Test boil help

[marktripp]

I'm patiently awaiting my new pan, should be here in a few hours :-) I'm not sure how the process should work to figure out my gph evaporation rate? Should I put a set amount of water in it and boil it hard for 1 hour, pull it off and measure the water left? It's a 2x4 with a preheater if that matters? Any help/advise would be great.

[village idiot]

I think the gph will vary over time, since they can take some time to get up to speed. So the first hour may be slower than the second. I think a better estimate would be to wait (hard I know) until you have at least 30 gal of sap, mark the time when you light the match, let her rip, and see how fast you go through your feed tank. I would guess your 2x4 pan probably will be somewhere around 15-20 gph so you'll have around 2h hard boiling, but you will also know how long it takes to make a fire, make steam, get a good boil going, and how fast you churn through sap. Take total vol, divide by time until you stop feeding the arch and voila! gph.

I should mention that you have to plan some "cool down" time for the end once you get a rough idea of how fast your fire lasts, and how fast your sap goes. After 3-4 boils you'll probably be running that thing like a top!

Congrats on the pan

[Ausable]

Mark - Village Idiot juat gave You some good advice. Knowing Your GPH is a nice to know thing - but - it is this least of your worries right now. Get the feel for your new rig and comfortable with operating it first - the need to know stuff. LOL - The GPH Boiling rate is one of these magical numbers we all tend to fib a little about - Some folks down-right lie about their GPH and get called on it. Kinda like the Gas Mileage You get on Your Pickup or SUV - it would hurt to tell the truth - so we hedge the numbers a little. Down the line - when you have a lot of sap to play with - figure it out then. Have Fun and Best of Luck. ----Mike--

[Maplebrook]

Ditto to what Mike just said. Focus on learning how to make syrup with your new pan, before you know it you will have a GPH number, not that it really matters. Have fun!