I boiled the 85 gallons today, will finish and bottle it tomorrow. I made two separate batches in the one boil.
It should have been a decent sap run today, but I never collected anything.
As you mentioned there could be some no sap days ahead.
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I boiled the 85 gallons today, will finish and bottle it tomorrow. I made two separate batches in the one boil.
It should have been a decent sap run today, but I never collected anything.
As you mentioned there could be some no sap days ahead.
We boiled 290 gallons to make 4+ gallons of syrup
Sap is very low sugar content for us at the moment
Collected 70 gallons of sap this morning. I may boil it tomorrow
This afternoon I finished yesterday’s 85 gallons of sap and I bottled it and made 9 litres of syrup. In the picture it looks darker than it is, and if time I will take a picture with sunlight behind them
I have to say the best tip I received on this site was from Someclown about buying welder gloves. They have been invaluable loading the firewood and grabbing and moving the pans.
I not only have been using my induction elements for preheating the sap, but I have used them for finishing and tonight I used them for bottling. It was so simple to maintain the 180 to 190 temperature throughout the bottling process.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0feR...znc4v2upLoEVkg
Looks like minimal sap flow for the next week. Hopefully the forecast changes a little. I will do a collection on Saturday so that anything in the pails and barrels do not freeze solid.
There's a slow run today, not sure how long it will last,. When I went and snowplowed my parking lots at 330 am it was only 0*c. Its now +6*c. Had a slow run yesterday as well. Hoping for another 2 day run before a big freeze this weekend and then back at it late next week by the looks of the forecast. I will collect and bury everything in the snowbank and boil it all Sunday.
Boiled my 55 litres a couple days aqo and managed close to 1.25 litres of syrup the with real nice flavor and lots of niter. I think some rain water got in one of my pails
Well I tried to boil the 70 gallons today. I had a new wind direction, but it was not a strong wind. It caused all of the steam and smoke to stay in the shelter and when it did blow out, it blew out to the entrance. At times I could not see the hand in front of my face. I limited my time in the shelter and stood out in the all day rain. I breathed in more smoke today than in my entire life combined. I am feeling it. The weather also caused a down draft that slowed the evaporator.
About 6 hours in, the evaporator stopped boiling, I tried to figure it out, but couldn’t and because I had a zoom call I had to chair, I pulled the pans off the evaporator and will finish it tomorrow. When I did that I discovered the problem. I had pushed the coals up the ramp and it was almost totally blocking the draft. Lesson learned.
I also should have learned not to stay in the shelter as long as I did.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/014t...9OeI5pSWQQzReg
This is a picture of the syrup I bottled yesterday from the third batch of the season.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/036_...FQvdEBC5NrWzNA
I am boiling again today, completing the 70 gallons from yesterday, wearing an N95 mask. Yesterday’s smoke in my lungs was not a fun thing.
I may boil the 24.5 gallons I collected this morning.
My cinder block evaporator is not smoke tight, especially after I removed the ceramic blanket material I was using as gaskets. It is becoming obvious to me that at least mine is not meant for an enclosure if the winds are not right, and if I decide to build a permanent sugar shack, I need to look for a real evaporator, or stick with this one and just build a tall roof overhead.
we boiled on a cinder arch in a Shelter Logic car tent.
My suggestion - worry less about the pan gaskets and figure out a way to at least vent the gases from the arch.
We filled the cinder blocks with sand- that stopped alot of combustion gas.
Also used the gasket, foil, sand combo to ensure the 6" stovepipe would carry away the exhaust gases.
sand, foil, sand is a good season long gasket- and easy to clean-up
Later in the afternoon, the winds changed and the smoke was not as much an issue and places that were leaking before were not as bad. If I keep the cinder block evaporator next year, I will do something different for the door.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maplesapper
I don’t really have any leaks on the walls, it is at the door and along side the pans.
The boil today took longer then expected. I realize now the day I had an evaporate of 11.5 gph, was the day I pulled ice out of the pails and that must have been the difference.
I finished boiling the 70 gallons and an additional 24.5 gallons. Based on the weather forecast, I likely will not have another boil for a week. Tomorrow I will collect what is in the barrels and pails before the freeze Saturday night. I do not expect much. I will also finish and bottle what I boiled today.
Picture was later in the day today when the steam and smoke were leaving the shelter, as it did for the first three boils. The N95 mask was helpful today, when the smoke was bad, but not perfect.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b9-...WxD52zaUgCL54Q
I collected 43.5 gallons of sap today, but with the cold weather coming tonight, I will likely not boil it until Wednesday. I will keep it real cool until then and may put it out Tuesday so it can partially freeze.
