ring around the pan

[miner1]

I have a ring of whitish crud that doesn't respond to the vinager treatment like the niter on the bottom of the pan does. How do I break this stuff loose? I'd like to avoid sratching the pan up mechanically and want to use the most gentle chemical warfare possible.

[Asthepotthickens]

I have a ring of whitish crud that doesn't respond to the vinager treatment like the niter on the bottom of the pan does. How do I break this stuff loose? I'd like to avoid sratching the pan up mechanically and want to use the most gentle chemical warfare possible.
Hot water and scotch brite.

[sugar ED]

I have a ring of whitish crud that doesn't respond to the vinager treatment like the niter on the bottom of the pan does. How do I break this stuff loose? I'd like to avoid sratching the pan up mechanically and want to use the most gentle chemical warfare possible.

Hi miner1
An old timer, Vermont sapper, Dan ,sold me on the best cleaner for the pans ! and you can have some too ... just save a few gals., of flue pan juice (5 to 15 percent sugar sap) at the end of the sapping season. When ready to clean pan, fill just over (ring of whitish crud) and bring to boil and let sit a day or two ,may need scotch brite ,but most of the time (if you skim the top of syrup regularly)theirs not much to remove and also if at the end of your boils you run thru fresh boiling sap thru your syrup pan, most is removed and the filtered almost syrup is put back into the syrup pan after I start the next fire, haft in the next to last channel, first. And the last of it in the last channel (Why, because the heaver syrup (after sitting) should be in the bottom of the pan ) giving me back the gradient in my syrup pan ! Happy sapping ED
PS Leader has a pan cleaner and it works well. BUT It's and acid !!! and you need to flush it with bake n soda over and over and then who knows ??? Our sap vinegar works just as good or better and you need only to rinse with water or sap !