Learning to run a divided pan

[Person25]

Hey guys,

I've been making syrup for about for about 20 years so I'm not exactly a newbie at the process but I have some questions I want to ask the panel, as I am always trying to learn and progress. So to give a little background...

For many years I batch boiled in a 10 gallon pot from the early 1900s over a 55 gallon drum firebox. I have about 30 taps in most years. I only have time to boil on the weekends so I collect sap all week, store it cool and usually start my boil Friday after work and keep adding and burning until I've run out of sap which is usually about 2% and about 100- 150 gallons of sap, usually would take me all night Friday, Saturday and part Sunday to finish. Terrible boil rate I know. I can finish it in the pan then I then filter and move inside and finish on the stove if need be, but usually just have to reheat and bottle.

A few years ago and as I get older and have less time to spend sitting around the fire I purchased a 2x3 mason arch and pan with preheat her pan. After two years I haven't realized the full benefits of a divided pan and it's frustrating me a bit. The box is insulated with firebrick it runs much more efficiently than the old way but still not to full potential and I've yet to figure out how to draw off near syrup so now the questions start

1. In this size pan what depth should I be running? The mounted thermometer requires about 3/4 inch to stay under sap level so I assume at that level is correct.

2. I can get the pan to gradate but I can't seem to get finished or near syrup out the draw off. I draw into a hydrometer cup and it's never even close, like not even floating. I then pour it back in the draw off where it came from, then I end up reverting to my batch boiling system because the pan requires about 5 gallons to maintain level and I only make 2-3 gallons a run...Should I be drawing off constantly a drip drop all day? How much should I be able to draw at once? Filter it as it comes off the draw off? Or straight into a clean bucket and finish later? I always thought that by reheating a batch of near to syrup it lowers the grade and makes more niter?

3. If I boil down 150 gallons one weekend can I refrigerate or freeze it and start with that next weekend? how close to syrup can I get it on the hydrometer before I have to finish the syrup for risk of making tons of niter?

4. Why can I only usually make medium to dark syrup? Is it because of the extremely long constant batch boil? Or because I get it close on the fire then it begins to cool before it's reheated to finish and bottle this lower the grade?


Thanks for reading and any input is appreciated. I'm new to this site so I've already begun reading others threads and posts related to my questions. -Jeremey

[anchorhd]

Have you read this yet?

[/http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?28044-Help-please!-Temp-won-t-rise-high-enough-to-draw-off.&highlight=mason
]

[MISugarDaddy]

I have not run a 2 x 3 Mason before, but I did start with 2 x 4 evaporator. So I will answer your questions based on my own experience.

Question 1: I always ran my sap about 1" deep even though the thermometer port was about 3/4" of an inch from the bottom of the pan to ensure that the thermometer probe was always covered. I was always able to get a hard boil with it that deep.
Question 2: I never tried to finish on the evaporator, but instead I finished on a 12" x 20" pan over a propane flame (similar to a gas grill). I could draw off one to two quarts per hour of near finished syrup once the evaporator got "sweetened". At that point the product I was drawing off was at about 217 degrees, but wouldn't float a hydrometer quite yet. I liked doing it this way to give me more pan area in total for boiling sap between the two units and because I could control the propane flame more accurately.
Question 3: Yes you can refrigerate unfinished syrup and boil it later if necessary and if the amount of time you are holding it is reasonable. As far as niter goes, finishing it off won't generate more niter than if you had finished it off without refrigerating and storing it.
Question 4: The long batch boils and storing sap for an extended time period are your major contributors to the color of your syrup. Also, as the season progresses, it will get darker. When we had the smaller evaporator, we always tried to make sure never to hold sap over 24 hours unless it was freezing temps at night because we did not have a means to refrigerate it other than with the help of mother nature. We were always able to produce a nice golden amber syrup with our setup.

Hope this helps you with your questions.
Gary

[Jcrawfo]

I had a 2x3 mason for three years great little rig. I ran it an inch deep and that seemed to work good. I had to thread a bolt in the thermometer port and bend the fitting so the thermometer was 1/4 inch above bottom of pan. This was per bill mason. It doesn't take much. I used to draw syrup right off of pan, about 1-2 quarts every hour. I found consistency was the key. Both on firing andincoming sap. Fired every ten minutes and tried to keep the stream from preheated consistent with no big changes. If we let fire go to long it would screw everything up. I also built a wall right behind grates that went up to 3/4 inch below pan. It really pushed the heat up. Where in Washington county are ya, I'm over in Bennington, vet.

[Big_Eddy]

If you're only boiling on the weekends, and are not keeping the sweet in the pan between boils (all week) then you will not have enough sap with 35 trees to run a continuous flow. A 2x3 needs 100 - 200 gals before the first draw depending on how deep you run, so you're going to be running out of sap right about the time you get to the first draw.

You can refrigerate and keep the sweet all week if you want. It isn't going to speed up your boiling at all - but it would allow you to run a flow process in the second and subsequent weeks.

Storing your sap until the weekend is going to darken your syrup - even if you refrigerate or freeze it. There's no way around it.

[ecolbeck]

I ran a 2x3 Mason pan on a block/masonry arch last year. I was able to finish syrup on the pan.

1. Pan was perfectly level
2. fired every ~6 min with wrist sized splits of wood.
3. sap level was 3/4" - 1". lower level = higher evap rate.
4. firebox had a grate (which melted) and a ramp (which went to within an inch of the bottom of the pan) and a blower (cheap bathroom fan).
5. Once the pan was sweetened, I drew off syrup periodically in very small amounts (cups or pints) in a slow dribble while watching the thermometer.

I couldn't rotate the picture below properly.

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[Person25]

Thanks guys,

Sounds like I need to raise the floor on my arch so to get the fire closer to the bottom of the pan, because it seems like everyone out there is able to boil much faster than me. I don't have a problem getting and holding a strong boil but I think maybe I lack some consistency. Also once I've sweetend the pan I tend to get the best boil in the center section and that's where I feel I lose the gradient and ability to constant flow. Thanks for everyone's comments, there's always something to be learned! What do you guys find your gph boil rate is? The color or grade isn't really that important to me but it's sort of a pride thing to make the golden nectar at least for me.

[Russell Lampron]

To help with the gradient you can leave the sweet in the pan between boils as long as you don't have a hot spell. The concentrated sap in the pan will be closer to syrup when you start boiling again and will come up to syrup density quicker than sweetening the pan again. You will need to draw some sweet off when the center gets close to syrup to get the gradient flow to the draw off.

[ecolbeck]

I estimated 9 gph peak with my setup. The ramp is a must. With the design of the Mason arches it seems like the far side of the ramp will have to slope down to meet the flue (like an inverted V).

[Jcrawfo]

10 gph from startup to shut down. When it was boiling good we got 12-13 gph. This is with blower.