Once a week boil on divided pan

[berkshires]

This will be my first full season using my new Mason 2x3. Previously I did batch boils on a small homemade evaporator.

I live two hours from my sugar shack/sugarbush, and I have family responsibilities. So I really can't get to the rig mid-week. When I was batch-boiling, I would just boil everything down as far as I could, and then finish on the stove at home. But that doesn't make sense with a divided pan, so I'm trying to make a plan. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Early season:
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1 - At the end of the boil, stop feeding the arch. It'll still be hot for a while, but not raging hot. Slowly open the syrup spigot while feeding fresh sap from the preheater into the pan, until I have caught all the nearup that was in the last channel. This goes into container #1 that I will boil down to syrup at home.
2 - Continue to catch another gallon or so of boiled sap into container #2. This should be halfway to syrup, and I'll put it in the chest freezer when I get home.
3 - Close the spigot and dump the rest of the sap from the preheater into the pan. Make sure it comes to at least a simmer, and make sure there's close to an inch in there, so it doesn't cook too much and burn. Then cover with foil and leave it to freeze.
4 - Next week, a couple days before I head up to boil, take container #2 out of the chest freezer and let it defrost.
5 - When I start up the evaporator, after all the frozen sap in the pan has melted, pour the halfway-to-syrup into the syrup channel. That should set up my gradient.

The one thing I'm most worried about with this method is that the dividers in the pan are just tacked to the floor of the pan, so if the frozen sap expands under the dividers, could it warp the pan and open up the space between the pan and the divider more and more every time it freezes? Maybe even pop the tacks?

Later season, or any week with warm temps predicted:
----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - Same as above
2 - same as above
3 - same as above
3.5 - After the fire has died down enough to be safe, take the pan off the arch, and dump all the remaining sap into big container #3
4 - same as above, but now with two containers
5 - Same as 5 above, but instead I fill the pan with container #3 first, then pour container #2 into the syrup channel of the pan

My big concerns here are being able to handle all the sap in the pan at step 3.5. I have to get the timing of stopping the fire just right. If the fire is burning too long and hot, I risk the level getting too low and burning it, or else taking the pan off with a raging fire and burning down the sugar shack and scorching myself! If the fire dies down too soon, then I have too much sap to deal with, and may not have a way to get it all home, or be able to store it all until the next week.

Anyone else been in this situation? What did you do? Or if you have a divided pan and could only boil on weekends, what would you do?

Thanks for any input!

Gabe O

[maple flats]

I think for one thing, you want more that foil to cover the pan. I had covers made for my bigger pans, my flues pan has a hood, the 3x3 syrup pan and my 2x6 finisher I had a tin shop make covers, the bottler came with a cover and I made covers for the 6 boxes, float or draw of between 3 pans. This includes any float boxes or draw off boxes.
I can't help you with leaving partially boiled sap in the pan. Just a guess, but if you draw off, once it cools enough, what is in the last channel and pour it into the first channel, it will be protected from freezing down to?. That temperature will depend on how much sugar is in the pan.
While I'm at my sugarhouse daily in-season, if I get an extended freeze, I have never drained the pan or pans, as long as I boiled for at least 3-4 hrs. At times slush will form on top, but never solid ice. In my early years I actually placed a 60 watt light bulb in the firebox, but after a couple of years I found that not necessary. Some of this will be related to the outside temperatures, if maybe 10F or higher, no issue, if -20F ?

[Ross]

In the early season when it is cold I would only catch about a gallon for container #1 and leave the rest in the pan for the week. The sap in the pan will freeze on top but be liquid on the bottom. When you fire it up the next weekend and start adding sap you will get your gradiant back.

[bigschuss]

Hey Gabe....few comments. This seems like a big headache to me. I understand why you're going through all of the trouble...living 2 hours away. But it's going to be a headache, and when a fun, enjoyable hobby turns into a headache it can be off-putting.

I don't think you will have a problem letting your sweet sit in the pan during week. Use a heat lamp if you're worried.

