Should I add dividers

[Johnny Cuervo]

I have a 22''x44'' flat pan and was thinking about adding some dividers. I thought of two verticals in the back and one horizontal in the front. I thought the front could draw off constantly, or intermittently fill using a valve between rear and front sections, then draw off when a quart is finished. Is this possible? How do you set levels? I have been boiling in batches, unless I finish less than 2 gallons syrup gets dark.

Thanks

[royalmaple]

John-

If you added two dividers and left oposing ends open on them then the syrup would snake through your pan. Just drip the new sap from your overhead bucket rig into the furthest most end of the pan and add a valve at the end of the line.

Not sure what you meant by the horizontal divider, but two verticals with opposite ends "open" would get you there.

Then tack on a 1/4 nipple to thread your thermometer to by the valve end and you'll know when you got syrup at that end, ta da.

Without a float in the pan, you'd just have to crack on the feed line a bit more when you draw off so you can keep the levels up in your pan and not scorch the pan.

[WF MASON]

I've seen several 2'x4' pans this year that had a 'soild' divider put in the front the width of the pan , back 8'', a 1'' couplin put on one side and drawoff on the other , then you plumb it back with elbows , nipples and valve to another 1'' couplin.As close to the divider as you can get. You can also put another couplin in this spot to drawoff sap to add to the finishing section. One or two dividers in the back , across or up and down.
Doesn't make much difference.

[Johnny Cuervo]

WF MASON I think this is what I had in mind. You would have a front section 8’’ x 24''. And with 2 back dividers 3 8'' x 40'' sections. The 3 back sections having opposite ends open and a valve for allowing sap from the third section intermittently fill the front. What did you mean by adding another spot to draw sap to finishing section?

Thanks

[WF MASON]

Alot of the time people will want to boil and finish a good size batch on a pan setup like this , after cooking for a while they will close the valve going to the front section and keep ladeling the sap over the divider as they boil. They might have two inches of sap on the back of the pan and five inches of syrup in the front section cooking down, having a couplin or nipple on the side makes it easy to drawoff a pint at a time and keep adding that to the front section , with out the hassle of ladeling.

[Johnny Cuervo]

Thanks I never thought of having the front level higher than the back makes sense.
I have a few more questions for you guys about this type of set up. How do you end a day’s boil? What levels and concentration should you leave?
How long can you leave partially boiled sap while waiting for the next run?
Or should you clean the pan before every boil? Also I hear people pushing sap through with tap water, is this done only when you plan to clean the pan or do you leave this water in for next boil?
A lot of questions, but this site sure saves people a lot of time and frustration!! Thanks to all of you.