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This week was really warm and my sap has a little film floating on the top. Like spit almost and it is a little slimy. I can skim it off for the most part, and the sap otherwise looks and smells...

Wow, Twin Chimneys, that thing looks awesome! How do you vent the steam?

Well, my first ever evaporator was a 5 gallon stock pot on a fire but after 14 hours of boiling with very little progress I abandoned that one...

Here is my setup. It is made from a heating oil tank and some steam table pans. I put a video of it on my youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEpoo4PExzs 17723

That sounds awesome! Do you leave the strawberries in the syrup or strain/mash them out?

I had a similar setup last year and this year I made a much more air tight rig out of a heating oil tank. It is still pretty smokey though. I think with the pans recessed down into the fire, you...

Oh, that is interesting! Mine came out so dark, I don't know if you would even see the blueberries but it might be a nice surprise when they come plopping out. The one thing I am wondering is if it...

I have heard of some people making a blend of maple-blueberry syrup so I made a little test batch tonight. It turned out delicious! I started with 3 cups of unfinished syrup (@63brix), added 1 cup...

I'm thinking fire bricks would pretty much last you indefinitely in an evaporator that only gets run for one month out of the year. As long as you don't accidently crack one in handling. For what...

Yep, Amazon! Search for Ceramic Insulation. Are you just planning to line the outside of the barrel or will you be putting any on the inside? I'm thinking it will last pretty long on the outside...

Thanks for sharing! I am going to boil tomorrow with this wire fence stuff I stuck in there. I don't think it will last long but I can at least test the idea. Probably my best bet is to go grab a...

Ooh, I also have some chicken wire I could tack under the grate to hold the coals up. I might give that a try first and go from there.

I can do that! I just need to go grab another fence post from Lowes. Makes sense that you would want all the hot coals to stay above the air source so that it has to blow through them.

This should help! I made a grate from steel fence posts that sits right above my vents, inspired by berkshires grate. I also threw a few pavers along the sides. They aren't fire brick, so there is...

Awesome, berkshires. I will have to look around for some stainless steel containers that I can use to preheat/insulate. I don't really want to buy a bunch of fire brick, and I don't really mind...

Awesome Idea with the fencepost. I will totally do that before I fire it up this weekend. Looks like a pretty legit design you have there. What is the box hanging off the side for? Warming?

Thanks! The AOF system is probably a little much for my budget setup. I would love a blower if I can find one laying around. Right now it really boils hard enough for my volumes but anything that...

Hey guys. I made an evaporator from an old heating oil tank and put a baffle so that the exhaust heat has to run acrossed the bottom of the pans before exiting the chimney. Right now my middle pan...