End of season pan cleaning

[lyford]

First year with nice shiny new pan. I've cleaned it twice during the season with vinegar and had good results. Each time I only filled the pan a couple inches deep which didn't reach the build up on the sides. Do most people just scrub the sides or do they fill pans all the way up with the vinegar solution to clean up the sides. Also what do you use to scrub the inside of the flues. Thanks.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Last year I filled it with 10 gallons of vinegar and tilted it to one side, then the other for a couple days each side. Cleaned up as good as new. This year I am trying citric acid mixed with permeate. Works great so far and no where near the odor of vinegar. I used a food grade citric acid by the way. I have found that bringing the solution to a boil really helps. You can use distilled water if you don't have permeate available.

[Ghs57]

Last year I filled my pan with maybe 3 inches of late season sap and let that age in there for awhile. The smell is awful, but it cleans up the pans with no effort at all. I will do it again this year if I have enough sap at the end. It's a good option if you can leave the pan to soak undisturbed for a month or more.

[DrTimPerkins]

Basic simplified approaches....more details available in the archives (do a search) or in the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual.
1. Sour sap method....fill evaporator deep with sour/buddy sap at the end of the season (stuff you don't want to boil) and let it set for a long time (month or more). It'll turn sour, then jelly-like, then turn to vinegar. Very slow and stinks, but works fine.
2. Vinegar method....fill deep with water, add vinegar, let sit for several days to a week or so. Faster than #1, but still smells some. Costs more.
3. Pan acid. Fill with water, add pan acid (typically phosphoric acid). Warm up a little and sit for a day or two. Faster, costs some, hazardous material -- need to neutralize with baking soda when done. Don't use this method (or use with care) on soldered pans.

[lyford]

Thanks for the info guys, i think I'll use vinegar again since I already have a few gallons laying around. Last thing left to clean is the pan, and then start drawing up plans for the new shack. Hope everybody had/has a good season.

[dcast99]

The first 3 years we rinsed out both pans then filled them with water and milkhouse acid. Got a small fire going and let it sit overnight. Next day drained and flushed both pans. In the fall we lightly power washed the tops and bottoms of both pans. Last year we diconnected the flue pan from the syrup pan, which we aways do to finish the last of the syrup. We then flooded the flue pan with water while we finished off the last of the syrup. After draining the syrup, we flooded the syrup pan with water and let it sit for a month. It turned to vinigar and stunk. Flushed the pan with water. During the fall power washing we discovered that the syrup pan was riddled with 2 dozen pin holes and most of the welded seems were weeping. Had to have them Tig welded. NOT going to do that again. Did our normal cleaning this year. Still it's pretty bad that 4 year old Leader welded pans would get pin holes and the seams would leak.:mad:

[lyford]

dcast, do you think that was from leaving the vinegar to long?

[wnybassman]

I flooded both pans well over the scale line with the last of the sap I hauled in. I'll play with the pressure washer in July or August when it will feel good :D

[Samuelvw1]

How do I clean the outside of my pan it was a homemade cinderblock evaporator and flames hit the side and it is charged black

Sam
Shelton,Connecticut

[psparr]

Oven cleaner is about all that will work well. Just try to keep it on the outside.

[dcast99]

lyford, I can't say for sure that it was the cause. Leader said it should not have caused it. They said that leaving the soot on the bottom of the pan might have been the problem. We brush the bottoms of the pans at the end of the season but don't power wash them until the fall. But that would not explain why the seams are weeping.

[ldick]

The first 3 years we rinsed out both pans then filled them with water and milkhouse acid. Got a small fire going and let it sit overnight. Next day drained and flushed both pans. In the fall we lightly power washed the tops and bottoms of both pans. Last year we diconnected the flue pan from the syrup pan, which we aways do to finish the last of the syrup. We then flooded the flue pan with water while we finished off the last of the syrup. After draining the syrup, we flooded the syrup pan with water and let it sit for a month. It turned to vinigar and stunk. Flushed the pan with water. During the fall power washing we discovered that the syrup pan was riddled with 2 dozen pin holes and most of the welded seems were weeping. Had to have them Tig welded. NOT going to do that again. Did our normal cleaning this year. Still it's pretty bad that 4 year old Leader welded pans would get pin holes and the seams would leak.:mad:


What is the correct vinegar/water ratio?

