So here goes!

[jnmartin]

They say confession cleanses the soul...so I suppose I'll see how it works for cleansng the pan. I'm brand new to this hobby and have done lots of reading both here and other sites. After a week of collecting practically nothing from 22 taps Saturday we finally collected 11 gallons from 17 taps Saturday night. Sunday we took the opportunity to visit a couple of Sugarbush here in Northern lower Michigan. Well I don't have my block fire arch finished but yesterday afternoon I wasn't about to let something as minor as an arch deter me from making my first quart or so of syrup so I hooked up my fish cooker burner and put one of my brand new 12x24x8" steam pans on and proceeded with my first boil. Pre-heating on the cook stove inside it went along very smoothly and much quicker than I had thought/feared. So smoothly it went that by the time I poured in the last of the sap I thought I deserved a break for dinner and a couple of home brews.

I had what I thought was well over a gallon in the pan yet my thermometer indicated there was a good ways to go for it to be syrup. First mistake! So with a big self pat on the back I kicked back and enjoyed a wonderful dinner my wife prepared and even complimented myself on what an accomplished brewmaster I had become. Second mistake!

And finally, since I'm fairly recently retired I'm all about convenience. I set up the fish cooker and boiling operation right outside the front door so it would be easy to tote the pre-warmed sap out to keep the boil going. Third mistake!

Well, when I finally decided to get up off my happy arse to go bring in what I knew would be the finest almost maple syrup I had ever made...well I could see the flames roaring. When I got the burner and propane bottle shut down and with the help of a couple of thick hot pads my wife had made I got the still flaming pan moved away from the house and door and with the comfort of a few expletives I stood and watched how well and thorough sugar reduces itself to ashes and carbon given a little help of heat.

I've had to chuckle at myself this morning while I'm once again boiling down in yet another new pan, the 16 gallons we collected last evening...all with the benefit of lesson learned freshly implanted in the front of my brain.


Now to check the effectiveness of conffessionary pan cleaning

[Run Forest Run!]

You poor guy. What a waste. Do you think your wife will ever let you live that one down?

[DonMcJr]

Man that sucks! For cleaning my pans where the flame licks the bottom I use Hot Water and Barkeepers Friend. But I don't know if there's a better way to clean burnt Syrup....

[happy thoughts]

Ouch! And boy you were lucky! I think many of us have lost a batch to inattention at some time. One time is usually all it takes You'll be watching your boils like a hawk from now on. Chalk it up to Murphy's Law of Maple. A watched pot may never boil but on the other hand, an unwatched pot of sap will always be out to get you. Glad you found it before you lost more than you did. I guarantee the next batch will be delicious

[325abn]

Things change very very fast in the pan Grasshopper!

[Z/MAN]

Nine years ago (my first boil) I could have written the same story as you, almost word for word. I was lucky enough to be able to save the pan but what a way to learn a lesson. As they said, the first taste of your own syrup will make up for it!

[TerryEspo]

OUCH,,,,thats gotta be painful. Sorry to hear the loss, but no biggie, your allready back in action.

Bet it wont happen again anytime soon.

Terry

[jrgagne99]

If there's one good thing about scorching a pan...

It only takes once to learn your lesson!

[shoefly180]

This is my first year to do syrup. I tapped about 20 trees, built a cinder block arch, and used a turkey fryer. My first boil, things went great and I couldn't believe I was able to make such good syrup in such a basic way. I did two more all day boils and had great results. On my fourth boil, like you (also recently retired) I decided to take a little break. I thought all the pans were filled enough, including the turkey fryer. Wrong. As I left my house and looked at boil area, I saw a ton of smoke and knew right away that I had failed. What a mess. I got the pot off the turkey fryer before there was any fire. When the pot cooled down, I looked at it and then threw it into the garbage. My wife got it out later and said she could clean it. I'm not so sure about that. We finished that day with 2 qts. of syrup, but what a waste of about 4 hours of work. A lesson was learned. I would like to move to a better way to produce syrup, perhaps a 2 X 6 evaportor. Any suggestions?

[lisound]

funny story. Tough one to learn but at least you saw the humor in it.
They say you won't remember every season, but you'll always remember your first.

The cost of making maple syrup while sampling your home brews....Priceless!