End of day - now what??

[Lazarus]

OK, first time boiling today on my new Mason 2 x 3. I boiled for 12 hours straight. I do not have any syrup, though the last channel is boiling at 3 degress over boiling point of water. I know I need to boil a few degress more, but I am out of sap.

What do I do now? Do I draw off what I have and finish on the stove? Seems like I need to be closer, but if so, how much do you draw at once?

I've been boiling at an inch and a half deep. I don't think I should let it go lower just to get syrup, won't that possibly burn my pan?

Any help appreciated!

-Laz

[BryanEx]

Two choices... draw off what you have and spend a few hours finishing it indoors OR cover up your pans and leave it as is until you get some more sap.

Option 1 gives you syrup sooner but you will have to go through that 12 hour boil to get back to where you are now.

Option 2 means no syrup right now but you will be drawing off quickly when you have more sap to work with because your pans are now sweet.

[Lazarus]

Thanks for the fast response! My preference is to let the pan cool and not draw off, but I am only running 20 taps, so it might be a few days until I get a sizeable quantity that it makes sense to boil. Plus, I have to work during the day, so best case scenario is a few hours at night to boil, or wait until the weekend.

Will this stuff spoil? High of 43 degrees tomorrow,
then back into the upper 30's on Tuesday ...

[BryanEx]

You will be fine. When you boil you kill any bacteria in the sap which is what causes spoilage. Don't leave it until next August... but until the weekend would be no problem. Just keep it covered to keep debris out as that is what can get bacteria started again.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I would go for the run the rig as its ment to be run. The best thing about constant draw off is........ITS THE SHOW its why we do it. It keeps us busy and gives us a reason to live. People dont want to come over and watch you look at a pan and be told that it will be 12 hrs. You want to be able to tell them that when they get back with the beer you will show them how you do it;)

[Lazarus]

OK, convinced! I'm letting the pans sit. I would rather not steam up the kitchen for that long anyhow. Last question ... once the steam cleared there was this stuff on the bottom, like sediment. It gave the pans a mottled look. Is this sugar sand? If so, I gotta get that out of there right? How?

I'm headed out there now with a kitchen spatula to see if I cen get a look at it. Here are some pictures of the stuff:


http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m282/bloodspoint/Maple%20syrup/100_5840.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m282/bloodspoint/Maple%20syrup/100_5835.jpg

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Yes it is sugarsand and you don't have to worry about getting it out. You could drain and filter and then add the sap back to the pan, but then you will get all the sap to intermix and it will all be the same.

Clean it good after a few boils. I usually clean my evaporator once or twice during the season.

[Lazarus]

Awesome. I tried getting some of it up with the spatula. It's not really sandy or sugary in texture. More like very slimy? It was hard to catch some on the spatula; it acted more like scum. Maybe pre-sugar sand?

[Doc]

OK, convinced! I'm letting the pans sit. I would rather not steam up the kitchen for that long anyhow. Last question ... once the steam cleared there was this stuff on the bottom, like sediment. It gave the pans a mottled look. Is this sugar sand? If so, I gotta get that out of there right? How?

I'm headed out there now with a kitchen spatula to see if I cen get a look at it. Here are some pictures of the stuff:


http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m282/bloodspoint/Maple%20syrup/100_5840.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m282/bloodspoint/Maple%20syrup/100_5835.jpg

Lazarus,

I'm right behind you and keeping track of how things are working out. I have bought the same 2x3, 48 taps and will probably be boiling for the first time on it this week. I would have asked the same questions....THANKS and keep me/us posted!!! Goodluck!!!
Doc

[JuniperHillSugar]

Ditto from Maine. We fired our 2x4 Mason with sap for the first time today. When we were done with our first 40 gallons we let the fire go out and after some cooling time we put on the covers that we had Bill Mason make for our pans. Depending on the weather we will let it stand until we boil again, maybe Tuesday PM. Great thread, after reading to this point, my wife thinks I might know what I'm doing too?:lol:

[Haynes Forest Products]

We all get it and it would be nice to filter the finish pan at the end of the day before the next days boil. Im working on a filter set up to suck out and filter and return to the syrup pan after cleaning the finish pans. Now all I need is 2 small pumps the bungs welded in the 2 SS beer kegs and a small vacumm pump frame and about 6 valves and Ill get the prototype made up.

[3rdgen.maple]

Haynes go to your local pet store and pick up a food grade handheld aquarium filter pump. They are made to suck the fish crap out of the gravel. There is a filter on the discharge that will send the cleaner sap right back in the pan.

