SS Sink

[NedL]

I am just boiling over a cement block fire(which I am designing now). I saw a SS sink on craigslist for $30. It's a good size. Has anyone tried to boil with one? And any suggestions for blocking up the drain hole?

Thanks

[325abn]

Might be to thick SS for good heat transfer. You might be better off spending a few dollars more for a big roasting pan or a few steam table pans.

[MR Electrician]

go to your local scrap yard or re use center or a used restaurant supply place and buy an old sink from there you would be surprised just what you will find.
and as for cleaning it ss cleans up nicely with an sos pad and lots of elbow grease
one caution if you go to the scrap yard make shure it is old kitchen equipment not used in the petro chemical industry(nasty stuff)
or look for an old ss beer keg cut it in half and now you have 2 pans

we started out with an old steam table top mounted on an oil drum cut in half.
worked for 2 seasons till we built a new one
nice dark rich maple syrup
half the fun in this hobby is finding and modifying the equipment
good luck and welcome

[NedL]

Thanks for the ideas. I brew beer so I'll keep looking out for an old keg. The old SS steam pans have been hard to come by around here, but I keep looking.

[tuckermtn]

try ebay for steam pans...ususally $20-25 for a full depth, full length pan.

[325abn]

I think that kegs are way to heavy gauge. No?

[royalmaple]

If you are ever coming up this way, thers is a place in Scarborough, ME (pine point) that has ton's of pans. All sizes. If you want to come up, I can get the info for you.

I have used some in the past. I might still even have some. I think they are gone though now that I think of it.

[Sugardaddy]

Bunch of pans on ebay right now. You can a couple of 12 by 17 ss pans shipped to you for about $50.

A thought I had:

If I'm doing my math correctly, a pan with this size bottom gives about 2gph evap. What if you hung the pan in the firebox, similar to how they hang in a frame for food servixe use? Now the bottom, sides, and ends are all in the heat. You quadruple your sq. inch exposure. Would this really bosst the evap rate uo to the 6-8 gph range? You'd have to constantly add sap to prevent sugar from burning around the hot upper sides of the pan as the level dropped, but that's how we cook down now anyway. You'd have wait for the fire to die and cool to remove the pan as well.

When the sap is getting low, let the fire burn down and out.

[Dennis H.]

I thought about doing that for my evap to finish the syrup but I changed that idea after someone mentioned that you will get a nice burn line just above the liquid level. So I made a plate to set the pan on so that only about 1/2" sets down into the arch. I haven't tried it yet to see how it works but this weekend is looking up for me to start tapping.

[NedL]

I definitely want to drop them in at least a little bit. I'm going to try and figure out a system to lide them off onto a table. Haven't had time to put much thought into that, yet. It may just be trial and error when the time comes. I've convinced my brother to put a few taps in also, so we'll be boiling together. Hopefully between the 2 of us we can figure something out.

Thanks for all the suggestions. If you have any more for a rookie let me know.

[TapME]

NedL, I have been using a stainless sink for 2 years. Mine was 22''x 60'' and I cut the end off that had the drain hole and bent the extra that I left up to make a new end( used a block with clamps and a hammer to bend it up). It works great on my concrete arch. It is faster than any I have had before. The sink is some where between 16-20 gauge I'm not sure. Any questions fell free to ask. Lou

[NedL]

Looks like the sink fell through. I'll keep me eyes out, though. Looks like I'll be doing the EBay route. Only a couple of weeks to go.

TapME, When you bent up what was left for the new end, how did you crimp the corners?

Thanks

[MR Electrician]

I think that kegs are way to heavy gauge. No?

you said it no

the thickness of the ss steel will allow the ss steel to retain heat but it will take longer to acheive a boil. it will also not cool down as fast .when you have a boil on the go.
cheers

[jemsklein]

it also wont lose its boil out side when its windy