Burnt Pan

[theschist]

OK, so I finally got my Mason 2X4 up and running last weekend. Unfortuneatly, I wasn't paying as much attention as I needed and ended up burning a 6" section on the pan. I have it cleaned up, but I noticed that that area is "bubbled" up a bit. Is there a safe way to hammer it back down to make it level with the rest of the pan, or am I screwed? It is low enough that it shouldn't affect sap flow too much if I keep it covered, but I am sure I have slight OCD tendencies and like to keep things near perfect. Any suggestions?

[TrentonMaple]

I had the same exact thing happen to me on my new Mason 2x4. My problem came from being used to batch boiling using steam table pans on a propane burner - I got used to being able to just "shut off" the heat instantly when I was done. Too late I realized that you can't just shut off a wood fire, and it was blazing way too hot and strong to handle 1/4" of sap when I ran out of sap. Also, you can't just take off the pan either. So I scorched the front 12" of each division and had some minor warping before I could dump water in to cool it down.
My warped area is probably no more than 1/16" high off of the plane of the pan. I can flex it back into flat with my palm, but it pops back out. I'm just going to leave it and run my sap a little deeper.

I say just live with it. I honestly don't think you can get it back to perfect, but I also don't think it matters too much. I felt really stupid and bummed about scorching my brand new perfect pan, but someone posted here once "There are syrup makers who have scorched a pan, and then there are syrup makers that eventually will scorch a pan".

[maple flats]

You will quickly learn that you must know the point at which you need to stop fueling. On mine I stop at 15 gal. I have a site tube in my feed line and once I found out how much I needed left at last fueling, I dumped 15 gal of sap (or water) in the tank and then put a mark on the site level tube. When I get down to the mark, I stop fueling. For my rig, running 8% concentrate from the feed tank, and 1" deep in the front pan, I end up after cooling with about 1/2"-5/8" deep in the pan to start next time.
However you are feeding yours, do similar and refine until you know how many gal you need when you stop fueling. I boil about 75 GPH and need 15, or 5x the hourly rate. You might want to start at 1/3 the boil rate, then see how much is left after cooling and refine the number from there.

[theschist]

Thanks guys. It wasn't so much a fueling issue as it was I was trying to use the continuous flow method to get close to syrup out of the discharge. However, I thought the finished product was too thin and slowed the flow of raw sap down. It was one of those thing that required attention and I failed. I think I will have to run a little deeper next time. Now if the weather would warm up so I could start boiling again!!

[Sugarmaker]

theschist,
Yes you made a little mistake but the pan will be fine. Just boil deep enough to keep at least 1/2 inch over that spot more is better.
These small rigs are a little more difficult to get a continuous flow draw off. Even on our 3 x 10 the auto draw stops and starts a lot.
Unfortunately you are now a official "SUGARMAKER" Welcome to the club:)
Regards,
Chris

[buckeye gold]

That is why I finish on propane. When my syrup pan hits 218-219 I increase my sap inflow for a push and draw until my temp drops to 217 or even 216 if not a big draw. I finish that concentrate on propane. If I didn't I'd just being taking a bunch of little draws and I have more control on the propane. Also I will combine the draws to finish and then I have all the day's syrup the same.

[tonylaroccia]

LOL....THANK YOU GUYS... you make me feel SO GOOD! Misery loves company. After 4 years...I JUST burnt my pan!!!!!!!!! Stupidity! Had a great boil and thought that I had enough of a drip on the preheater. Went inside for a bit and set my timer on my cell phone for an hour. 55 minutes later, I get a BUSINESS call on my cell, and the rest was history. I could smell it 100' away! Seems what I thought was dripping from the preheater wasn't. Now I got black crud/char everywhere. I scrapped as much as I could with a wooden spatula. Hardly anything comes off. What do you use? I tried vinegar....nothing is working. Also, the fins that set down into the firebox, that will be impossible to clean. Do I trash this 2 year old half pint pan I had Schumaker make? A shame. Ready to throw it in if my wife would let me! Anyone in South Eastern CT want to trade 300 gals of sap for a gallon of Syrup? LOL
Tony

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

Try a pressure washer. I had some char on my pan when I bought it and it took most of it off.

Scott


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[eustis22]

Never leave the boil!

[tonylaroccia]

Thanks....GREAT idea. I do have a pressure washer. Thus the reason I LOVE THIS BOARD! Thanks again!
Tony

Try a pressure washer. I had some char on my pan when I bought it and it took most of it off.

Scott


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[tonylaroccia]

Just pulled 30 of my 70 taps. Like a motorcyle..you start out small and then have to go bigger for some stupid reason! I got 45 gallons yesterday, and if it will be (errrr...was going to be) the same today, I would have been boiling all day..and all night with that little half pint just to keep up. I guess in this case, lesson learned. Bigger isn't better. Trying to work from home and boil. Just doesn't work for me. Thank you!

[1ruralmailman]

you may want to try a small boil with straight water,while it is boiling go ahead and brush it with a brush.i have even used a new push broom to do this.you want to wear heavy rubber gloves and be careful of splashing the hot water,most of the burning crud should dissolve and come off.good luck.

[happy thoughts]

I ditto trying boiling water first. You can throw some vinegar in while you're at it. That usually helps dislodge burnt on crud. Dislodge what you can but let it sit overnight then take a stiff nylon brush or scrubby to it. Anything left can probably be removed with Bar Keeper's friend and a little elbow grease.

Hope you're back in business soon!

[tonylaroccia]

Thanks all. Boiling, scrubbing, and power washing! Glad i kept my old pan....that's what we're using til I clean this one up! Geesh....what a lesson!

[theschist]

I got mine clean with a small putty knife. I was real careful scraping the burnt sugar off. I have since fired it back up and boiled. Seems that if you don't burn the sap, your syrup comes out a lighter amber....imagine that. I will have to try the vinegar trick for cleanings between boils.

[steve J]

I did same thing on my 2x4 last year I was able to open valve from preheater quickly and flooded pan had a 6 inch scorched spot. I drained pan in the morning and poured in lemon juice and let it set for a few hours than using a scotch pad ( their Green) and some arm muscle I was able to clean it up and it worked fine. Also remember you can reverse your pan if its giving you issues.

[MikeVT]

I boiled the other night until about 2am, I may or may not have finished a 12 pack of beer by the time I was done. When I finished I shoveled, what I thought was enough snow into the evaporator to kill the fire, but when I got up the next morning in my hung over stooper I saw a 4 inch circle of scorched syrup and a small warp. I was devastated, well I still am. I started scrubbing the area and the burnt sugar is coming up slowly, I havent had enough sap to flood the flue pan, to get the pans warm enough to clean thoroughly, I plan on filing the back pan with sap and getting a small boil going with water in the front pan so I can scrub thoroughly and then rinse through a few times with water then flood the front pan with sap.

[Super Sapper]

I almost joined the club. I hit 45 degrees over boiling and had maple taffy in the filter, it hit 40 over earlier. I was trying the defoamer in the flu pan as everyone seems to do. Last year I just added it to the syrup pan at the drawoff and seemed to work fine. I went back to doing it that way and the evap. seemed to run better again. I am not sure why it was making syrup in the inner channels of the syrup pan but changing to adding defoamer to the draw off point seemed to help. My pan is set up to draw off next to the flu pan and is the hottest point in the pans.