Cleaning the Pan between boils...

[bryankloos]

Hey All,

I'm new to using the evaporator with divided pans.
I'm curious how often you all clean your pans, and how you do it.

I'm either keeping sweet in the pan for a few days between boils, or I will be draining the pan completely depending on how the runs are expected over the days following boiling.

With an empty pan, whats the best way to clean?

If I leave sweet in the pan, should any care be made to clean the edges and dividers of any scum above the sap line?

All help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Bryan

[ecolbeck]

White vinegar is an easy way to clean pans. I wouldn’t work much about the scum until you do a final cleaning at the end of the season.

[VT_K9]

We use white vinegar too. It works great. We will recycle the solution a couple times before disposing of it. Often we mix 1 gallon of vinegar to 5 to 10 gallons of water or permeate if that is available. Bring it to a boil and let it sit overnight. The next morning we bring it to a boil, light scrub, and let it cool. We drain and rinse..rinse a lot. The we are ready to boil again.

Mike

[maple flats]

I also use white vinegar, but I drain the concentrate, rinse with hot permeate, drain that, then add 1 gal of white vinegar. If I do that before leaving at night, I just let it set until I return the next day. At that time all sugarsand will likely be loose. If I drain and add the vinegar before starting up for the next boil, I use a weed burner torch and warm the vinegar from under the pan. I just heat it to maybe 110-120 and let it set a while. After 30-60 minutes I check with a long handled soft bristled brush, if loose, I flush, rinse well and then pump the drained concentrate back into the pan. If it is not loose, I repeat the heat cycle.
To know if I need to clean, I use a nylon spatula, hold it so the blade is on the bottom of each section at about 45 degree angle, pointing away from me and pull with very light pressure downward, if it slides easily, no cleaning needed, if there is a drag on the spatula I begin my cleaning procedure. Sometimes you may need to clean every day, sometimes every 2-3-4 days and at other times you might need to clean in mid boil. If you start seeing a difference in the character of the boil, switch the direction of flow in the pan, that often extends the interval between cleanings.

[TapTapTap]

We also run the pan contents through the filter press so the sweet is clean with the pan.

[donka]

On my 1/2 pint divided pan we run batches of about 120 gallons of sap through. After that we drain that batch I'll dump in 5 gallons of hot tap water from the house and go over the pan with a scotchbrite pad which quickly gets pan looking like new. At the same time I clean the soot of bottoms of pan then fire up the arch to start the next batch. I feel that the constant cleanings keep the syrup grade higher.

[bill m]

I empty my front pan ( 3x3 revolution ) every day after I am done boiling. Fill it with permeate and put a Little Giant parts washer pump in it. Let it circulate overnight then empty the pan in the morning. Give it a quick rinse and it is clean as new.