As I'm sure you know, it takes a lot of sap to sweeten a 2x4...150 gallons or so. So, if you are only on 9 taps you are going to have to blow through a lot of weekends just trying to get your pan sweetened. So, for your first week-ends, I wouldn't even bother taking it home. Just leave it in the pan, fire the evaporator up the next time and reestablish your gradient.

If the forecast calls for warm temps. you're going to have a problem later in the season. If you let your sweet sit in the pan you risk losing it. You'll then have to take it home and freeze it during the week. But again, even if you bring down the sap to an inch or so in your pan, that's still a lot of sap. There's a formula to figure out how much...I'd estimate 4 to 6 gallons depending on how low you drop the level.

I'm curious why you upgraded to a 2x4 with only 9 taps. Are you going to significantly increase your tap count? A 2x4 on 9 taps I think is going to be way too big. As I said, even if sap flow is really good, you're going to have a hard time feeding that evaporator.

I was just down in Chester last weekend for my sons soccer game. First time visiting. Beautiful country and a nice little town.

[Ross]

On a 2x4 you will have 5 gallons for every inch in the pan.

[berkshires]

I think for one thing, you want more that foil to cover the pan. I had covers made for my bigger pans, my flues pan has a hood, the 3x3 syrup pan and my 2x6 finisher I had a tin shop make covers, the bottler came with a cover and I made covers for the 6 boxes, float or draw of between 3 pans. This includes any float boxes or draw off boxes.
I can't help you with leaving partially boiled sap in the pan. Just a guess, but if you draw off, once it cools enough, what is in the last channel and pour it into the first channel, it will be protected from freezing down to?. That temperature will depend on how much sugar is in the pan.
While I'm at my sugarhouse daily in-season, if I get an extended freeze, I have never drained the pan or pans, as long as I boiled for at least 3-4 hrs. At times slush will form on top, but never solid ice. In my early years I actually placed a 60 watt light bulb in the firebox, but after a couple of years I found that not necessary. Some of this will be related to the outside temperatures, if maybe 10F or higher, no issue, if -20F ?

Yeah, longer-term, getting a stainless steel cover made probably is a good idea. Sounds like from yours and other feedback - best to leave as much sweet in the pan as possible, and then it won't freeze so hard.

[berkshires]

Before I say anything else I should point out that I had a typo in my post (that I have since corrected). I have a 2x3, not a 2x4. Sorry about that.


Hey Gabe....few comments. This seems like a big headache to me. I understand why you're going through all of the trouble...living 2 hours away. But it's going to be a headache, and when a fun, enjoyable hobby turns into a headache it can be off-putting.

I know. I struggled about whether or not to go with a divided pan at all, but in the end it seemed best.


I don't think you will have a problem letting your sweet sit in the pan during week. Use a heat lamp if you're worried.
I don't have electricity, so no lamp. But based on what you and others are saying, on cold weeks if I leave the sweet in the pan it sounds like I shouldn't have an issue with damaging the pan.


As I'm sure you know, it takes a lot of sap to sweeten a 2x4...150 gallons or so. So, if you are only on 9 taps you are going to have to blow through a lot of weekends just trying to get your pan sweetened. So, for your first week-ends, I wouldn't even bother taking it home. Just leave it in the pan, fire the evaporator up the next time and reestablish your gradient.
Let me clarify a few things:
Sorry, as I mentioned - it's a 2x3, not 2x4.
I plan on around 15 taps this season. So a good week might see me feeding the evaporator 50-60 gallons of sap. I have plenty of maples, so I could scale this up. But for my first real season boiling on a new rig I don't want to be swimming in sap.

I did a couple of boils on it last season, and yeah, I never got anywhere close to sweetening the pan properly. I think if I can get some food-grade stoppers to plug the holes between the dividers, for early season boils that might be an easier way to maintain the gradient than drawing off nearup from the last channel and putting it back in the next weekend. Anyone know of a good cheap source for this?

