Mid week pan cleaning

[mapleman3]

after a week of warm weather, I boiled off only 2.5 gals of syrup, medium almost dark, should I drain the pans and clean before I boil the newer colder weater sap in hopes to get A Light? there is still some of the last run in the evap from yesterday.
what do you all do with the semi syrup in the front pan, try to finish it in the finisher as best you can? and dump the boiled sap in the flue pan? also do you just clean with HOT water or boil with water in it???????

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I never clean my pans during the middle of the season usually unless necessary. Since you haven't boiled in them much, I don't think I would waste the time and you don't want to pour out the sap out of the flue pan unless necessary because there is probably around a gallon of syrup back there and who knows how many more gallon are out there this year anyway. If the sap has been pasturized, it should have killed the bacteria anyway, so as you start boiling next time, the fresh sap will eventually push all the partially boiled sap on out!

My two cents worth!

[Fred Henderson]

Unless you are getting a sugar sand or niter as some call it built up I suggest that you don't clean it now. At the end of the season the syrup pan if it is stainless steel should be cleaned with a food grade of acid, sold by most maple products supplyer's. the cleaning instructions are on the acid container. When and if you by the acid make sure that you also buy the neturalize.

[themapleking]

If you have alot of sugar sand when filtering, stick a sock over the spout and drain into buckets. Than give the pan a wipe down and wash when clean water.
Then pour all the sap i.e. syrup into the pan. When you start up again the syrup will find its way back together.
If been switching sides every other day or 15 gals. Thier seems to be alot of sand this year. I've been told you get more sand in the begining of the season.

[mapleman3]

Thats a good idea joe, I really hate to lose the syrup especially this season, I will filter whats in it and clean the syrup pan real well then put the stuff back into a clean fresh pan, it will give me something to do while waiting for more sap, I have been switching sides each time, it's not building up, I can see it floating ...I was just wondering if the darker stuff should be made into syrup before the next good run.

it is a pain though to start the pans with fresh sap, sure takes awhile before that first draw....

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

Use the syrup in the pan now for start up next time. If the next run is going to make better syrup, it will soon push all the darker out into the take off bucket and the grade will gradually lighten.

No need wasting time trying to boil every thing in the evaporator off! :D