Blue color in my pan!

[nvr2l8]

Hi guys. I gotta say awsome site. So much info here I've never had to ask a question until know.

I have a 2x4 flat pan over a oil drum type arch with a 17x20 fire box and the back flu section about 2 inches under the pan.

My first boil was slow and left a lot of ash so my second boil I rigged up my air mattress fan. WOW. That works. Stack Temps were well above 600 and just about buried the needle a couple times:o

I now see a slight blue color on the bottom of the pan. Did I have too much heat? Is it ok? The pan always had sap or water.

[1ruralmailman]

she sure got hot then,but as long as it was always covered,all should be well.scorch is black,sometimes flakey,or guey depending.

[nvr2l8]

Thanks. She sure was rolling last night. I finally got close to syrup in the panl panicked a bit. The hole pan started foaming. So I dumped my hole pot of pre heat in. Didnt slow down... added cold sap.. more cold...5 gal ..ok under control.

Seems like a balancing act to to not let that boil/foam get too out of control.

[Daveg]

Try using defoamer. It works great. You can see the depth of the sap better.

[nvr2l8]

Thanks I'll give that a try. Now if I could just get the wife to stop wanting to empty the entire pan! Lifting a hot pan is not fun.