Seems like, unless the season really kicks off with a bang, I can probably hope to be doing my first syrup draws near the end of my second weekend, depending on the level in the pan. I've been boiling a few years, so I think I feel comfortable keeping it down under an inch, maybe like 3/4 of an inch to start.


If the forecast calls for warm temps. you're going to have a problem later in the season. If you let your sweet sit in the pan you risk losing it. You'll then have to take it home and freeze it during the week. But again, even if you bring down the sap to an inch or so in your pan, that's still a lot of sap. There's a formula to figure out how much...I'd estimate 4 to 6 gallons depending on how low you drop the level.
Exactly. I do have a couple of 2.5 gallon jugs I can use for this. And I think if I can keep enough kindling on hand, I can let the real fire burn down, and then just feed it kindling until it reaches the level I want.


I'm curious why you upgraded to a 2x4 with only 9 taps. Are you going to significantly increase your tap count? A 2x4 on 9 taps I think is going to be way too big. As I said, even if sap flow is really good, you're going to have a hard time feeding that evaporator.
Yeah, that would have been silly. Even the 2x3 with 15 taps might be more evaporator than I really need, but if I'm going to invest in a real evaporator, I'd rather have room to grow, and I really like the Mason.


I was just down in Chester last weekend for my sons soccer game. First time visiting. Beautiful country and a nice little town.
Yeah, the hilltowns are beautiful. I always enjoy my time there, even if I'm working my butt off all weekend. :)

Thanks for the tips,

Gabe O

[maple flats]

Do you plan to stay with 9 taps, or maybe the 15 you had previously or maybe even more? Do you have potential for 20 taps? On average you might get 1 gal/tap/day. On a good day, maybe 2-3 gal but that will not be your average. Without getting too convoluted you need to make a plan. Do you have electric at your camp? What about refrigeration? You can freeze sap, but if you got an RO, the concentrate spoils fast unless cooled to the right temp. In a recent Maple News article there was a table showing freezing point vs sugar %. To get the longest storage life on concentrate, (either boiled or RO'd) you need to cool it to just above the freezing point. If the concentrate was made by boiling, the micro organisms have been killed, it will keep longer without needing such precise cooling, if you got it by an RO, the micro organisms have been concentrated along with the sugars, thus proper cooling is a must.

[berkshires]

Do you plan to stay with 9 taps, or maybe the 15 you had previously or maybe even more? Do you have potential for 20 taps? On average you might get 1 gal/tap/day. On a good day, maybe 2-3 gal but that will not be your average. Without getting too convoluted you need to make a plan. Do you have electric at your camp? What about refrigeration? You can freeze sap, but if you got an RO, the concentrate spoils fast unless cooled to the right temp. In a recent Maple News article there was a table showing freezing point vs sugar %. To get the longest storage life on concentrate, (either boiled or RO'd) you need to cool it to just above the freezing point. If the concentrate was made by boiling, the micro organisms have been killed, it will keep longer without needing such precise cooling, if you got it by an RO, the micro organisms have been concentrated along with the sugars, thus proper cooling is a must.

Hey Dave,

As I mentioned in the post right above yours (sorry, it was long, so I don't blame you for skipping it) I plan for 15 taps this year, and I have no electricity. I have the potential for probably well over 100 taps if I wanted, but I haven't the time or interest in that. Particularly since many of the trees are very crowded and have low sugar. And many others are very dispersed, and would take a lot of scrambling on steep terrain to get to. I'd rather pick and choose the best trees, and those closest to the sugar shack. Anyway, I have no interest in selling my syrup, so I'd probably top out at 20-25 taps max.

Not sure what you're getting at regarding RO, storage of concentrate, etc. I could potentially bring a big deep-cycle battery with me and run an RO off that for a few hours, but it doesn't seem worth the hassle, honestly.

