Rookie Questions

[Maine4me]

I have a few rookie questions for everyone. I know they have probably been answered many times before so hopefully this post does not annoy anyone, if so I apologize ahead of time.

I just upgraded to a 2'X3' 3 section pan with a drawoff on the front right side this year from 2 aluminum baking pans last year. My arch is made of cinder blocks with a 6" stack that is 10' high.

How do you know when to draw off with a multi section pan? I have a thermometer in the pan by the draw off, but on my last boil it never got above boiling point of H2O before I ran out of sap only had 35 gals to boil.

When you run out of sap do you just let the pan come down to 1" level then draw the whole batch off and finish? Or should I keep adding water to the pan and do multiple draw offs based on temp? Similar to the question above, i think.

When finished for the day if i'm not going to boil again for a week, should I scrub the pan or just leave it for the next boil?

Thanks again for any help, and hopefully i did not annoy anyone with the post.

Jim

[Gary R]

There are a lot of variables. First, you probably need to boil about 100 gal. of sap in that size pan to draw off. Is everything level? Are you slowly running sap into a corner of the back section? If you just dump some sap in, it will want to mix. Can you see if it's establishing gradiant? Clear in the back, darker in the front? In any case it's hard to draw off syrup on a small rig. If you have a few big runs try it. If not I'd recommend batching it. When shuting down try get the level down to about 1/2" when the boiling stops. This will make it fster to finish on a stove or turkey fryer.

Good luck and have fun!

[tapper]

Jim,
I think you might be happier with drawing off the condensed sap into a smaller pan and finishing it now. 35 gal to start will give you anywhere from 1/2 to 1 gallom of finished syrup and that amount is easier to finish on the kitchen stove.
Scrub your pan now and after each boil it will clean easier after each boil rather than waiting till the end.

[BarrelBoiler]

gary r has the right idea. we have a pan like that on a barrel stove i got from my sister. the last year she used it she had more taps than it was designed for and drew syrup off. it still needed to be finished. most of the times i've used it it a batch system. get it close let the firedie and pour the almosst syrup (with help) inot a stcok pot to finish. have always been able to established a gradiennt. do you have a warming pan? that helps keep the boil going. i usually had about 30gal of sap before i fired up.
keep at it you will get the hang of your rig
have a fun weekend

[Maine4me]

The pan is level, i do see some gradiant from left to right, but the right side was no where near as dark as my finished syrup. I keep warm sap going into the back left of the pan from a coffe can with a hole in it. I keep 6 other coffe cans in front of the evap with sap in them to warm them up. Usally add sap to the pan when it gets to 85-90F.

Thanks for all the help. I'll have to try for more sap and if that doesn't work i'll just keep batching.

Jim

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If you keep adding sap to it each time you start it up without dumping what was in the pan from the prior boil, soon you will be drawing off syrup. I used to do it this way and didn't seem to affect the grade much with restarting each time. Just because it isn't dark don't mean that it should be because you could make light syrup even with a pan like that and boiling it 3 or 4 times before you draw off.

[MapleME]

Not to poach this thread- but I had a follow up question. I am in a similar boat- doing batches and just getting to about 3/4 of an inch before I kill the fire.

I then put my draw off in my finisher, but was thinking I would wait to finish it with the bigger batch I will have next weekend. Do you think this "almost syrup" will be ok for another 7 days? Its sitting in my filter/canner/finisher in the garage.

MapleME

[slammer3364]

Just my first year on evap but picked up alot of good tips on this site. When I shut down I usally have about a one and a half inches in my evap. Sometime it will sit for 4or 5 days before we boil again, fire evap up nad dribble in some sap as my measurement will drop to about 1 inch, will be drawing off in about 2 and half hours on my Hobby evap 18x48 D@G. Hoping to upgrade to 2x6 next year and add about 50 taps. Got goats and adding chickens and some feeder beef in next 2 months . Have Fun

[Maine4me]

Could I draw off the 1/2" in my pan into a turkey fryer pot, put into a refridgerator, then put back into my pan when i start up the second batch 4-5 days latter? Or should I just not waste my time and finish what i get after each boil?

[Gary R]

In my opinion, it's a judgment call. How close to syrup are you and how warm are the temperatures? If you boiled your sap, all the bacteria is killed. You could let it sit for days. Unless it's 60-70 degrees out. Then something else might spoil your sweet. No sense in refridgerating it if your going to boil in 4-5 days and it only gets into the 40's.

Remember, most of the bigger producers leave sweet in there pan all the time. Also, if you can can 1-2 gal. every time instead of a quart or two, there's less filter cleaning.

[MapleME]

Thanks Gary. Just to be safe (because Im going away for a few days) I poured it off to a 5 gallon pail with tight lid and buried it in the snowbank next to my bulk storage tank.

MapleME