[ldick]

Does it matter what kind of vinegar is used?

[Flatpan1]

What's the easiest way to get the heavy baked on soot out of the flu pan (fire side) I can't get it off flu brush doesn't even touch it.

[buckeye gold]

I have been doing the rotting sap approach for several years and I'm quite satisfied with it. I power wash and use a scrub pad on the bottom. I will scrape hard area lightly. I really don't worry about the bottom too much as your only two boils away from re-sooting it.

[buck3m]

I think most people use 5% acid white vinegar.

A big factor that isn't always stressed is that TIME and HEAT eases the work enormously.

One method I've used is something like this: put water in my flue pan and 4 gallons of straight vinegar in my syrup pan, (where the niter is always worse) then heat everything with a small fire to just shy of boiling. After a couple of days I'll see if the niter is lifting off the syrup pan. Once virtually all of the niter is falling off, I'll drain most of the vinegar and pour it in the flue pan, then open the plugs between the pans and flood both pans above the standard boiling line, then heat everything once more.

Unless I'm in a big hurry I let the vinegar, heat and time do almost all the work for me. I'll run a flue brush in the flue pan and hit any remaining spots in both pans with a scotch brite pad. Finally I give everything a good rinse.

[wally]

in the past, i've successfully used the sour sap method. this year, i had no leftover sap, so i tried vinegar.

my pans are 2x2 syrup and 2x4 raised flue. i used a total of one gallon of white vinegar - 3 gts in the syrup pan, 1 qt in the sap pan. filled both with enough water to have a depth of about 4".

i scrubbed the syrup pan one day later, and a second time a week later. this got rid of all the scale and discoloration from the bottom, and left only a little on the sides and dividers.

i then drew off the mixture from the syrup pan and added it to the sap pan. scrubbed it a week later, then waited a week and did it again. decided to wait longer, and two weeks later i scrubbed again (today). got rid of most bottom discoloration, and quite a bit of the side discoloration. emptied the pan, and will rinse tomorrow.

this worked well, is much faster than waiting for the sour sap to "cure", and didn't cost much, $1.99.

wally

[n8hutch]

I did the sour sap method this year, it worked very well, I am certain that it got the pan cleaner than years past, I filled the pans to within 2inches of the top, took about 125 gallons, let soak for 5 weeks, could see alot of scale floating on top, drained and pressure washed the pans. Worked great.

I guess I wouldn't want to use 2% or better sap but if you have end of the year stuff like I had that was pretty ripe and under 1% it worked well. And I still have 8 gallons of vinegar on the shelf for another day.

[lyford]

Nate, I appreciate the info, thanks

[wnybassman]

My pans are still soaking in the sap. Some hot summer day I'll play in the water. :D

[mudr]

My pans are still soaking in the sap. Some hot summer day I'll play in the water. :D
So *that's* what I smelled when I drove through Pavillion! :D

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Dale Sparrow]

I use milk stone remover. Dump 3/4 gallon in the syrup pan and 1 1/4 in the flue pan (3x10 evaporator), fill the rest of the way with water and let sit for a couple of days. Drain and rinse then wash with dish soap to get rid of residue. Look like new and very little effort. My first year with oil, love it. Bottom of the syrup pan stays clean as a whistle, bottom of the flue pan needed a light cleaning at the end of the season, no cleaning underside of pans during season at all.

[Quebecguy]

I guess I wouldn't want to use 2% or better sap but if you have end of the year stuff like I had that was pretty ripe and under 1% it worked well.

I cleaned my flue pan yesterday after emptying the sap that had been in there since the end of the season. I always fill the pan right to the brim at the end of the season and let it sit for at least a couple of months or even three or four. I'm pretty sure the sugar content of the sap is always well over 2%. This method works well. I'll try to attach a photo of the pan taken after yesterday's cleaning. The pan is twenty-one seasons old.16589

[Quebecguy]

Also what do you use to scrub the inside of the flues. Thanks.

