How Low in a Half-Pint?

[DonMcJr]

Ok im trying to figure out draw off on my Half-Pint. I have 2 boils of sweet in the pan. I get it down to an inch and the middle channel is a big rolling boil and the prefeeder channel has a smaller rolling boil. The finish channel has a rolling boil in the back but not by the draw off.

When I did draw off twice yesterday I was at like 3/4 inch. How low before I have to worry about something bad happening?

[DonMcJr]

Ok I got the depth at 1 1/4 inch and had my 1st draw off at 12:47am. Thats 3 hours and 47 minutes from when I stoked the fire! Not bad...going down to an inch lets see when the next drawoff is!

[bowhunter]

This is my first year and I also have a half pint. I've done 16 boils and made 14 gallons of syrup, but I haven't tried to draw finished material of the evaporator. I pull most of the inventory out of the pan after 6-8 hours and finish on the stove. It's about 30-40% sugar when I take it to the kitchen to finish. I've pulled the pan down to 3/4 several times with no trouble so far, but I flood the pan from the sap preheater after starting to draw off. That will push the semi around to the draw off. Even if you're going to continue to boil and take a small draw I think you should be able to add a couple of gallons of extra sap to raise the level in pan to replace the volume of the draw. The pan is about 3.4 gallons per inch, so 2 gallons would add about 5/8 inch in level.

How close is the draw material to finished syrup? I might give it a try myself.

[DonMcJr]

I was pulling it off at 218 degress and stopped when it hit 217 F. Finishing what I drew off after I go to sleep and wake up as long as my bottles are shipped today and I will let you know how close it is after that.

[MAPLENUTT]

just got my 1/2 pint! had two boils so far, first was with 35 gal.of sap, second was with 40. is it possible to even get a drawoff with so little sap? by the time you put in 5 gal. to fire up, and leave 5 gal. to cool down, haven't been able to draw off. i take the remaining 4 or5 gal off after it's cooled down and finish on turkey cooker. also, looking for a good thermometer that i can read thru steam in half pint and turkey cooker.

[hodorskib]

I have been boiling on a half pint for the past 10 years and tried to draw off as I go but what I have found is I boil enough for around 2-3 gallons worth of syrup in the pan and then grab a neighbor or drag my wife outside to help. I bring it close to syrup within a couple of brix and then we pick the pan and send it through 3 paper filters. Then to an outdoor stove to finish. I then filter through 3 paper and a heavy felt cone. By doing this the syrup comes out Crystal clear. Then fill the pan with fresh sap and start over. Later in the season I actually wash the pan between batches because it gets pretty funky and by doing so I can make good quality clean syrup throughout. This also makes cleanup at the end of the season much easier.

[maple flats]

When I had a 1/2 pint, I started by finishing on the kitchen stove. After a few days I began finishing on the evaporator. I ran mine at 3/4-1" deep. When the thermometer was at 219 I started drawing a very slight stream, while letting new sap enter on the fill side. I managed at times to draw for between 5-10 minutes before the temp dropped below 219 and I closed the valve.
I still use this method, 11 seasons later, but with a 3x8 with 10" raised flues and boiling concentrate, I get draws often over an hour long before needing to shut off the valve. I even had one almost 2 hrs long, continuous draw. This will not be possible with a 1/2 pt, but try drawing as slow as you can, it works, if the temp raises, open the valve slightly more, and vise versa. Doing such, you maintain the same depth. I did not, nor do I now drain the pan (unless I need to clean sugarsand). Just cover it and wait for your next boil.

[acerrubrum]

Ok im trying to figure out draw off on my Half-Pint. I have 2 boils of sweet in the pan. I get it down to an inch and the middle channel is a big rolling boil and the prefeeder channel has a smaller rolling boil. The finish channel has a rolling boil in the back but not by the draw off.

When I did draw off twice yesterday I was at like 3/4 inch. How low before I have to worry about something bad happening?

I noticed similar things in my pans too. I figured it boils less where you draw it off because the sap/syrup there has a higher boiling point. It would make sense that the sap would boil more vigorously (center of the pan) where it has a lower boiling point- I think.
Pat.