Which Pan to use....

[SapSipper]

Hi, I have a 2x6 Grimm evaporator wood fired... About 30 years old... We are big time novices.

Anyway I have two pans. (both redone with lead free solder)

Pan 1: Two compartments. The larger compartment is about 80% of the pans total capacity and is toward the back of the arch. (toward the flue). The smaller partition is toward the front of the pan. The draw off valve is within the compartment - there is a 3/4" hole in the divider and the pan came with a plug to stop off the flow between compartments.

Pan 2: 1 compartment.

What pan does everyone think better to use? We never understood how to manage the two compartments... Also we really don't know the best method of boiling... Should we boil just 1 batch down to concentrate then add a fresh batch of sap and repeat? OR should we continually add sap and try to boil down our supply over the course of a long day???

Thanks in advance for your tips...

[325abn]

With the divided pan wont you add sap on one side and draw off syrup from the oppisite side? Therfore the sap "cross flows" though the pan?

[Pete33Vt]

I would go with the two compartment pan. It may seem difficult to control but its not. You start out with your rig filled with 1-1/4-1-1/2" of sap. As you are boiling the sweeter sap will push its way to the front compartment and keep pushing through the compartment to your draw off valve. You keep adding raw sap to your back compartment. When you are getting close to syrup you plug off your front compartment. This will allow your sap to come to syrup. You draw off what syrup is there you take out your plug and your ready to go again. All the while you are adding raw sap to the back compartment. Alot of rig use a float system to control the sap level in the back compartment. You could use a valve to control the amount. When you are drawing off you need to open the valve a little more to allow more sap to come into the rig. When you finish drawing off cut it back a little so you don't get to much sap into your rig. Hope this helps, I am sure someone else can give you more advice.