GO

[maple flats]

berkshires, FYI, I did read your entire post. I just did not notice a higher tap count possibility. My point was that with just 9 taps the amount of sap, especially in the early part of the season will be quite low, maybe not enough to even start a first boil for a while. When you first start in the season, you want at least 3 hours boil time at full boil before there is enough sugar in the pan to protect it from freezing. Most 2x3's will boil about 6 maybe 7 gph and you want to end up with about an inch in the pan as you shut down. 2' x 3' = 6 sq ft, at 1" deep that is .5 CF or almost 3.75 gal. If you evaporate away 18 gal and end up with 3.75 gal, you will want almost 22 gal for a first boil. On 9 taps, that could be a challenge until the main part of the season hits. 20 taps would help.

[berkshires]

My point was that with just 9 taps the amount of sap, especially in the early part of the season will be quite low, maybe not enough to even start a first boil for a while. When you first start in the season, you want at least 3 hours boil time at full boil before there is enough sugar in the pan to protect it from freezing. Most 2x3's will boil about 6 maybe 7 gph and you want to end up with about an inch in the pan as you shut down. 2' x 3' = 6 sq ft, at 1" deep that is .5 CF or almost 3.75 gal. If you evaporate away 18 gal and end up with 3.75 gal, you will want almost 22 gal for a first boil.

Yep, agreed. I'm all on buckets, so I try not to tap too early. I do try to keep an eye on the forecast, and I typically get 1.5 to 3 gallons of sap my first week, but there have been years where it took several weeks to get there. Mother Nature always has the last word!

GO

[maple flats]

Being on steep terrain you should try 3/16 tubing. You will then not need to haul heavy sap on steep ground. I suggest you try 3/16 lateral(s) with 5/16 taps and drops. On one line you could put 20 or 25 taps and then get a food grade tank (maybe 2- 55 gal food grade barrels), make covers that are secure enough to keep critters out. This will not eliminate needing to climb the steep hills because you will want to check for leaks, but no heavy hauling and you will gain the advantage of natural vacuum. For that few taps, you could just carry a thermos of HOT water, dip the tubing into it just long enough to soften a little, then push the tubing onto the fitting. 1 roll of 5/16 (500') for drops ( or buy ready made drops to get the qty you decide to go with) and 1 roll of 3/16 (400', 500' or 800' depending on brand) tubing will get you set for years. In that case, tubing will be your friend, the steeper the terrain the better it helps.

[berkshires]

Hey Dave,

Yeah, I've given tubing some thought, but at present none of the trees I plan to tap are up on the hill. If I ever wanted to significantly expand my operation, that would for sure be the way to go, but the nearest substantial sugarbush is a long way up the hill, and I don't need to get into those trees at all right now.

GO

[therealtreehugger]

The one thing I'm most worried about with this method is that the dividers in the pan are just tacked to the floor of the pan, so if the frozen sap expands under the dividers, could it warp the pan and open up the space between the pan and the divider more and more every time it freezes? Maybe even pop the tacks?

O

In reference to your pan only being tacked - our pan was only tacked the first year we used it, and getting it fully welded made a big difference. However, we had no problem with it freezing all the way to the bottom. I have gone out the morning/day after, and seen an inch lower than when we left it the night before, even after the boil died down, so I make sure to leave at least two inches before I call it a night.

[maple flats]

I agree, have 2" in the pan when you shut down, it will evaporate down to about 1" just from the heat in the bricks. Put a cover on it, the next week it will be fine.
Many lower end pans have partitions that are just tacked.

[berkshires]

I have gone out the morning/day after, and seen an inch lower than when we left it the night before, even after the boil died down, so I make sure to leave at least two inches before I call it a night.

That's very helpful to know, thanks!

GO

[TapTapTap]

I agree, have 2" in the pan when you shut down, it will evaporate down to about 1"


I agree that it will continue to evaporate down. But until now, I haven't considered whether it would be a concern implied in this post. It shouldn't burn the pan since the heat should be well below that level, as evidenced by the lack of intense boil. It might throw off the gradient but I don't see that being a big deal. And, I don't think less sweet is likely to freeze any harder causing stress on the pan, particularly since the sugar concentration should be twice as high.

