and started boiling.
As for draw-offs, we did buy a syrup hydrometer and metal hydrometer cup from Leader or Andersons. Using the thermometers (we tried both Leader dial and store-bought candy types) we couldn't get great readings as thermometers need to be submerged quite a bit to get a true temp reading and the syrup (when nearly finished in the syrup-side, or draw-off side of our pan) isn't that deep. Also, the steam covers the dial making it hard to see. So we go by watching for syrup consistency (sheeting off the skimmer or scoop) and rapid bubbling in the draw-off side of the pan, then open the spigot and fill the hydrometer cup, place the hydrometer into the cup and check for nearly finished syrup. When we get close to finished syrup, we draw-off syrup into a clean metal turkey fryer pot (filter placed inside rim of turkey fryer helps with filtering later in our batch-canner prior to bottling) and when we get a batch of about a gallon, we then fire up the propane turkey fryer to finish, again using the hydrometer and metal cup to check for syrup density.
If we start boiling at 8 am, we can usually have a first draw-off by 1 or 2 pm, depending on how good our wood is, and have a full gallon to 1-1/2g of syrup done by evening. As we get more experienced, we hope to do better ourselves!
Sorry if this is stuff you already know- we wish we knew about this web site when we first began!

[stewardsdairy]

We just got our new arch and pans from leader. They recommend boiling water and baking soda,drain then boil pure water to clean the pans. I believe it was for 1/2 hour each with a low fire. Never ever heat the pans without fluid in them!

[Ryan August]

Got a half pint myself. I see you list yourself at 5 taps. First, get more taps. You will be out of sap and running to shovel snow in to stop the boil befor it even gets going. I estimated 3 1/8 gal per inch of depth and they recommend 1.5 to 2 inches of depth of sap to boil. THink you need more taps. good luck.

[DonMcJr]

Thanks Sandy for all the advice it all helps!

I may only have 5 taps but I have been averaging 25 gallons a week, last weekend I had 34 1/2 gallons in one week. So I don't think its how many taps you have what matters is how many gallons of sap you have going into a boil, right?

I am going to add 2 more taps, one to a smaller sugar maple and the other a red maple.

I also have a bunch of box elder trees I can tap. I have heard mixed things regarding boiling box elder sap seperate and together. So I am going to tap a few box elders also this weekend and see what it boils down to by itself...if it tastes close to the same to me I'll mix it and have a ton more sap...