How do you see the level of sap when you look into a steamy pan ?

[Maplesapper]

We have a 2x4 pan.
When it has a ripping boil going, we cannot see thru all the steam.
How do you measure the level of sap in the bottom so you don't run it dry....

Gotta be a better way than blowing like crazy or hoping for a brief opening in the steam.....:o

[KevinS]

you get used to focusing beyond the steam... over time your ears learn to do some of your looking also. when I started helping my dad do it I could NOT see the sap either. Now my brother is helping me some..He can not see the sap either, yet I can.
start looking beyond where your eyes want to focus ( on the steam) also look in the drawoff pop out on the side of the cutout that lets syrup or sap into the popout ( by that I mean the small box with the valve) one side of our pan, the draw off has a little notch filed in it, that either Dad or my other brother once filed into the it. so they had a reference point to work off of.

[Mikeh]

I just feel for it with a ladle. I "float" the ladle bowl on the surface and then push down till it hits bottom. After a while you can tell the difference between a half an inch and an inch of depth.

[325abn]

I use a flash light.

[KevinS]

and when I am looking, it is the transfer port from the back pan to the front pan I am looking at. that brass is easier to see than anything else
so it is a how far up the pipe is it kind of thing

[sandman6921]

Made a float gauge.

[PerryW]

maybe a little defoamer will make it easier to see the level (my back pan has a sight gauge)

[bushmoose]

I learned to make syrup from an oldtimer who had been making it for years. And here is a little trick he showed me. Go get a stick, dip it into the pan, pull it out and look at it. That should pretty well tell you what the level is. I see so many guys trying to get technical and fancy when just a simple little thought and common sense with do just fine.

[Quagmire33]

I'm with bushmoose, I use a piece of 5/16 tubing with a notch cut in it so I know where 5 gallons is. That's about 1 3/4" in my pan give or take.

[chad]

wooden dowel with marks every 1/2 inch easy and simple bushmoose said it right no need for high tech on this

[smokeyamber]

I use a new cut maple branch with notches cut dip and check... remember to check a couple places just in case things go off level... :o

[backyard sugaring]

I use my scoop and stick it in there until it hits the bottom of the pan and then i pull it out and can see the depth on the scoop. Lee

[Springfield Acer]

I have copper piping off the drain valve on the sap pan that tees to both sides and then has a 5/8" OD glass sight gauge with a magic marker line so I can always see it on either side. When it surges, I am foaming.

[red maples]

I don't look into the pan I look at the port holes from the outside connection box.... its just how mine is set up.

[maple flats]

Does your pan have a draw off box? On mine I verify by looking in the draw off boxes, there for mine the easiest to check is the 2.5" half circle arch shape cut out that is between the last section of the pan and the draw off box, on each end of the pan.

[Z/MAN]

I made a float just like this one I found here on the Trader. Works perfect. Just a quick look and I know and I know my pan level.
http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?6166-Low-Tech-and-High-Tech-Gadgets/page2&highlight=float