Multiple pan question

[Jonnie Maple]

I am using 3 pans on a block arch and noticed that each pan is making a different color syrup. On my first boil the first two pans seemed the same and the last pan was really dark. When I emptied them I mixed them all together. I finished that batch today and it was dark. I boiled again today and switched the pan order thinking it was the pan that made it dark. Today the first pan was real light, the second pan was normal and the third was dark again. I kept them separate when I emptied them today.
The middle and back pans boil the hardest. The front pan boils but nowhere near as hard as the others.
Is it normal for each pan to have a different color?

[S&STappers]

The way I understand it, the higher the heat, the more the sugars carmalize, and the darker the syrup becomes.

[Bucket Head]

Yes. Both the amount of heat and the length of time the sap is exposed to the heat affect the syrup's color. The three pans are all getting different heat amounts.

Its normal. And typically syrup made in batches and in flat pans is much darker than syrup made in an evaporator.

Steve

[Jonnie Maple]

Thank You
Just wanted to be sure I wasn't doing something wrong

[MapleLady]

What you are experiencing is normal.

I also boil on 3 steam table plans and a block arch. Last season, my dad made me a set of copper siphons to use between my pans in stead of ladling that hot sap. My front pan (closest to where I load wood) is light. The middle pan is a bit darker and the and the back pan is darker. When I am boiling, I add sap to my front pan and the piping keeps all pans at the same level. My middle and back pan are the hottest on my block arch. Boiling this way, I always have my darker, near syrup, on the back pan. I finish off the syrup and can it in my kitchen.

Enjoy your season! :)