A&A 2x6 drop flue. First timer

[WV_ironman]

This is our 2nd year sugaring, first with an evaporator (last year we used turkey fryers) We picked up a used A&A 2x6 drop flue at Ray's consignment auction last fall. Since we've never ran an evaporator before my main question is how do we get started to get a syrup gradient. We got a late start on tapping and pretty much missed our first good run we only got around 100 gallons our first day before everything froze up solid. Only had about 1/4 of our taps in.

We boiled the 100 gallons until we were out of sap realizing when we started that we didn't have enough to make finished syrup with this unit we just wanted to see how it worked and get a feel for it. (Shut it down before we ran out so we wouldn't scorch anything). After our "test" boil I'm curious if we need to periodically draw off sap/concentrate in the early stages of boiling to promote the denser syrup to flow to the draw off and then place the drawn off concentrate back into the flue or the back of the syrup pan.

Or do we just boil away until we reach temperature at the draw off and the pan will naturally reach a gradient?


Any evaporator tips or advice you could give a first timer would be greatly appreciated!

[psparr]

My 2 cents. You will need a bit more sap to get to finished syrup at the draw off. To establish a gradient, You need a couple of things. 1 Feed your fire on a regular schedule. Usually every 6-10 minutes. 2 Use defoamer. Put 2-3 drops near the inlet to the flue pan every time you fire. 3 I'm assuming it is fed with a float box? If so then you want to keep the sap flowing into the evaporator at a steady speed. Watch your head tank. Don't let it get too low or the head pressure change to your float will cause your sap feed to slow down. If the sap is boiled in the pan it can be left there a few days if the weather is cool, without worry of spoilage. One tip to keep the gradient when you fire back up the next time, is to save a couple cups of sap/ syrup from each channel when your finished boiling. Then when you fire back up and get a boil, put the sap/ syrup back in the same channels you took them from.

I'm jealous of your pans. I'm still chugging along with homemade flat pans.

[MISugarDaddy]

We did as you suggested WV_ironman with the first boil of the season, drawing off some concentrate from the syrup pan and putting in the back of the flue pan. It helped to get the syrup gradient proper in the pans quicker.
Gary

[CampHamp]

... drawing off some concentrate from the syrup pan and putting in the back of the flue pan.
Gary

I don't think you want to put it in the flue pan. When shutting down, draw off a few gallons (I'd say around 4 gallons on a 2x6) into a few containers. When you light up, you pour them back right near the draw off valve. You pour in the lightest first and the darkest last.

[Sugarmaker]

Welcome!,
Steady hot fire, sap flow going in to keep sap level at maybe 1 inch minimum. Then keep boiling watching the temp at the draw off. The gradient should happen on its own and you should be able to see the difference from the back to the front by the color and size of the bubbles. Any drawing off of syrup before its time is just gong to mess with the gradient. Unless your planning to draw off early and finish that on something else?
Regards,
Chris

[WV_ironman]

Thanks for the prompt responses. We are looking forward to putting our new to us rig to use, that is if the temps ever warm up enough to thaw our 3/16 lines.

Last year we made and bottled 8 1/2 gallons in our barn to use for our wedding favors. (lots of propane and long nights!)

My new bride couldn't have predicted that I would've came down with such a bad case of the sugaring fever..if she could've I bet she would have picked something else to give our guests... haha

[buck3m]

I don't think you want to put it [the concentrate] in the flue pan. When shutting down, draw off a few gallons (I'd say around 4 gallons on a 2x6) into a few containers. When you light up, you pour them back right near the draw off valve. You pour in the lightest first and the darkest last.

I agree with you.

[DaveB]

I have an A&A 2x6 but it's like any 2x6 - it takes more sap than you would think to not only fill the evaporator but also sweeten the pans. There was some discussion about this in the past and I made a calculator based on that and you can see how much:

http://realmaplesyrup.com/site/sap_calculator/

The default numbers in the calculator are based on the 2x6 at 2" deep and it takes 24 gallons to fill it and 486 to sweeten the pans.

[buck3m]

I have an A&A 2x6 but it's like any 2x6 - it takes more sap than you would think to not only fill the evaporator but also sweeten the pans. There was some discussion about this in the past and I made a calculator based on that and you can see how much:

http://realmaplesyrup.com/site/sap_calculator/

The default numbers in the calculator are based on the 2x6 at 2" deep and it takes 24 gallons to fill it and 486 to sweeten the pans.

Very interesting, DaveB!

[billyinvt]

I love the sap calculator! What a great tool! Thanks Daveb.

[Ed R]

You will be pulling off syrup way before you run through almost 500 gallons of straight sap on a 2x6. It does seem to take forever, but if I remember correctly I was making syrup after running through 3 55 gallon drums of sap at start up last year.

[Ed R]

Correction, I made 3 quarts of syrup off of 2 55 gallon drums of sap at start up last year. Sap was 1.8-1.9.