I have collected 28% of my expected sap so far.
We will be shut out of sap flow because of the cold weather until Thursday, but starting Thursday it looks like fantastic conditions for sap flow.
Today I finished the 94.5 gallons I boiled yesterday and will bottle it tomorrow. I think my should get 9, possibly 10 lites from it.
Yesterday’s boil of 358 Lites produced 11.5 L of syrup. The syrup is lighter than it looks in the picture. It is an amber colour when held up to the light.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/06eV...6zQw1jbHIEmHWA
I believe that is 3.07% Brix for sap--- you are a lucky dog
These are the colours of my first four batches, first to fourth, left to right.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/06aB...je501OpFUZod2Q
I am hopeful the flows starting Thursday, will really pick up. The more I make, the more generous I can be with family, friends and neighbour’s.
I am starting to look at some custom made evaporators made in Owen Sound. I just need to find the right time to approach my wife about the cost. The one I am looking at, will have a flat pan and a preheat and finish pan and could boil 15-18 gph.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0d2T...QNJ-PUcXnj4sqg
Wanting it and convincing my wife is two totally different things, so we will see what happens.
I boiled 66L down to 1.25L of syrup. 52.8:1ratio. I have low sugar content this year.
I checked the sugar content with my refractometer and it was just about dead on what you calculated. It started off with 2% my first time I checked it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maplesapper
I am putting my 43 gallons of collected sap outside during the day, hoping it will freeze up a bit and I will remove the ice and put it back into my garage which is at 5°. I will keep doing that until Wednesday’s boil.
On Thursday I may have to put up danger signs on my property, the sap is going to flowing so hard with a +13 now in the forecast after the deep freeze. I wish I had chosen the high pressure 3/8” tubing. 浪
If this forecast holds, it is a sugar maker’s dream.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/025b...LG4BWrqQdRXpNw
Don’t want to burst any bubbles, but the ones in your picture look to be 2’ x 4’. You would be hard pressed to average 10gph on a 2x4 flat pan, even with a blower. To average 18gph under 5’ long, you are going to need a flue pan.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingpure
Maybe they make those too. In for a penny, in for a pound :)
Seems like your bubble burst is Truism.....
We run a 2x4 7" raised flue pan and a 2X4 divided flat pan. Arch is AOF and AUF - we are luck to average 22-20 gph consistently.
For my money- jump into a flue pan and enjoy the time savings
That may not be the identical one. They offer different boiling capacities and the one I would buy, is the one they list as 15-18 gph.Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_Eddy
“ Custom building maple syrup evaporators and pans. Fire boxes are made from 3/16” plate steel then fully lined front to back with 2” firebrick. All units are painted with high heat paint. Chimneys are stainless steel measuring 9’ tall and 8” diameter. We have made cast doors and cast grates to go on all units for the 2022 season will be adding pictures in the future. Building 5 Standard units but not limited to.
3-4 gph 1-30 taps
13-15 gph 20-70 taps
15-18 gph 40-100 taps
20-21 gph 100-250 taps
28 gph 125-300 taps
All pans are made from 22 gauge stainless and fully tig welded. Options from flat pans, divided pans, flue pans. Float boxes and blowers on the fire box can all be added.”
Forgive my ignorance, can a flue pan also be used for batch boiling, or are all flue pans, divided pans?Quote:
Originally Posted by Maplesapper
I was able to remove a bunch of ice from the pails I put outside this morning and left some ice in them to help keep them cool while they spend the night in my garage. I will do the same thing tomorrow as well.
I emailed the seller and it is a 2x4 and 1x2 and he says it can definitely do it with the right arch, and he sells 52 of them to satisfied customers each year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_Eddy
So that means 2x5 flat pans including preheat. Without blower 10gph all day long. With a blower, 15 is reasonable. You will hit 18 and maybe even 20, but you won’t average that over a day of boiling.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingpure
You will easily keep up with 100 taps though.
Flue pans must be divided from the syrup pan. You can separate batches of syrup by closing the valve or blocking the opening between, but you cannot take what’s in the flue pan to syrup. Flue pans are better suited to sweetening once and then “daily” boils, leaving the pans full between boils.
For what it's worth Gary, I realize the money thing is a lot, but from personal experience going from a flat pan then to a divided pan and finally getting the raised flue pan. I often wondered why it took me so long to make the decision. Although you will not batch boil with a flue pan once you get it sweet it remains that way for the season. You may have to drain and clean it depending on nitre build up, more so on the syrup pan. In the end you will be happy with a flue pan. I forgot one thing include a blower for the arch.
