Groves
03-02-2010, 10:45 PM
Homemade dry stacked cement block arch with cement block flue.
As a family man, all I want to do is boil faster. No sense standing around when you could be done and on to other things.
It was this line of thinking that caused me to extend my arch to accommodate another steam table pan, bringing the total to 5.
This worked well enough, so why not more?
Last weekend was batch number 2, so we extended the arch again, and now 7 pans fit.
We also, added some scalloped landscaping edging blocks toward the front, one row on each side of the inside of the arch. Across this span we put some lengths of 3/4 inch black pipe. This is our solution for a grate and man did it make the pans sing!
We didn't even need the blower, and we had all 7 pans boiling.
Now the last improvement. It's really just a shift in philosophy.
You continuous pan guys always run your level shallow because it takes less energy to boil a shallow depth than a larger one. Makes sense.
I had been following that mantra in my steam pans, but then I realized I had been giving up the "giant drop flue" aspect of my steam pans. Midday I switched from running shallow to running deep to take advantage of the screaming hot pan sides.
Wow, I'll never go back to shallow until I get a real pan. If your pans are completely in the fire as mine are, make sure you run em fuller.
Probably things people already know, but if there are beginning guys out there, learn from my mistakes.
As a family man, all I want to do is boil faster. No sense standing around when you could be done and on to other things.
It was this line of thinking that caused me to extend my arch to accommodate another steam table pan, bringing the total to 5.
This worked well enough, so why not more?
Last weekend was batch number 2, so we extended the arch again, and now 7 pans fit.
We also, added some scalloped landscaping edging blocks toward the front, one row on each side of the inside of the arch. Across this span we put some lengths of 3/4 inch black pipe. This is our solution for a grate and man did it make the pans sing!
We didn't even need the blower, and we had all 7 pans boiling.
Now the last improvement. It's really just a shift in philosophy.
You continuous pan guys always run your level shallow because it takes less energy to boil a shallow depth than a larger one. Makes sense.
I had been following that mantra in my steam pans, but then I realized I had been giving up the "giant drop flue" aspect of my steam pans. Midday I switched from running shallow to running deep to take advantage of the screaming hot pan sides.
Wow, I'll never go back to shallow until I get a real pan. If your pans are completely in the fire as mine are, make sure you run em fuller.
Probably things people already know, but if there are beginning guys out there, learn from my mistakes.