Evaporator done! Pan dilema

[Rick_Seebeck]

First let me thank all of you for your advice so far, including all of you who took the time to put pictures on this forum that I have found by searching the threads. I have finished my small homemade evaporator made from a 200 pound LP tank which I cut the top half out of and welded in a box to support a pan. I copied a 55 gallon drum evaporator that I found by searching this site. I am going to use steam table pans but need to choose between using two 20X12 pans or one 20X25 pan. I am leaning toward the two pan deal so that I can boil smaller batches if I need to, as I am only running 20 taps. What should I do? Two smaller pans or one larger one.

By the way I have cleaned my taps and am going to tap on Saturday. My first time! My kids and I are excited!

[jemsklein]

First let me thank all of you for your advice so far, including all of you who took the time to put pictures on this forum that I have found by searching the threads. I have finished my small homemade evaporator made from a 200 pound LP tank which I cut the top half out of and welded in a box to support a pan. I copied a 55 gallon drum evaporator that I found by searching this site. I am going to use steam table pans but need to choose between using two 20X12 pans or one 20X25 pan. I am leaning toward the two pan deal so that I can boil smaller batches if I need to, as I am only running 20 taps. What should I do? Two smaller pans or one larger one.

By the way I have cleaned my taps and am going to tap on Saturday. My first time! My kids and I are excited!

The 2 smaller pans should do well.
My first year at it we had 4 steam table pans and as you run out of sap you fill them with water.

[Fred Henderson]

Also the two smaller pans will be easier to handle.

[Sugarmaker]

Rick,
Suggestion.
Try two pans but buy three so you can have one clean and ready to go as a spare.
Hope your 20 taps run well and make you 20 quarts of good syrup!
Regards,
Chris

[twigbender]

Rick: Don't have any specific advice about the pans although the three pans sounds like a good idea. Your post makes me wish that I had started sugaring when my boys were younger. I can't think of a better way for a family to spend time together in the spring and get to taste the fruits of their labor together. Gotta warn you though, this sugarin' will get in your blood and you're forever thereafter a "goner" as far as rational thought at this time of year. Hoping that you and your kids develop into a good team of "goners" in the years ahead. Have a good season!!

[RileySugarbush]

If your arch is a long as I think it is, you probably have room for two small ones and the big flat. Consider dropping one or two of the smaller pans down in, hanging by the lips, to act as sap pans and setting the bigger pan up front as a syrup pan, with the sides up in the air so you don't burn on the walls.

As you run out of sap, pull the back ones and dump them forward, replacing them with a sheet of metal for the last hour or so if you are finishing a batch.

You may not think you have enough taps for that much pan area, but most here would agree that you can't cook fast enough, and that you will likely have more taps in the future!

[maple marc]

Rick,

Before I bit the bullet last year and bought a real 2x4 evaporator, I used a home-built much like yours. The first year we had three steam pans, but realized there was a lot more heat near the stack to utilize. We added a fourth pan and got a lot more boiling power. We used a 200 gallon pressure tank. As you can see, the pans were hung by their collars down into the heat. The sides did scorch quite a bit. We ladled a lot, added new sap at the front and moved it pan-by-pan to the rear. We maxed out at about 8 gallons per hour, but as you move to your final single pan, things slow down. The last transfers by picking up the pans and pouring were always dicey. I would go with the smaller pans. I don't know if I can send you a photo.

Good luck and have fun.
Marc