Flat Pan on a budget

[VerHageFamily]

One of my family businesses is a sheet metal fabricator. After my first year of using a turkey fryer and taking nearly 10 hours to boil down 8 gallons of sap I think I need an upgrade. I am going to have my welder build me a pan out of stainless. I figured the the pot I was using didn't have enough surface area to boil down the sap quicker. I figured a wider shallower pan would wrong. However, I don't that the money for a larger burner/ arch to purchase or build. However, I did see tonight a 2 burner camping stove. Each burner is 30,000 btu each for a total of 60,000 for $165 that I thought would work. The surface dimensions are 14"x32". I figured if a build a pan that is 13' by 30" by 6" to 8" deep I should be able to hold about 6 1/2 gallons total. What's your opinions?

[MISugarDaddy]

I think 13' by 30" might be a bit big for your 14"x32" burner, if your dimensions are correct as written. Also, how deep are you planning on having the sap in the pan? For the fastest boiling rate it should only be between 1" to 1.5".

[maple flats]

If it will fit on, make it 16x34" and 8" is OK but 10" deep will be better. Surface area does directly affect the evaporation rate on any flat pan. The sides are better a little taller, not to fit more in, but to contain most of the geysers in a rapidly boiling pan. You will be best boiling a 2" deep or under. Actually 1 inch is better but you need to keep a close eye on it. If you can build a flat pan and make a simple wood fired arch you will make a lot more syrup without breaking the bank on propane. If propane must be it, can you make a set up off a bulk tank rather than a 20# tank, they are the costliest way to buy propane.

[WVKeith]

A few of my thoughts. I have boiled on turkey fryers and propane stoves in the recent past. I now have a Next Gen wood fired 2 X 6 evaporator and love it. Wood is a LOT cheaper than the propane and the evaporator is made for fast boiling. So, I would also recommend an inexpensive concrete block arch to match with your potential pan, if you can manage that; however, I understanding staying cheap.

I still bottle and finish on the propane stove. I finish there because I feel I have more control. Maybe when I get more experience and can watch the evaporator more closely I will get to finishing on it.

But to my point, I have a couple of very similar "camp" stoves (2 - 30,000 BTU burners, 14" X 32") to what you are describing (I bought them at a local Dick's Sporting Goods for $99.99 each, by the way). I use an 8 gallon stainless steel pot with valve and dial thermometer (Bayou Classic) to finish and a 16 gallon SS pot with with valve and dial thermometer to finish boil. The 8 gal. pot is maybe 12" diameter and the 16 gal. pot is maybe 16" diameter. The larger pot overhangs the burner area of the stove. I think this overhanging pot works better. With the 12" diameter pot and the 30,000 BTU burner, If I turn the burner much past "Med" the flames are distinctly wrapping up around the edge of the pot, This heats faster, but must be very wasteful of the propane. With the 16" pot, I run the burner on "High" and I get better matching of the burner flame size to the bottom of the pot. Still, with the 16" pot, there is a lot of heat coming up around the outside of the pot. If I were going to build a flat rectangular pan for this stove, I would overlap the edge by several inches, maybe 18-20" by 36-40". I think that with more overlap you will get better utilization of the heat from the flame, that and bigger surface area would greatly increase your boiling rate.

Also, with the potential for flame to wrap around your pan, you may want a deeper boiling depth than with an airtight evaporator. You need to be careful you do not burn on the sides of the pans. I also agree with the comment about using a bulk tank to save costs. It is not too hard to find the fittings online to switch the tank based stoves to bulk.