I think I have a little trepidation with the flue and divided pans, because I know little about them other than just in general, but mostly I worry if I get enough sap in sufficient quantities to sweeten it and keep it going.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pdiamond
So far my collections have been 45 gallons, 45 gallons, 86 gallons, 70 gallons, 25 gallons and 44 gallons. (Now this coming Thursday flow looks so good, I could have well over a 100 gallons.)
Also it is my belief and it could be wrong, that you can have more disasters with the flue, divided pan combo, whereas a flat pan is pretty straightforward as long as you do not fall asleep or walk away from it.
I still have the find the right moment to approach my bride about it, which may come at the end of the season when I say I love sugar making and need something better for less smoke and greater efficiency.
Well my sons hockey season finished up for the season, so I will have some more time for syruping. We are going to take Thursday and Friday off and head out to the property for a few days. He's pretty excited to be missing school to make some syrup.
I went out today for a few hours to check on things and empty the buckets. Every bucket was pretty much over flowing with half water/ice. So I have around 100 gallon to boil down with more to come on Thursday by the looks of the weather.
watch the Smoky Lake video of the operation of the 2 x 4 raised flue operation, making better than 50 gph. If you have the float boxes and sight glasses on the float boxes you can set it up so that for the first year or two you run the flue pan and syrup pan a little deeper than necessary. I still run my syrup pan at 2 inches, that is where I feel comfortable with it. This year is the first year I ran the flue pan at 1.25 inches over the flues. Before I always ran it at 2 inches over. Its normal to feel that way about one of these rigs. And no matter what you use you NEVER leave it unattended when boiling.
I run a homebuilt air tight oil tank evaporator that has a flat 2x3 divided rear pan that feed a 2x2 divided front syrup pan. I am only on 51 taps and have no issues keeping this thing fed. I typically do multiple short boils per week after work in the 3 hour range and can avg 15GPH over a 3 hr boil. I do have an air under fire (AUF) blower and 2" of insulation in the arch. Big_Eddy is spot on with his evaporation rates, i can hit 20+GPH if i am running wrist size dry wood. The key is having the separate 2x2 front pan, if i was running just one single 2x5 pan i would have a harder time keeping it running with only 51 taps. Two weeks ago i had to drain the pans due to a super warm stretch we had and that 2x2 front pan is super quick to get sweetened again. I was pulling syrup off after about 50 gallons.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingpure
Put the pails outside again during the day today, and removed some more ice. I put them back in garage which I am keeping at 3° for the sap.
I will likely boil the 40+ gallons tomorrow, once it warms up a little, as Wednesday’s weather is looking worse with freezing rain in the forecast. Thursday is still looking like a super day for sap flow.
Collected 130 litres with ice removed and boiled it to around 4 litres yesterday as it's not filtered.
I was able to figure out that is the minimal amount of sap I need to be able to finish it to syrup right in my flat pan without burning it if I keep the fire small when nearing the end. Then its just minimal propane burner to get it to brix. That's exciting for me as I was spending a lot of time on propane previously to get it to syrup and brixing it on my wife's stove in the house. She's happy too!!
Now I just have to use her stove for bottling.
Someclown. I'm also using a New homemade 2x3 evaporator and flat plan. Based on your work, what is the minimal amount of sap needed to be able to finish it to syrup right in the flat pan without burning it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Someclown
I talked to that same builder last year but my maple partner (a.k.a. the wife) vetoed the decision. Went with a 2x3 flat pan on a home-built oil tank that can be expanded to fit an additional 1x2 or 2x2 pan in the coming years. Would love to hear from people who use his rigs but I don't know anyone who bought one up this way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingpure
I would say minimum150 litres but there's a LOT of variablesQuote:
Originally Posted by maxmaple
Yesterday was the first time I got brave enough to try it and started with approximately 130L of sap as there were a couple big spills after measuring , dohh!. I slowed the boil by only adding twigs to the fire to keep a bit of a bubble in the pan when it was about 3/4 to an inch deep. My pan is not quite 2x3 its actually 22Wx33Lx8H and I can't recall what gauge stainless and not perfectly flat either as it was made for free but very close to flat and works great, so a lot of variants going on. The fire wasn't hot enough to burn the edges of the pan were it sits on the rails were the least amount of syrup was in that area. I'm not positive but seemed like about 1/2" probably less, left in the pan when I was finishing and I did not boil at that stage, it was more like a slight bubble/simmer towards the end as well. DO NOT take your eyes off the syrup for a second at this point, bad things WILL happen. I then raise the pan off the evaporator and open the valve to drain into my pot to finish on propane to temperature and proper brix. Even though it was just a bubble/simmer it was still a lot faster than how I was doing it before in a pot on the propane cooker
By bringing the level that low in the flat pan there is no real way of knowing if you're at the proper brix as a thermometer will not read properly and you cannot remove syrup to brix test, that's why I had to finish the last bit on propane. Maybe a refractometer will work but mine was in the house and I was not going to get it. Never had much luck using it in the cold
outdoors anyway.
