Evaporator cleaning for the year

[Bullet]

Any good tips on the best way to clean an evaporator pans at the end of the season?

[ecolbeck]

There are quite a few options

1. Fill the pans with the last run of sap and allow it to ferment for several weeks (months?). The acidic nature of the ooze formed supposedly cleans the pans to perfection.

2. Use a 50/50 ratio of household vinegar to water and soak the pans.

3. Use an acidic pan cleaner available online or at your maple supply store.

4. I believe that certain acidic cleansers for the dairy industry can be used but I would confirm that with another source. Be cautious because it is my understanding that some acids (e.g. muriatic) are not appropriate for use on stainless.

[NhShaun]

Option 2 is my go to method. I believe it may be cheaper if not the same cost as the commercial pan cleaner, but vinegar is more readily available locally. They have 1-1/2 gal containers at Bj's and Costco, Sam's club which saves a few bucks if you have a membership there. The 50$ bottle of leader pan cleaner can be mixed with 160 gallons of water, depending on pan size one container will get you pretty far.

[Gord]

Use a 50/50 ratio of household vinegar to water and soak the pans.

How long of a soak? Couple hours, couple days, couple weeks?
Thanks

[ecolbeck]

Good question. The directions for commercial pan cleaners say to heat the solution to 140 F. I do that and leave it for a week, dump it out, scrub a little, rinse and be done. I don't strive to have perfectly clean pans.

[Father & Son]

I use the white vinegar and water. Fill the back pan above the divider and add 3 gallons of white vinegar, fill the front pan half way with water and add 2 gallons of vinegar. Light the evaporator and bring it up to almost a boil and shut down. In a couple of days light the evaporator again, heat up and shut down. Then all that is left to do is either brush or wipe everything down, drain, and rinse. Very pleased with results. The strength of the commercial acid has always concerned me, I understand you need to neutralize it before you drain it out of the pans. But that is just me, I know people that use it with no problems.

[antelope76]

I also use left over sap the years I have leftover. I fill the pans and let it sit for a few weeks. I come back empty them and give them a good wipe and rinse and they are good to go for next year.

If I don't have extra sap like this year i fill with water and white vinegar and let sit same as I do if using sap.

[Sugarmaker]

Like Father and Son, I vote for the vinegar and water too. I used 6 gallons. 2 in steam away, 2 in rear pan, and 2 in front pan. Filled each with water and brought to 160 ish, a couple times. light brushing , took a week. A little final scrubbing for the tough areas. Drain and rinse, done.
Regards,
Chris

[Gord]

All good information.
Thanks!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We use the acid from the maple suppliers. Once we are done, fill the pans half full with water and acid mix, bring to a boil and let sit for 2 weeks. Very easy to scrub anything left off. Then we pull the pans out, pressure wash them and clean the bottoms with oven cleaner and a pressure washer. The oven cleaner does most of the work. Realize that with the use of old sap, it can get pretty rank which is not an option for us seeing how the sugar shack gets other uses throughout the year.

[Bullet]

Thanks for the input. I used Vinegar and water today 70% water 30% vinegar (5%) and brought it it a boil for about 10 minutes and let it cool down. Tomorrow I will drain and wash the inside of the pans. I have 2 items recomended by Smoky Lake 1. Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish 2. Bar Keepers Friend. Supposed to be for the tougher areas. I plan on taking the advice of most, which is to use Easy Off on the outside and pressure wash. During the boil today I saw the sediment flake off in many of the spots. Most suggest 160F, but I brought to a brief boil, hope this doesn't harm the SS.

[Pdiamond]

Bar keepers friend does work wonders with a regular dish rag, don't use a scrubby or you will scratch the pan, not deeply just on the surface.

[Gord]

I decided to clean my evaporator pan this past weekend. It is a 20" X 30" flat pan on a barrel stove. It has been used for two seasons making around 8 gallons of syrup between the two seasons. It had a layer of niter on the bottom that could not be scrubbed off.
I used a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water. I brought it to a boil, (not intentionally) but even before it started to boil the niter on the bottom began dissolving. By the time the mixture cooled down enough to scrub it, all the niter was gone and the pan looks brand new.
Thank you for posting this method.

[jrgagne99]

I usually use the Leader Pan acid (mix 1 qt to 40 gallons). This year I tried 3 gallons of vinegar and then filled my pans to about 1 inch from the top - about 25 gallons of water. Boiled gently for about 1 hour, then let sit for 1 day. It worked awesome, the pans only required minor scrubbing after that.

[Ghs57]

I've got the sour sap method going, but as noted, it is pretty smelly. I filled the pan to about 1" from the top, which takes about 75 gals of old sap. It's already working and bubbling away, but doesn't stink yet. In my old shack, I would let it go until July 1. Generally, I could just wipe, or power wash, everything clean then after draining the pan. But my new setup is now in a multi-use space, so this may not be optimal any longer, unless I start to like the smell of rotten sap.

[DRoseum]

I use the white vinegar and permeate approach and bring it to a boil. Soak a bit, brush where necessary, drain, and rinse with permeate. It works great.

[BCPP]

I use the white vinegar and permeate approach and bring it to a boil. Soak a bit, brush where necessary, drain, and rinse with permeate. It works great.

I too use white vinegar and water at about 50%. Bring to boil and let it sit for 3-4 days. For the bottom Easy-Off and a pressure cleaner - a messy job! I also use a scraper made by flattening a 1/2" copper pipe, being softer than ss it does not scratch the polished surface.
Previously our most difficult thing to clean was our 250gal poly holding tank as only access was through thec8" hole on top. Last year I found a swivel head for the pressure washer. Had to grind off the safety stops that kept the swivel angle to about 90. Now I can swivel so it's at 75 and easily cleans top of the tank.