Question for batch cookers: Depth of sap in pan.

[Johnny t]

I have a pan that is 8" deep. I can maintain a decent boil keeping it at 6" deep, but seems like I may get a better boil when the pan runs shallower. I'm a batch cooker, and I know the continuous flow guys run a lot shallower, just wondering if there's some validity to keeping my depth down.

[claystroup]

I batch cook on a 2 x 5 Mason with flat pan and run it at about 1" depth. It will really boil at 3/4" depth but you need to stay on top of it 100% of the time and monitor your feed into the pan carefully. 1" is much more relaxed and that's where I run 90% of the time averaging about 16-17 gph with the blower on.

[Maple Man 85]

Depends on how big of batch you are taking off. I have a 30X48 pan and we run 1" deep half, way through the run I drain the clean it and start again with fresh sap (so we can boil harder) then once we have another 200-250 gallons through we add the first sap/syrup and finish typically ending up with a batch between 8-15 gallons. It keeps the syrup deep enough in the pan so there isn't scorching.

[berkshires]

3/4 of an inch or less in sap pan. 3/4 of an inch going up to around 1.5 inches in the syrup pan. I go deeper in the syrup pan as it gets closer to syrup, to keep it from getting too dense.

Gabe

[Johnny t]

Thanks guys! I'm usually around 4". Guess I'll be shallowing up next year. :)