Pan Location

[octane]

I am building a new arch for my 2x3 flat pan. I am planning on making the arch 5 feet long to accommodate the pan and two stainless pots that I use for warming the sap.

Would it be better to have the pan at the front of the arch directly over the firebox or should I put the warming pots at the front and the pan back towards the stack?

Either way will be a big upgrade over what I have been using, just looking for the most efficiency.

Thanks

[NhShaun]

The best place for your existing pan would be right over the firebox. Does your pan have a draw off valve and thermo? Also might be worth looking into picking up a similarly sized pan for the back part of your arch instead of round pots or preheating sap. It may be hard to keep the heat in there with all the open space. Flat pans have a lot more surface area which will increase your efficiency over round pots.

[Muddy Bottoms]

Another option is to look into full size steam table tray pans. They are almost 24 inches wide and wouldn't lose the heat from the arch. I have 1 that sits directly on top of my pay with a gate valve on it so I can adjust a trickle into the main pan. The deeper ones will hold 6 gallons and they are cheap. 24 gauge stainless steel so they heat fairly fast especially near the stack.

[octane]

Thanks for the advice.

I do not have a draw off valve. I typically do batch cooking of around 3-5 gallons at a time. I have a large stainless container that sits above my pan with a valve that I control to keep the pan filled with sap. I have previously been using one of the pots to preheat sap to refill this container. I figured with the two pots I could alternate which one I refill with to help preheat the sap to a higher temperature. I already have the pots and container with the valve so will probably continue to use them. I am going to weld a plate across where the pots will sit, if I ever expand to a bigger pan I can cut this out and have the arch already made. To keep the heat in I could cut holes in a piece of insulation board on top of the plate to set the pots into.

[Someclown]

Definitely put the flat pan at the front over the fire box. I just built a homade arch to fit a 2x3 flat pan and it boils anywhere from 8 to 11 imperial gallons per hour depending on the auf and aof setup and how much I pay attention to firing. I have a pre heater tube around the stack which goes into a half size steam pan between the flat pan and the stack then flows into the flat pan at around 100* f.
Works great

[Swingpure]

Do the larger pans typically sit on top of the edge of a cinder block arch as opposed to the steam pans that typically sit down into the arch?

I was thinking of getting a pan like this for year two of making syrup. I suspect it would sit on top of the cinder blocks.

22433

[Pdiamond]

Yes it would sit on top. If you look at some pictures of evaporators you will also see there is a thin insulated material that the pan rests on. It is called rail gasket. A good way might be to mount some one inch L channel on the edge for the gasket and pan to sit on.