18/8 steam table pans

[maplerookie]

This is my first post. I may have a line on a couple of 18/8 stainless full size steam table pans. They are 6 inches deep. I am not sure but I think the gauge is 18 not sure what the 8 stands for. At any rate I plan on using them on a block arch for this year. .still in the planning stage.. The question is: is 18 gauge too thick? I have read so many posts on here...I sure appreciate all the knowledge you guys and gals are sharing!





no taps yet
an understanding wife
about 90 trees available mixed maples ...some sugar but not many
4 cats that wont be any help at all

[optionguru]

Welcome...My oil tank evaporator uses 22 and 26 gauge pans and honestly I would prefer 18 or 22 ga pans for all three. I run the 6" pans pretty full but I know a lot of people say to run only an inch or two deep. I think you'll be in good shape

[maplerookie]

thanks Pete. I plan on running 3 inches minimum until I figure out how to make one of those U shaped siphons. I will need a good amount to ladle forward.. Here is hoping your fire is hot and your syrup sweet.!

[Sugarmaker]

Welcome!
These pans will work fine as far as the gauge. About anything that will hold sap over a fire will make syrup. Have fun for your first year! How many of the 90 maples are you going to tap? Rule of thumb is if you tap at the right time and continue to gather and boil you should make at least .25 gallons of finished syrup per tap. These type of pans do have a tendency to scorch on the sides if the fire can get up the sides.
Have Fun! Be safe!
Regards,
Chris

[maplerookie]

Chris I will probably tap 20-25 trees for this year.. if I have too much sap there is a producer down the road a ways that will take the extra sap.I made some syrup a couple of years ago. rough built block arch. no grate. sand for a ramp..air gaps all over the place4 inch stove pipe a ways finished with gutter down spout. borrowed steam pans from the brother in laws restaurant 4 inchers 2 days of ten hour boil and I got a gallon and a half.. the wife was at the court house threatening to file for divorce if I spent anymore time doin it. That year I tapped 9 trees. gave a lot of sap to the producer..the good thing was he gave me a couple quarts of syrup. It was a great sap run that year. Now this year I got the hankerin all over again..go figure...!

[asknupp]

Looking to fab a pan using ss but unsure of what gauge to use. Is 16 gauge to thick. Ideas?

[maplerookie]

Well according to what Chris says below, anything that holds the sap can be used to boil. are you gonna tig those pans or solder?. I think back to the old days when all of this fancy equipment was not available or in use .Some of the the guys used whatever the farm had to offer to make their equipment. So that being said. Your sixteen gauge will probably work with a heck of a hot fire under it. I do remember reading on here somewhere that if you get too thick you loose heat to that thickness instead of it (the heat ) doing the job of boiling what is in the pan. At any rate best of luck with your pan build.

[valleyman]

Hi Rookie,

Thats my set up too and it works fine. I started out running my pans shallow but constantly had a burnt line. I've been running them as full as I can for as long as I can and that produces the best for me. I typically will get 30-40 gals of sap down to about 4-5gal then I finish on the "turkey" single burner propane. Also I use the ladle technique and that also works well for my level of production.

Another huge help that I do is put a small table fan under the fire and that helps tremendously to crank the fire. One year I tried using an electric leaf blower rigged to some flex duct tube. WAY to much oxygen for my rig. Flames were nearly shooting out the top of my 10 foot stack. Made me way to nervous thinking that I would ignite the woods!

When the tank is out, I fill the rear most pan with water, then the next one. My rig often has the 2nd pan from the front burn the hottest so I usually end up with that pan as the final. But sometimes I mix the two front pans near the end to expedite. Lastly, it takes me about 3-4 hours to get 30-40 down to 5

Take a look at my pics if you would like to see my set up.

[valleyman]

Hey it's me again,
I just clicked on my photobucket link and it gets you to all my photos. Which includes my Pizza and Garden pics. Go to the library and there are MAPLE pics of my block evaporator.

[RileySugarbush]

For what it's worth, 18-8 is a type of stainless. 18% Chromium and 8% Nickel Basically the same as type 304.

Since these type of pans are made by deep drawing, the thickness varies throughout. Sides thinner than the bottom since it is stretched out there. Regardless of how thick they are, they will work fine and many use them. Good luck!

[maplerookie]

thanks John and Valleyman. Interesting to know what that 18/8 means. Valley man how many pans do you run. how many courses of blocks...do you firebrick it at all. I cant seem to get to your pics ...it wont bring them up ..must be doing something wrong..so what else is new my wife would say.. computers and me don't mix well. I still have to build the arch. it will be a dry fit for this year again...bad planning on my part...this coming summer I plan to lay a little concrete mortar up some blocks and build a more or less permanent sugar shack with arch/evap.. Well that is the plan anyways..lol

[maplerookie]

Oh , it sounds like you( Valleyman} had some interesting moments up in the woods. I been thinking if using a hairdryer and some 1.5 inch pipe in the fire box as a manifold...drill it full of holes and see how that works.

[valleyman]

Hi maplerookie,

You'll probably burn out the hairdryer.

4 courses of dry fit block lined with fire brick and 4 pans. I used a bed frame to make the metal framework to support the pans.

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2012%20Maple%20Season/2012-Maple_6.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2012%20Maple%20Season/2012-Maple_6.jpg.html)


Here's the set up from the sap tank to the rear pan:

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2010%20Maple%20Sugaring/Sap-Tank-to-Pre-Heat-coil-setup_WEB.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2010%20Maple%20Sugaring/Sap-Tank-to-Pre-Heat-coil-setup_WEB.jpg.html)


Sap Tank:
http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2013%20Maple%20Season/2013Maple-FeedTank4_zps5b1ce0b4.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2013%20Maple%20Season/2013Maple-FeedTank4_zps5b1ce0b4.jpg.html)


Finishing set up:
http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy67/Valleyman_bucket/2013%20Maple%20Season/2013Maple-finishing1_zps148a36ab.jpg (http://s778.photobucket.com/user/Valleyman_bucket/media/2013%20Maple%20Season/2013Maple-finishing1_zps148a36ab.jpg.html)

[maplerookie]

awesome..looks like a nice rig Valleyman. Or is it Gregg? I like the door and the desk fan. It is really cooking there.

[brass maple]

The hair dryer works great for air under fire or to blow in to the fire like you are doing with desk fan. I used one last year on an old wood stove set up I built. I set the hair dryer up to blow in through the door Draft opening. It started melting before I made a shield for it. Really pumped the fire up too. I used it for at least 40 to 50 hours run time and it still works. Made some funny noises when I tried it the other day though.

[maplerookie]

sounds like it may be time for a run to the salvation army thrift store or goodwill store ... pick up a replacement hair dryer for yourself brass maple