To clean the inside of the flues I use a variety of brushes as seen in the attached photo. The two on the right are commercially available and work well for the sides of the flues but the bristles get worn down quickly when one uses these on the bottom of the flue. The one I'm holding is homemade and it consists of a piece of 1/4" thick mild steel which I have cut to resemble a paddle with two Scotch Brite type of scouring pads sewn together over the end. The long handle reduces the amount of bending over if the pan is on the ground when being cleaned. This one works well too but the scouring pads wear quickly on the bottom corners and have to be replaced every couple of seasons. On the far left of the photo is my preferred tool for cleaning the very bottom "valley" of the flues. It is a regular hard wood drumstick that has been filed down slightly to fit in the flues and I use it in conjunction with a well used (pliable) piece of ScotchBrite. Any thin rod of hardwood with the end rounded would do as well. I have never tried a pressure washer but if you have one of those it might be a helpful tool for pan cleaning. 16590

[VTnewguy]

I cleaned my flue pan yesterday after emptying the sap that had been in there since the end of the season. I always fill the pan right to the brim at the end of the season and let it sit for at least a couple of months or even three or four. I'm pretty sure the sugar content of the sap is always well over 2%. This method works well. I'll try to attach a photo of the pan taken after yesterday's cleaning. The pan is twenty-one seasons old.16589
Wow! I'm impressed, it came out great.

[n8hutch]

The only reason I personally wouldn't want to use sap over or around 2% is that it takes a 100+ gallons to fill my back pan, that's over 200 dollars worth of syrup at retail. , I'd rather have the syrup and buy 20 gallons of vinegar if need be at a cost of 60 dollars. I'm sure 2% sap would work great to clean with.

I agree that pan looks super for 21 years of use.

[buckeye gold]

n8hutch, if you still have good 2% why would you be shutting down and cleaning your pan? I'm sure I've used a lot of 2% sap, but it is the end of season cloudy stuff that has a metabolized syrup or is buddy. It does not have to be production sap. Actually I think the nasty end of season stuff works great.

[Quebecguy]

Thank you very much Nate and VTnewguy for your kind comments. Thanks too Nate for expanding on your thoughts on sugar content and back pan cleaning. I now understand what you were getting at.

[maple flats]

This year I cleaned with just permeate. I added the permeate on the day after my last boil, heated it to maybe 100-110 using my firestarter (a 500,000 BTU weed burner torch, but at about 1/2 throttle). Then I let it set a day, rinsed it, drained and repeated. It took 3 or 4 times, but in the end it was clean with no chem at all. In all recent years thru last year I've used white vinegar, 2 gal in 3x3 syrup pan, and fill with permeate to top of stains, Also 2 gal in 3x5 flues pan and fill to top of stains. I then lit a small fire and let it warm slowly. Then it sat a couple of days. Then I drained it and wiped out the pans. Some years once did it, other years it took 2-3 times to come clean.

[Ghs57]

The sour sap method worked well this year. The pan is still soaking now, but it's been ready to drain for for several weeks now. The scale has all peeled off and dropped to the bottom. Next rainy day I will drain it and see how things look, but I expect it to be good as new.

[lyford]

Getting closer to the end of the season so starting to think about clean up. I think I will do the sour sap method this year. I do have a question though. Will the stink of the rotten sap attach itself to any plastic collection or storage tanks and affect the sap in there next season? Or am I over thinking this?

[blaircountysugarin85]

I have a 2x3 divided pan and when I pulled it off the arch and drew the last of the syrup off I filled the pan with water. There is alot of sugar residue in the pan and it is very sticky do you think if I just leave the pan full of water for a few months I will get the same effect as the sour sap method?

[mol1jb]

I have a 2x3 divided pan and when I pulled it off the arch and drew the last of the syrup off I filled the pan with water. There is alot of sugar residue in the pan and it is very sticky do you think if I just leave the pan full of water for a few months I will get the same effect as the sour sap method?

You would have to use a water vinegar to mimic the sour sap effect. That should only take anday to be effective. 50/50 vinegar and water should do the trick.