Adding water to pan

[ecolbeck]

Hi Folks,
I'm new to the forum and I'm getting started this year with a continuous flow 2x3 hobby pan. I am curious about your thoughts on the following idea. Perhaps its something that the pros do anyway.

When using a continuous flow pan, would it make sense at the end of a boil (or end of season) when the sap has run out to add plain water in place of sap in the input side of the pan (preheater/float) to push as much sugar towards the draw off as possible (by way of the gradient)? That way the amount of sugar left in the pan would be minimized and the amount of finishing done by other means would be minimized as well.

Thoughts?

[sugarman3]

I would drain it off at the end of season and just put water back in pan,it can't be more than 5-7 gallons in there,chasing with water is fine but it will be hard to know when to stop drawing.If finishing it off,you are likely to have water that mixed in with whats in the pan,causing more boiling time when you finish what you drew off the pan.I have a 3by 10 and everyday draw front pan off and it is usually not even 5 gallons,add water and clean it then.

[eustis22]

I do what sugarman says on my 2X3. It seems it'd be more work to try to determine at what point diminishing returns kick in than to just finish up the last batch of concentrate.

[MapleMark753]

We do chase our syrup pan with water (permeate) from time to time, for when a hard freeze is coming, or for cleaning. It is a value decision as to when to shut off the draw off valve. With ours, its pretty easy (with good lighting) at the end of a boil to see the color change from brown, to yellowish, and then nearly clear (water) approaching the open draw off. You'd be experimenting for sure, and it might be more work than its worth like the above posters mentioned. A just about water soak helps with scrubbing too if you want to do some cleaning between boils.
good luck! take care, Mark