how much to draw

[maplekid]

well next year ill be boiling on a 4x5 flat pan(again) and im going to finish syrup in the pan. im curious as to how much to drawoff. i have a hydrometer. do i just keep testing as i draw or what. thanks in advance,nate

[brookledge]

the problem you will have if you have an open pan and every thing in it will all be at the same gradient. it will be difficult to keep it from burning and getting the all of the syrup off the pan. you would be better off getting it close to syrup and then drain the whole pan
If you have dividers then it will help alot. Get it to syrup and draw off as you keep checking it with your hydrometer. It helps to have a thermometer at the draw off so you can monitor the temp and close the valve as it starts to drop. You will need to replace sap at the beginning as you draw it off to keep the same level in it.
Keith

[maplekid]

my pan does have partitions but my therm broke and paying 60 dollars for a new one is just to much.

[3rdgen.maple]

well next year ill be boiling on a 4x5 flat pan(again) and im going to finish syrup in the pan. im curious as to how much to drawoff. i have a hydrometer. do i just keep testing as i draw or what. thanks in advance,nate

Looking at your pictures in your flicker box you got the dividers which will help. Personally I would rotate the pan 90 degrees so the dividers run side to side instead of front to back. I think that way you will keep the drawoff end under the fire box instead of off to one side. I see in the picture that your drawoff is on the back towards the stack now. I would worry about making syrup in the middle channel. It might just be a preference thing but that is how I would run that setup. Put a good syrup thermometer in the drawoff end also. While you are checking syrup for density with the hydrometer the thermometer will give you guidance as to when you are getting close to syrup. When that hydrometer reads syrup look at the thermometer and note the temp. Now there are a couple ways of drawing off. I like to run the thermometer 2 degrees above syrup and continue to drawoff until it drops 2 degrees under syrup. This way I am comfortable knowing I got all the finished syrup out of the pan and reduce the risk of smoking it. And be sure to have a good scoop and a pail of raw sap close by to cover your but when things go crazy. Like when the more you open the valve the less syrup comes out cause it did not drawoff fast enough and you are way way above syrup and you start to smell the hint of something burning. Also when you get close to syrup you might want to slow your boil down by using less wood until you get a hang of it. Do a final check for the right density and dilute if necessay if you are under you could just bring some syrup above density and add that.

[PerryW]

One way to take syrup off directly from a flat pan is to isolate one section of the pan by blocking off the opening between sections or welding (or soldering) in a piece of metal. The you add raw sap only to the bigger section, and dipper sap from the big section into the smaller section. Eventually syrup will develop in the small section of the pan.