boiling question

[Tickle]

newbie to continious flow evaporator,getting ready to boil on new to me evaporator and not sure how much sap i need to start i have a 2x3 evaporator and have collected 25gals so far is this enough to start and when you get low on sap and stop boiling do you just leave sap in evaporator? or does it go bad need some advice on how this process works thanks

[psparr]

Leave it in the evaporator. Make sure you have enough sap for shut down. It will evaporate quite a bit after you stop firing.

[eustis22]

At 2% a 2X3 will need approx 100-120 gallons to sweeten and establish a gradient. stop feeding when you have enough sap remaining to maintain your 1-1.25 inch depth thru the cooldown process. there's a couple of calculators for how much you need floating around but the ones I've found assume you have flues.

[Tickle]

great thanks,so leave it all in there and next sap haul start back up again and do i start adding sap from same end or do i reverse the flow and add it from other end as i have draw off at opposite sides ?

[Tickle]

also i am doing all this outside so what is the best way to cover the pan?

[sugaring in vt]

I have a 2x3 flat devided pan on a barrel arch. I figure it takes about five gallons to fill the pan for start up. I boil until I have five gallons left and then I stop feeding the fire and cover the pan for the night. The steam condenses on the bottom of the cover and drips back in. I still lose about have the depth in the pan even though it's covered. I Found a piece of thin sheet metal at the local hardware store to cover my pan that fits perfectly.

[Tickle]

that sounds good thanks for the info will try and find some sheet meatal ,appreciate all the help

[eustis22]

I don't cover my pan until the concentrate is cooled enough to not steam....I don't want to put the water I've already boiled off back in. Of course, this is problematical if you aren't boiling under a roof.

11123

[Tickle]

yea i think i will have to cover it right away as i am concerned about critters or debris getting into pan ,thanks for info

[sugaring in vt]

Yes it does put the water back into the pan. I use this method because I'm not in a tight building. I also worry about it evaporating to much and burning my pan. I would rather boil a little longer then lose the syrup to a burn down. I still lose about half of the Liquids depth from steam escaping around the cover. I usually boil as late as I can so when I shutdown I'm ready to just go to bed and this way I don't worry as much about it.

[eustis22]

> I also worry about it evaporating to much and burning my pan.

Yeah, don't do this. Boiling must be closely monitored and depth maintained from cold --> boiling --> cold.