Great source for stainless steam pans

[Run Forest Run!]

If anyone in the Toronto area is having trouble finding stainless steel pans for boiling sap, I found a great source for them. Dinetz Restaurant Supply at 844 Caledonia Road (near Yorkdale mall) carries all kinds of them. Their full size steam pans are available with 2", 4" or 6" high sides. I use the ones with 4" high sides and they sell for $14.95 each.

I bought a few extra ones this year to give to my friend who is also into sugaring. Apparently one of the major maple syrup supply stores north of the city buys tons of them from Dinetz to resell at their store. I loved using them last year and can't wait to get going this year. Once some of these mountains of snow melt around here, perhaps we can get to some tapping and boiling!

[Drew Pond Maple]

I bought one recently (not from Dinetz), for a float box. Neat little pans.

How much snow you talkin' bout?

[Run Forest Run!]

The snow started in November and hasn't melted at all. We also have and inch and a half of solid ice in the middle of the piles. That was courtesy of a Christmas ice storm and 5 day power outage. The shoulders of the road have 3-4 feet of snow piled up where I live. The snow is one thing, but it's the glare ice buried in it that really trips you up.

[Drew Pond Maple]

Geez, I hope you had a generator? That's a long time without power or hydro(is that correct). Sorry if that's wrong.
I bought my steam pan from Webstraunt ( I think that's what it's called) for like $9 us. I think it was a 6x6x10 maybe?
Anyway I bought a float valve and using it for float box, I think it will work good.
We start tapping in 2-3 weeks

Have a great 2014 season Karen

[Run Forest Run!]

The pans I bought have an interior dimension of 12x19. Much better surface area than the little roasting pans I scrounged the first two years that I made syrup!

Yes, we were lucky to be able to power up our generator three or four times a day to keep the fridges, freezers and furnace running a little bit. We were cautious about run-time because we couldn't get out of the driveway and running out of gas for the generator wouldn't have been ideal. It was a modified "Little House on the Prairie" type of Christmas. We ran the Christmas tree lights off the generator for a half an hour while we opened gifts Christmas Eve. It was something that we won't forget. Kind of nice actually.

We have a forecast for another 6-10 inches of snow tonight with blowing winds. Enough already. At least the pile of snow the I've been making for storing my future sap pail is looking good!

[Galena]

Yep, I also have a 4' deep hotel pan for evaporating purposes. Fits perfectly atop the cast-iron woodstove and holds approx 4 US gallons. I've evaporated off 1 gallon of sap a night with that setup.

So when is this frickin snow and cold going to end?! I remember winters like this from way back when in the 70s when I was a kid growing up in Ottawa, but this is getting somewhat insane! And is it really true that a colder winter results in more sap?

[Kyle Baker]

lets hope that is true Galena... then this could be a good year! For people more the Brockville way there is a restaurant supply on hwy 29 in Brockville called Hendricks. They also carry the steam pans... I believe a full size 6" deep is around $33 or so.

[Galena]

lets hope that is true Galena... then this could be a good year! For people more the Brockville way there is a restaurant supply on hwy 29 in Brockville called Hendricks. They also carry the steam pans... I believe a full size 6" deep is around $33 or so.

Oh yeah, I've been to Hendricks out that way, although not for some years now. I bought my 4'deep pan from CA Paradis in Ottawa, Bank Street and Riverside. Didn't want to get a 6'deep one cause don't know if I could safely carry it when it's full!!