Cleaning/White vinegar question

[Bucket Head]

Question. Is all white vinegar, sold in store's, reduced to "5% acidity"? I tried some this weekend and all I seemed to do was waste a gallon of vinegar.

What's the real story here? Are you using non-reduced vinegar? Is there such a thing?

What is the pan cleaner acid? That's what I normally use and that stuff does the trick. What is the acidity of that? Where else can you get that other than from Leader?

Steve

[sweetwoodmaple]

Had the same issues with vinegar. Everyone here touts using it, but I could never get it to work.

As I've posted before, I now use Milkstone remover. You can buy it from dairy supply or TSC. It's only 7 dollars per gallon.

I think the secret with any of these cleaners is getting the water/acid above 140 degrees.

[Father & Son]

Brain,

How many gallons does it take to clean your rig? This is my first year with stainless so this type of cleaning is new.

Jim

[maplwrks]

I Use Milk Stone Remover Also---I Use The Strongest Acid They Make. It Does Help To Warm It Up A Little Also.

[matrob]

I just tried a product made by Delaval called sheen easy. It is a strong acid. It really worked, even when cold. I would try it warm next time. I used it straight, as the dealer recommended, then rinsed several times.

Matt

[markct]

so how do ya use this milkstone stuff, just put it in the pan with water and let it sit, then dump out and rinse?

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

I use apple cider vinegar in my pan , never tried white

RICH

[Bucket Head]

So "Milkstone Remover" is an acid?

Is it stronger than the Leader pan cleaner acid?

What exactly is milkstone? Does milk leave behind a buildup of deposit's like maple?

Steve

[Dave Puhl]

It all depends what you want to use..Yes back in the days when I milked cows we had a palor that milked 16 cows at a time..the system had a automated wash... one cycle was soap then an acid and a rinse..milk does build up deposits and then you get a high bactieria count so then the use of acid ..it ate the crap out of the concrete floors too..I ll stick with the vineager and some elbow grease...

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Here goes for vinegar. As far as the just cleaning the bottom only of the syrup pan, pour in enough to cover the bottom of the syrup pan about 1/8" or less is fine and let it sit overnight, just pure vinegar and no water. It should just spray out the next day. As far as the side walls and the dividers, the next day, just fill up and bring to a small boil and let sit overnight and it should take care of about everything.

I use 4 gallons for my 2x8 or about $ 8 at Sams. Just regular white vinegar. I put 2 gallons in the syrup pan and 2 gallons in the flue pan.

[Jim Powell]

After about 4 boils this year in my batch 2/4 flat pan, I cleaned with vinegar. I used a total of 1 gal. distilled white vinegar, on the precleaner and the evaporator. They looked almost like new when i rinsed..

JCP

[maple flats]

I have used white vinegar, 5% three times during the season. I put 2 gal in the 2x3 syrup pan, warm it a little, let it set for a few hours and then warm again, brush the pans with a long handled scrub brush and rinse well. Last year I only used this but this year after my last boil i have some pipeline cleaner acid for dairy that I will try for my final wash.

[maplecrest]

are we talking about welded or soldered pans here?

[Mapleridge]

We just cleaned our stainless steal soldered 2x4 dropped flue evaporator with a mix of 8 gallons of water, 1 gallon apple cider vinegar and 1 quart of concentrated lemon juice and the pan is very clean.
This is what we did: After the evaporator cools from the last boil, we emptied the pan and added the above ingrediences and heated for about 2 hours ( just heated, not a flat out full boil), let cool a bit, and with a small brush gave all serfaces a good brushing. We then drain the pan and fill with water, add a little wood for heat and a use the heated water to wash our buckets and other equipment. So we run lots of heated water thru the pan to rinse all the evaporator very well. It looks like new and very easy.

[Mackdaddy]

So I have been challenged lately to step up and use Leader's Pan Cleaner rather than my traditional yearly dosage of vineager. What the feedback out there, is it truly worth the cost? Do many of you use and see a big enough difference?

[tom jr.]

Mackdaddy, save yourself a couple $ and go to tractor supply and get some milkstone remover, it works better than pan cleaner. Just be shure not to get it on your hands, it will dry them out and crack your skin.

[Grade "A"]

I use Leader's pan cleaner on my pans, it cleans them very well. But I only use it on my syrup pan that is a 2'x2' so it does not take much.
i have also seen very clean pan with vinager or that leave sap in the pans for months then clean them (works good but really stinks). The pan cleaner had my pans clean in about 10 min. so that is a plus. You also need to flush you pan out after you use pan cleaner so you need water around.

[Maple Restoration]

Hi guy up here I use a product by Dommion & Grimm called netois pan, the mix is 5oz cleaner to 2gal of warm water let soak for 15 to 20 min. A light scrub with a terry cloth rinse with water and the pans are like new. One gallon of this normally gets me to the end of the season. Cost is $18.00 per gallon and save a whole lot of work and time. It works on both welded or soldered pans. Just my 2 cents hope it helps.

[Jim OK]

I have an espresso machine and they have the same issue - baked on mineral deposits in a food grade environment - and the over priced descaling products that industry sells are just citric acid. Citric acid is a food ingredient and comes in a powder so you can dial in your strength by mixing with more or less water. I think I paid 5 bucks for a pound on Amazon. I gonna try it on the evaporator tonight. I'll let you know how it works.