Water Jacket Water Temperature?

[maple marc]

For a water jacket canner.....what should the maximum water temperature be? Should it not go above 195 in order to avoid niter?

This leads to the next question....are the thermostats for these units in the water or the syrup?

And finally, in these units, are there "legs" or supports running between the floor of the inner and outer container? If so, do they create hot spots on the floor of the syrup container?

Thanks,
Marc

[JRB]

Marc, I don't know how much help this is, but here goes. We've got a Leader 18gal water jacketed canner. I'd think the closer you are to 180-190 degrees the better. And you certainly don't have to worry about boiling the syrup as you can't get the water jacket above 212 degrees. The thermostat is in the water with the heating element, not the syrup. I almost think you're overthinking the hotspot idea with the legs... not sure it would have much effect.