scorched or normal

[miboss]

This is my first year boiling. I run a very conservative 3" deep in both pans. I took the opportunity to drain my pans after a 6 day break due to an extended freeze. After draining, I flooded the pans with permeate and made a small fire to warm it up a bit. I then wiped/scrubbed down what I could. The result has me questioning whether my pans are scortched or do I just need to clean harder?

Thanks,

Mike

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[tcross]

I've seen worse. I say clean harder... imo. I think if you let the permeate sit for a while it'll work better. I tend to use vinegar. put a few gallons in and get it to a simmer, then I add a 50/50 ratio of water to vinegar and bring it to a boil. if I have time, i'll let it sit over night and it usually wipes clean. if I don't have the time... scrub hard. a cedar shake, paint stick, and even flattened out copper helps on the really caked up parts.

[Daveg]

I've seen worse. I say clean harder... imo. I think if you let the permeate sit for a while it'll work better. I tend to use vinegar. put a few gallons in and get it to a simmer, then I add a 50/50 ratio of water to vinegar and bring it to a boil. if I have time, i'll let it sit over night and it usually wipes clean. if I don't have the time... scrub hard. a cedar shake, paint stick, and even flattened out copper helps on the really caked up parts.
Hey, Mike!
THAT PAN IS NOT SCORCHED! Scorching happens when your syrup burns. What you have is a normal build-up of nitre and sugar .
Call your salesman: no doubt they'll say 50/50 vinegar that you let sit for 2-4 hours, followed by a gentle scrub with a non-abrasive pad. That pan will look brand new! You might be able to get it sparkling with a just a gallon of the 50/50 mixture. It will rinse easily afterwards, too. Be sure to use a non-abrasive pad so that your metal surface stays mirror-like. Tiny scratches from a nylon scrub pad or a copper scrub create an interface for nitre to build up on.

[DrTimPerkins]

What Daveg says....this is just a light niter deposit which is very normal. A scorch would be a dark brown or charred black area....often accompanied by smoke and swearing. You do want to remove it though. If it builds up too much, your pan can warp under the built-up area (it takes a 1/8" or more of build-up for that to start to become an issue). At that point your syrup can also take on a bitter "burnt niter" flavor. You've got a real long way to go before that happens though.

A good clean water (permeate would be best) or a vinegar/water mix with a little heat, let soak for 24 hrs, perhaps followed with some gentle non-abrasive scrubbing, and a couple of very thorough rinses with clean water and you should be in good shape.

Are you switching sides every now and then during long boils to reduce the niter build-up?

[miboss]

Thank you all for the replies. Its quite a relief. It looks like I'll have to stock up on a large quantity of vinegar! As for reversing flow, I reverse it every 2 hours or every boil.

[tgormley358]

Hi Mike,

The photos of your pans looks exactly like mine. I assume it’s your syrup pan as it is mine. Like you I tried permeate, let it sit 20 hours and it barely had any impact on the niter which seems baked in. So I’m checking back n your progress. I had a business trip for 3 days so I took the opportunity again to drain and refill with permeate, hoping when I return tonite it will be better. I haven’t tried vinegar yet how about you? Also I’ve lesrned from others that if you use vinegar you want to follow it up with a soak in baking soda also to remove any vinegar odor.

[ennismaple]

Agree that all you have is some minor niter buildup. The picture below is scorching of niter from a 7-8 hour boil where my brother pushed over 170 gallons of syrup through our syrup pan. It actually lifted fairly easily with the pressure washer and copper pipe scraper. What I understand happens is the niter builds up and starts to flake off once the niter gets thick enough. Air bubbles form under the flake which then results in a small amount of syrup burning in that spot.

For our rig, if we keep boils to 5 hours we have no problem with this. Once we cross 6 hours we know the pan will be a bear to clean.

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[Asa Matras]

Thats not scorched. Soak it in permeate more and throw some pan cleaner in it and that'll loosen up.

[tgormley358]

Updating from my last post in response to the original. I had tried permeate soaking 20 hours with no impact. I had a 3 day business trip so I tried again and last nigh came home found some progress but still significant remaining niter. So I tried vinegar dumping a gallon into syrup pan which had 5 gallons in it so much thinner than 50/50 recommended. I started a short fire not enough to boil but enough to heat it up good. This morning I’m amazed it did the job. I rinsed and re filled with water and baking soda so later today I should be goood to go. Only concern is the retailer who sold me the evaporator said vinegar left too long may cause pin holes in the pan and void the warranty. Only over night so I’m not real worried.

I’d just say this has been a learning experience for me, not as easy as I thought to clean. My take away is more frequent cleaning in season.

[ennismaple]

Overnight didn't hurt your pan at all. You can leave diluted pan acid in for a few days. Many producers leave end of season sap in their pans for a month or more (it turns to effectively vinegar) before washing up in May/June.