Sizzle When Adding Sap

[rfogg]

So to try and keep this to the point. I build a cinder block arch. I have 4 steam table pans that resting on the cinder blocks with the majority of the pan submersed into the fire. I have read on here that to be more efficient I should only have about 2 inches in the pan to start boil down to about an inch then replenish the sap to 2 inches with preheated sap. I tried this but everytime I add more sap to my pans I hear a alight sizzle. Is this the way it is supposed to be or should I be doing something different. I thought of moving the pans up and resting them on sheet metal or just filling them more so that way I don't have to refill them as often. I just don't want to mess up my syrup so any advise would be great.

Thanks

[sluggish]

Sounds like the flames are heating up the sides of the pan and the sap is scorching as you add it. You want the heat on the bottom of the pan, not the flames coming up all around it.

[rfogg]

That's what I was thinking to but I see all these backyard sugar makers with their steam pans set in the fire


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[rfogg]

I guess I'll have to prop them up out of the fire some way

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[sluggish]

I use steam pans and last year I scorched the heck out of them as I had flames coming up all around them. Made for some very smoky tasting syrup which is great for me, but not ideal for pancakes, and a royal pain to try and scrub the charred sugars off the pan. This year I set them on top and used some fire rope gasket to stop the flames from licking up the sides. Huge difference with no scorching.

[rfogg]

The last and only time I boiled I got about a cup when all was said and done and it did have a smokey flavor. We kind of like the smokey flavor but I don't want it to turn into a burnt flavor. Thanks for the advise.

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[Cedar Eater]

I made a lot of syrup last year with a steam table pan on a propane gas grill and got all kinds of scorching along the sides as I added whole gallons of sap when it was low. The scorching never added a smokey or charred taste to the syrup and there were many people here last year saying that it wouldn't affect the syrup. It's just charred foam and it is very hard. From that I conclude that the smokey flavor some guys are reporting comes from the wood smoke and the charring is only a cleanup problem. Unfortunately, it's a big nasty cleanup problem. The only thing that seemed to work was boiling a solution of water and white vinegar and a lot of elbow grease with a real copper pad (not a copper colored stainless steel pad).

[nvr2l8]

Before moving up to a flat pan I use 4 steam pans set in the fire box.Think of this setup as a drop flu pan and i ran them deep. It will boil hard if you add air.I moved sap from back to front and added cold to the back only. Then remove pans as require until I had one full pan of syrup. They're still a pain to clean but less scorch on the inside.

[jrm]

I made a lot of syrup last year with a steam table pan on a propane gas grill and got all kinds of scorching along the sides as I added whole gallons of sap when it was low. The scorching never added a smokey or charred taste to the syrup and there were many people here last year saying that it wouldn't affect the syrup. It's just charred foam and it is very hard. From that I conclude that the smokey flavor some guys are reporting comes from the wood smoke and the charring is only a cleanup problem. Unfortunately, it's a big nasty cleanup problem. The only thing that seemed to work was boiling a solution of water and white vinegar and a lot of elbow grease with a real copper pad (not a copper colored stainless steel pad).

I boil I steam pans over wood in a barrel evaporator. I've had scorching on the sides, but haven't had an issue with it affecting taste. In fact, only my very first boil produced smoky tasting syrup, and I had a lot of smoke coming down from the flue ... I added mesh over my stack to catch embers, it was too fine and clogged up and caused lots of smoke. Once I rectified that, I haven't had an issue.

Last week, I saw a different thread, don't remember if you posted it CE, about using vinegar and water to ease clean-up. That worked like a charm! I got my liquid level to covers much of the charred areas, added a bit more wood for a good boil, left the pans on as the fire died down again, and in fact, let them sit overnight. Most of the char flaked over when I first rinsed them. Great tip.