Syrup pan cleaning..new 2x6..

[Dave Puhl]

Ok..cooked twice ..after the first cook took the water hose and rinsed her out ..today after the cook did the same..there is some hard build up on the inside of the pan..whats the best way to clean it up..got a gal. of pan cleaner do I use it now?????????........still more to cook I hope.....

[archangel_cpj]

Sounds familure my grandma lived in Tomah for 30 years or more til she died a few years back. Nice country

[HanginAround]

You can use your pan cleaner now... pay close attention to the instuctions about dilution and don't let it soak too long, that stuff is strong.

[the old guy]

I Don't Know How Bad The Build Up Is But We Had A Serious Burn In Our Syrup Pan (we Did Not Take The Flue Pan Plug Out Quickly Enough). We Had No Pan Cleaner So We Used Old 400 Grit Wet-sandpaper. Probably Not The Best Option But It Cleaned Up The Pan Nicely And We Made 4 Good Boils After That With No Ill Side Effects And The Pan Looks Good. We Might Have Been Lucky Too.

The Old Guys

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Keep the pan cleaner until the end of the season or never use it if you don't have to. A gallon of vinegar will do about the same result and you aren't using chemicals. Might just want to wait and clean the pan in the middle of the season. The buildup is normal and you will be cleaning it every time you boil.

[3% Solution]

Hi Dave,
The rig we have we can't reverse flow so we're always drawing off the same side.
So after about 15 - 18 gallons I empty the syrup pan and scrape off some of the scale that is starting to form on the bottom and sides.
I don't rinse out after every boil and we make good syrup.
Just keep an eye on it and when it starts to build up and flake off clean it a bit, then rinse it out good, don't leave any pieces of the flake in there, an don't that stuff pop and bang!!!!!
Dump your consentrated sap back in and away you go!
Use that pan cleaner at the end of the season as Brandon says, you don't want it to leak back into your flue pan.

Dave

[Dave Puhl]

So I may try the vinegar idea...do you warm this up too ??? how long do you let it soak..

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If you simmer it a little, it should clean right up. If the pan is empty, might want to dump some straight vinegar on the bottom and slosh it around and rub it a little and it might work without even heating it any. I was going to try it during the middle of the season, but never got to it.

[Dave Puhl]

Ok..did the vinegar..poured it in straight..covered the syrup pan under a quarter inch..took a scotch brite pad and scrubed..some...let stand over night and in the afternoon it came right off...with the pad..still got my gallon of pan cleaner...only one more cook then I am done for the year..will try the vineagar one more time..

[royalmaple]

I've had very good results using the vinegar method. in my front pan I put about 1 gallon and about 3 gallons of water, not even hot water, just out of the hose and let it set. In about 1/2 a day you just about wipe anything right off with a wet rag, don't need to scrub or scrape anything. Really does a good job. Rinse well and you are off and running.

I've had to do it several times already since I had a bad little habit of getting a burn spot near the drawoff box, so kinda getting the hang of it. I also have been saving the 4 gallons after it soaks and putting back into jugs and reusing it, works just as good the second time.

Hopefully I am done till the end of the season.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Dave,

I would never use the acid as long as the vinegar works. Vinegar won't make anyone sick, but that acid can sure harm badly. There was an article in the maple news about a year ago about an inspector who had radomly sampled a small amount out of a barrel of syrup in VT I think and he got really sick. Come to find out the producer had cleaned his pans with pan cleaner and hadn't neutralized it and gotten them completely free of it. Good thing it was the inspector and not a bunch of consumers. The more natural you can stay, the safer you are.

[PA mapler]

If you boil the vinegar/water solution, will the vinegar evaporate off? I have my pans soaking tonight, but I put a fire under them and got them up to boiling first. I wondered if I could save the solution after doing that.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Just drain it off and throw it away and rinse the pans really good. I got 2 gallon of vinegar at Sams for $ 3.18 or it is about $ 2 a gallon at Walmart. Cheap enough that I wouldn't reuse it, but I guess you can if you wanted. It is not going to boil off much, so you will need to rinse them really good.

[Dave Puhl]

Did the final clean today...used some more vinegar and a small pwer wassher ..worked great...Thanks for the tip on the vinegar...

[seanmacc]

I just (finally!) picked up an LP gas fired 2x4 rig. After boiling in it for the first time yesterday, I'm trying to figure out the best boiling method (batch, draw off?). Regardless, should I be cleaning the pan after each boil, every so often or wait until the end of the season? Or, should I leave some syrup in the pan between boils? I like the vinegar method- it sounds like a good way to clean up. If I do that, should I just rinse well, or boil water after cleaning?

Sorry for so many questions- never really worried about it with my small pan. If it looked a little "coated," I'd give it a quick clean up!

Thanks!

[802maple]

I don't think Henry was glad it was him that got sick.

[saphead]

If you do the vinegar method, during your rinse toss in some baking soda to neutralize the vinegar.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

I use to scrub my pans with scoth pads and soap. Then this year i poured about 3/4 gal. of vinegar in it. 6 hrs later i could not believe how clean the pan was. rinsed it and was back boiling again
RICH

[Sugarmaker]

I agree that the vinegar works well, I used about 6 gallons (less thatn $10) in our 3 x 10 , brought it to about a low simmer and brushed and let soak. This was at the end of the season. I typically only rinse the evaporator if we are making dark and there is a chance that it may go back towards light. I forgot about the baking soda to neutralize the acid but I did double rinse it well.



Sugarmaker