I boil outdoors and yesterday was -7*c and north wind made it feel like -17*c or more like -100 but I had to boil as I had other things to do for the next 5 days and my sap was already 4 days old. Another variable if you boil indoors as the wind kept my pan cool
I haven’t been brave enough to finish it in the pan, but I get it pretty close, to minimize the time in the finishing pot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Someclown
I am looking for the right time to broach the subject with my wife. I am going to go at it from a health perspective as I will not be able to take another season of the smoke on my lungs and eyes. If that fails, I might take on a summer job, just to earn about $4000 to cover the price and tax and extras.Quote:
Originally Posted by maxmaple
I cannot do another season with the smoke. Today the wind was in the right direction, I had removed some of the walls and my mask was still pretty dirty halfway through the boil. And the mask does not help my eyes. The mask last Friday was much dirtier.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0dei...32r5q71XDIWr4g
Boiled 43.5 gallons today, I will finish and bottle it on Thursday, when I can have the garage door open.
My boil rate was about 8 gph, but the thing with steam pans is when you consolidate your pans, your boil rate drops dramatically. I have four pans that boil, and when I get down to just one pan, I am losing 75% of my evaporation rate and it takes awhile to finish the final pan, or even the final two pans.
I am hoping I get five litres from it.
Freezing rain tomorrow, but +12 on Thursday and sap should be surging!
Some thoughts on this years' run.
Background. I'm in my 20th year in this hobby gone wrong. My rig is a 2x8 D&G flat bottom continuous flow. I converted it a few years back and figured out a way to burn used veggie oil. Another story altogether. I am pushing 40 gallons an hour with this thing on the veggie oil. When I was running dry, small split hardwood, the best I could get was 22gph.
So far this year I've only bottled 78 litres of the good stuff. Im cleaning my pans tomorrow so I have cleaned the "sweet" out of it. I have 5 gallons at 30%, 5 at 18% and 10 gallons at 10%. That is all in pails now and will settle and then back into the pans once I've scrubbed the bottoms.
I am on hard, rocky maple. Not swamp stuff or river stuff, edge of the road or a grassy maple bush. They are all growing on the shield. Not sure if it makes a difference.
This year the nitre is up. The syrup is a shade darker than normal. I am using more filters. I have not used the skimmer once yet. There has been absolutely no scum to skim. The colour is dark but the taste is early season. Almost rice crispy square or 80s vintage girl guide cookie flavour. It is shocking when you sip the darker syrup and get the butter, vanilla and marshmallow flavour.
I normally make about 370 litres. Last year was only 260. My high is 405. This year I added another 75 taps.
I built my first RO 3 years ago and should have done it 15 years ago. It is a 3x100 gpd filter system with a little booster pump. Works great. Pulls about 100 gallons out overnight after a fresh flushing. I need to upgrade and am ordering a 4x40 system so I am going to sell this little rig. Basically it is the RO in a bucket without the bucket. I am initially getting 1 canister for the 4x40. The pump and motor will be able to handle 3 in series when I expand again. This should bring my 400 gallons of sap a day up to 8 brix overnight. Will save time, fuel and make a lighter syrup.
Anyway, that is the report from Corbeil.
Justin
Wow, 40 gph!Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Walls
Wow, 405 L
I have had little scum as well. The nitre caught in my filters has varied. One time there was much more than the other times.
My buddy ended up with one in Port Sydney. It's the 2x4 with 2x1 and 2x3 flat pans. manual transfer of sap between pans. I'm sure he'd be happy to have you come check it out if you're in the area if you let me know I can put you in touch. Pretty nice work, works well depending on what you are after. I had a deposit down on one of Bross's 2x4 evaps but backed out cause I found a thor 2x4 drop flue last summer after I already gave him a deposit. Heavy as hell cause the steel and full fire brick, I wouldn't have been able to get it down to my sugar shack by the time they were ready in January. Give him a call he's a good guy to talk to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingpure
Thanks, if I get the blessing, I may check him out before making a decision. I had asked about how the sap got from the pre heat pan to the main pan and was a little surprised it was manual transfer. If I was to get it and get a simple flat pan, it almost makes me wonder if getting a 2x5 pan and just add heated sap from my induction elements would be a more productive way to go. It also would be $200 cheaper. To get the raised flue pan and divided pan would be an additional $1500.Quote:
Originally Posted by mgp141