It also seems that evaporating off 50% without adding any more fuel will greatly improve efficiency.

Am I missing something?

The only reason I see for covering the pan is to prevent anything from falling in and contaminating the product - which I think is an excellent reason to cover!

[jrgagne99]

This might go without saying, but you'll need to cover the pan after the sap has cooled down almost completely, otherwise any condensate on the underside of the cover will just drip back in to the pan. Unless you make a cover with condensate collection channels, like a steamaway (sarcasm).

[berkshires]

I agree that it will continue to evaporate down. But until now, I haven't considered whether it would be a concern implied in this post. It shouldn't burn the pan since the heat should be well below that level, as evidenced by the lack of intense boil.
I'm really glad several people raised that issue. If I left 3/4 of an inch in the pan and took off for the week, and then came back a week later to start a boil and found a tarry sludge stuck to the bottom of the pan I would not be happy!


The only reason I see for covering the pan is to prevent anything from falling in and contaminating the product - which I think is an excellent reason to cover!
Or jumping in. Finding a dead critter in a bucket is one thing, finding my whole pan contaminated would really suck.

GO

[therealtreehugger]

When shutting down for the night, I try to wait as long as possible before heading inside, just to make sure I have enough sap so it doesn’t burn. Sometimes I do put a cover over it, a loose cover, sometimes I do it in the morning, when it is mostly cool.

BUT - don’t underestimate how little heat it will take to burn, if your liquid level is too low!! I have seen it happen! Burnt maple taffy is not what you want! Then you have to clean the pan too. Been there done that! It takes a lot to burn down a fire. It will stay quite hot/warm for a long time. How many times have you gone camping, let the fire die out after roasting marshmallows at night, then in the morning you stir it up and there are still coals? In your fire box, the primary place that heat goes is to your pan!

[bigschuss]

You'll get the feel for it the first few times you shut it down. Letting your fire burn down and feeling comfortable enough to walk away from it is a fairly lengthy process. I do not watch my pan during the process...I gather some sap, clean the shack, return to the house and eat dinner, etc. Bring something to Chester to do while you're waiting, as you're probably looking at least 2 hours (maybe even 3) before you're comfortable leaving the shack and heading home. If you have any doubts, add 2 or 3 gallons to your pre-heater and crack the valve while the evaporator cools.

Do you have anybody you trust in Chester who might be able to bring your pan to a boil mid-week if temps. get warm? I'd hate to see you go through all of this work and travel just to end up losing your sweet to bacteria. Late season when temps. get warmer it might be a good idea to do a Wednesday boil to sterilize your sweet and the pan. Or take the sweet home and freeze it which I think was your plan, correct?

[DrTimPerkins]

Do you have anybody you trust in Chester who might be able to bring your pan to a boil mid-week if temps. get warm? I'd hate to see you go through all of this work and travel just to end up losing your sweet to bacteria. Late season when temps. get warmer it might be a good idea to do a Wednesday boil to sterilize your sweet and the pan. Or take the sweet home and freeze it which I think was your plan, correct?

+1 on this suggestion

[berkshires]

+1 on this suggestion

I'm not sure if there's anyone I would want to ask, but assuming there was, how would this work? I mean, there's 2" in the pan when I shut down the evaporator, and that reduces to 1" over the next day. If they get a fire going good enough to start a boil in the whole pan, and then stop adding wood and walk away, won't that 1" of sap it boil away and burn? I may not be very good at math, but it seems to me that If no-one's adding sap, then 1" of sweet minus 1" of boiling off = very bad. LOL

Or is the concept that a quick fire won't put much heat into the bricks, and won't boil off as much sap. I'd be pretty spooked about putting this to the test without me (or anyone!) around, if it doesn't go according to plan.

GO

[Maplelane1]

I purchased my first evaporator this fall, Lapierre Vision 2x6, so I'm researching and planning for my first boil in the spring and the info in this thread is excellent !

Thank you all for your contributions !