Had to clean the evaporator after each of my last two boils

[Big Stoney]

I am getting a build up in the draw of section of my syrup pan and have had to clean it off after each of the last two boils. Yesterday there was quite a bit of niter in the flu pan, but I did not notice a lot of niter on the previous boil. I usually only clean the pan once or twice at the end of the season. I am boiling on a D&G wood fired 30" x 8' evaporator. Is my syrup pan getting bad, bad depth when boiling, foaming too much, making too heavy syrup? I would like to prevent this extra work. Suggestions.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I have been cleaning mine almost every boil. If I don't the niter sticks to the pan and will scorch. It has improved this week but still pretty bad. I'm getting more sand now whereas it was flakes and caked on deposits to the pan earlier in the season.

My pan is reversible with valves...helps but still have to clean every other boil minimally if I'm lucky. Can you reverse yours?

[NhShaun]

How many gal were you boiling each time?

[maple flats]

Each season is different, some I've had to clean every boil or 2, others I might go 2-3 weeks before having to clean.

[TedA]

My comments below are most applicable for hobby size cookers with a drop flue pans. I have Smokey Lake 2x4 drop flue pan. The first few seasons that I had it, I only cleaned it at the end of the season - after 4-5 weeks of use. By then a solid layer of sand/nitre had built us and coated the bottom of the front compartment. Not good. After that, I cleaned the pan 2-3 times per season. This year, I'm less than two weeks into the season and I have already drained it once and cleaned it inside and out - seems to really improve the boil. However, this season, it seems to need cleaning after every 2-3 boils. The cleaning process - removing the float box, draining the pan, removing/flushing/cleaning is a chore so I have considered alternatives and came up with the following.

Since most of the sediment is accumulating in the front two compartments rather than the flue part of the pan, I just clean those front compartments. To do that, I plug the opening from the flue part to the front part, tip the back of the pan up 3-4 inches and then open the front valve. Virtually all the near syrup in the front two compartments drains out (into a filter covered bucket). Then I flush and brush the front two compartments with hot water. Drainage goes into a slop bucket and gets tossed. Once the front two compartments are clean, I remove the blocks in back (lower the pan to level), replace the near syrup that was drained out and remove the plug between the flue section and front section and I'm ready to go. Following this system gets rid of a lot of sediment early, helps the boil and allows me to avoid having to totally drain and remove remove the pan from the arch. It is still some extra work but I can clean the front two compartments in less that 1/2 hour.

[Sugarmaker]

Humm, extra work and making syrup seem to go together.
Regards,
Chris
Keep boiling and cleaning. Change sides if you can?

[sweetwoodmaple]

Hear Hear, Chris.

I have a D&G 3 x 10 drop flue with Cross Flow front pans. I am similar to TedA, plus I clean my pans every boil. Usually between 400 and 800 gallons of sap. I could go longer, but it's not worth having to slow down after niter build up.

My procedure, like others I am sure, is after I draw off my last syrup for the evening, I draw off about 8 gallons of sweet into buckets. This puts very low sugar content sweet in the front pans, which naturally will loosen up niter as the fire goes out and it simmers.

The next morning, I plug the back pan and loosen the connections on my front pan and drain the sweet into buckets and put in the back flue pan. I then put the connections back on and fill the front pans about 1/2" deep with hot water and milkstone remover.

I leave this mixture in the front pans during the day to loosen the niter (since I have a day job). When I return in the evening, I tilt the pans and flush out the milkstone remover and hit the inside bottom with a Scotchbrite. This makes them shiny clean. Once everything is properly flushed out, I connect the front pans again (but leave the plug in the rear flue pan). I dump about 7-1/2 gallons of sweet (last 1/2 gallon stays in the buckets with the sugar sand sediment) into the front pans and start the fire.

After the pans are both boiling, and the float is letting in fresh sap, I pull the plug between the two pans. This restores the gradient and I am making syrup again within an hour.