[flyboy41]

Great thread, it answered a bunch of questions I had about making syrup in an evaporator as opposed to a baking dish (last year). Thanks for all the good advice. I am hoping to get tapped this weekend and hopefully boil sometime next week. (I guess I am a bit late, but I was advised by a buddy of mine who has been doing this for 15 years to wait until this weekend to tap)

[maple sapper]

What I do to keep things cool during warmer weather is this: I bought a case of poland springs tall water bottles. Cleaned all the lables and glue off. Put them in a chest freezer to freeze them solid. When weather is looking to be really warm, I put a few of them in each channel. This just keeps the pan cooler slows the bacteria issues. Notice I said slows. I also clean my pans a few times during the season to maintain consistant good flavor.

[flyboy41]

Maple sapper,

Do you make maple moonshine? I have been contemplating trying this but am not sure if there is enough sugar in the sap to ferment. If you do make shine, do you have any advice?

[PerryW]

You have now "sweetened the pans".

[Lazarus]

Well, if I have sweetened the pans, then hopefully this weekend I can finally make syrup. Here's a picture of the weekend's boil. Gee, do you think I need a steam hood??

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m282/bloodspoint/Maple%20syrup/100_5826.jpg

Opening the barn doors was little help. There was almost no wind, and it all went straight to the loft. The entire barn roof was wet from the inside. Even putting a fan in the door wasn't much help pulling it down and out.

BTW, I had an awesome run of sap today, even though my reading says it barely got above freezing. It was running so fast that when the temps dropped sharply after dark, I ended up with golf-ball sized chunks of ice completely engulfing the spouts.

[Rockwood]

How are finding the Mason 3 x 2?

It will be my first year with it as well. Can't wait, the sap will not run for another two weeks up here.

[Lazarus]

Well, I don't have much to compare it to. This is my first year. But I like the preheater that drips all by itself. I can see that it would be a pain to continually have to add sap with a batch method. I can also see how having a drawoff is a big plus vs the batch method where you would have to pour it out by hand (even though I still really don't know how much to draw off when the time comes).

I am thinking in the future I might wish it was a reversible pan since I can already see some residue building up, but until I actually have a full blown sugar sand problem, I will hold off on passing judgement.

I can't see a darn thing when I'm boiling sap there's so much steam, but I suspect that's the case with all evaps. Overall, I would say it's working quite well. I plan to boil on Sunday again, and even though I only have about 15 gallons of sap from this week. I should hopefully get a little syrup if I was close last time. If not, it will be enough to knock any bacteria back. Next week looks good for sap (we have said that the past three weeks though).

[Sugarmaker]

laz,
After 12 hours of boiling I usually take a good nap:) You will make syrup the next time you start in short order.

We have very little steam in the evaporator room ( using hoods and steam vent pipes). But I have boiled many hours where the steam was waist deep in the sugar house:) Think of the money your saving from having to get a expensive steam bath at a fancy hotel! Opens the pores and stuff too.:)

Chris C.

[Lazarus]

OK, here's an update ... and a few questions.

I have boiled now FOUR times and probably about 80 gallons total, and I STILL don't have syrup. To be fair, I boiled 12 hours the first time, then 3 hours each of the other times, since it was after work. I am sitting at 6.9 degrees above boiling, so I would expect that I am imminently going to make syrup.

On my first 12 hour run, I definitely saw a distinct color difference between the three channels in my pan, but not since I've been doing these little boiling spurts. I am thinking maybe the issue is that my whole 2x3 divided pan is mixing across the channels every time it shuts down and sits for a day or so. Is this possible, and am I now looking at an entire pan of near syrup as opposed to just the third channel?

How much do I draw off when the time comes, and how will I know when to stop drawing?

-----------------------
Laz
24 Taps
Mostly silvers, a few reds, one lone sugar
Mason 2x3 Evaporator

[BarrelBoiler]

laz
if it was me i would empty the pans into something else and finish off inside
if your measuring almost 7* above boiling water you are going to have syrup in a hurry and you don't want to have that hurry turn into a flash boil and burnt pans. that close more temp control is needed than you can get from a woodfired arch

saw the pics with the steam - nice space do you have a gable end door up above you could open that might help with the steam ?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

It takes aprox 5 gallons of liquid to get 1" of liquid in a 2x3 pan, so you aren't near syrup. I don't think you are having a problem with it mixing, it just isn't syrup yet. Be patient and the time will come and you will get the hang of it.