Do small divided pans work well?

[nrlottig]

Hi Folks- I'm going to get a pan (15x25) made for a small stove I have (Silver Creek Maple). Is it worth running a divided pan on something that small? I haven't seen many examples of smaller divided pans like that outside of the Smoky Lake Starcat.

[Sugarmaker]

Will you get a gradient with the partitions? Well maybe but not much. That is a pretty small pan. I guess I would opt for a good draw off port and a good safe way to lift and remove it from the heat source when you get to syrup. Does your stove that the pan will set on have direct flame contact with the bottom of your new pan? It should.
Regards,
Chris

[maple flats]

The smallest I have run is a 24x33 with 4 channels. It did well, I ran a small constant trickle into it at one corner and drew off almost syrup at the outlet. Then I finished what still needed to boil more on the kitchen stove. Most times I needed 30-45 minutes on the gas stove. At 15x25 if you have direct flame to the pan it should work, but maybe not much better than a batch boil. Either way you still want the flame hitting the pan (no solid surface between it or a good boil may never happen.

[mol1jb]

I run a 24x24 4 channel pan on my 2x6 and that does well. However it does a lot better running concentrate than raw sap

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Our 2x6 came with a 2x2 syrup pan with 2 large channels. I had 2 dividers added this year and spun the center one around so we now have 4 smaller channels and we are getting better, smaller drawoffs which is exactly what I was hoping for. The smaller draw offs also seem to be helping make lighter syrup. We boil raw sap.

[jrgagne99]

I agree with MapleFlats, the channels will probably let you draw off syrup or pretty close to syrup if you have good contact with flame. I would set it up so the channels are crossways with the draw-off at the back, where the flame is hottest.

FWIW, I have a hybrid pan that is 20"x40" overall. The back section is 20"x30" with eight 5" drop flues. The front section is 20"x10" with two cross-ways channels, each only 5" wide. It works great, although I am feeding 8% into my steamaway, and about 12% into the back pan. It is probably closer to 20% when it enters the front pan...