Would my coffee pot canner work?

[davey]

I was bottling a small batch of pints with my old stainless steel coffee pot that I have removed the thermostat from and monitor the temperature with a real nice long stem digital themometer I bought for my wife and was thinking about candy etc... I was wondering if anyone had ever tried to bring a batch of syrup up to cream or candy temperatures in one. Idon't have enough syrup left to experiment with so I thought I'd throw it out there and see what everyone thought. Any thoughts?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Can you get it hot enough in it to make candy??

[davey]

I don't really know how hot it would go, but the heating element is pretty strong, so I wouldn't be surprised. As I said, I pulled out the thermostat as that was fried.

[gmcooper]

try and see if it will boil water for an extended lenght of time. I'm not sure the element will be large enough to really get a good boil going with just water.

[Al]

I have two coffee pots I used for samples and bottling. If you left the syrup in the pot for to long some of the syrup would stick and burn in the bottom of the pot were the stem went in. To get it hot enough to boil I think you would have to leave the lid on and then you would get alot of condensation in the pot. The small metal pot is great for storing left over syrup and when people show up you plug it in to have warm syrup samples. The big pot now rests under my counter with all the parts. If I ever get enough people in I could make coffee for the whole crowd.
Thats my experiance with coffee pots. Worked great until I could afford the real deal.

[HHM-07]

I was thinking about trying a large coffee pot for canning but it doesn't sound like they work that well.
AL,
did you get my message on my location in east fairfield?

Dick@ Hobby Hill Maples

[jemsklein]

HHM-07
i have a coffe pot canner and it work great i get about 185 F out of it wich is just right for bottling
if you whant to see it go to the link below and click home made equiement

[danno]

I liked my coffee pot for bottling until I upgraded. The one problem I had was trying to bottle glass without getting bubbles or foam. You have to bottle slowly. One fix I have found on my new system (that I learned from another) is add a second draw off valve connected in line with the first. Open the first one a 1/4 and open the second one wide open.

That being said - if I was still bottling with a coffee urn, I'd see if I could replace the exisiting spicket with two inline valves. Cost is about $5/valve from any hardware store.

[jemsklein]

that is what i did

[SeanD]

I'm thinking of getting a used coffee urn to make bottling easier and I saw the thread. Do urns typically get a full pot to 180+ or do I have to disconnect the thermostat as somebody mentioned earlier?

[Russell Lampron]

Sean,

You want to get a brand new coffee urn to use for your syrup. The coffee stains from a used one will flavor your syrup.

Russ

[325abn]

Russ is correct get a new one. I bought a new one last year at Wal-mart and it works great for my size operation. I think it cost around $50.

[davey]

I bought a used one for less than $10 on e-bay. I removed the thermostat and monitor the temp with a digital thermometer. Prior to using it, I boiled pan cleaner in it a couple of times and it really cleaned it up nice. The only real issues I have had with it is when the humidity gets high in the shack from boiling, I occasionally get a little shock from the sides. Late at night that is sometimes better than a cup of coffee though to keep me focused.
I did try bringing some old stinky syrup I had to a higher temp with it and as someone stated earlier, the syrup in the little well where the heating element is in the bottom wanted to scorch. I threw away the tube that holds the coffee basket long ago but wonder if that would make a difference in the scorching or if the mixing would just cause additional niter to drop out. I guess for candy, etc... I'll stick to my other pans.

[SeanD]

That's too bad. I was hoping to save a bit of money. Do the new ones hold 180+ temp. without messing with the wiring?

Are the cup marks that are on the sides of the urn fairly true to a 6 oz. cup of coffee? In other words, does a 40 cup pot hold 240 oz. of syrup?

Thanks for the help.

[325abn]

Mine holds it steady @ 180.

[danno]

I used to filter through a cone filter hung on the urn, so I was pouring hot syrup in the urn. Without plugging the urn in, it would keep the syrup over 180 to bottle as long as you bottle as the syrup is filtering.

I always wondered whether you could fill the stem hole with a lead free solder?

[twigbender]

I attended a maple syrup seminar put on by the Univ. of Mn last night. There were several people there that use electric coffee urns to can with. Even the seminar presenter, Dr. Carl Vogt, recommended that for small batches of bottling. We used one our first year with no problems, but have since found a used SS canner. As for making the candy I would think that a pan on the stove would be easier to control and a lot easier to clean up.

[mapleman3]

I had one that stayed at 190 deg :)
My wife apprehended it after I got a canner and uses it for hot water for hot cocoa and tea at maple events and scout events in our barn