End of season pan cleaning

[lyford]

First year with nice shiny new pan. I've cleaned it twice during the season with vinegar and had good results. Each time I only filled the pan a couple inches deep which didn't reach the build up on the sides. Do most people just scrub the sides or do they fill pans all the way up with the vinegar solution to clean up the sides. Also what do you use to scrub the inside of the flues. Thanks.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Last year I filled it with 10 gallons of vinegar and tilted it to one side, then the other for a couple days each side. Cleaned up as good as new. This year I am trying citric acid mixed with permeate. Works great so far and no where near the odor of vinegar. I used a food grade citric acid by the way. I have found that bringing the solution to a boil really helps. You can use distilled water if you don't have permeate available.

[Ghs57]

Last year I filled my pan with maybe 3 inches of late season sap and let that age in there for awhile. The smell is awful, but it cleans up the pans with no effort at all. I will do it again this year if I have enough sap at the end. It's a good option if you can leave the pan to soak undisturbed for a month or more.

[DrTimPerkins]

Basic simplified approaches....more details available in the archives (do a search) or in the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual.
1. Sour sap method....fill evaporator deep with sour/buddy sap at the end of the season (stuff you don't want to boil) and let it set for a long time (month or more). It'll turn sour, then jelly-like, then turn to vinegar. Very slow and stinks, but works fine.
2. Vinegar method....fill deep with water, add vinegar, let sit for several days to a week or so. Faster than #1, but still smells some. Costs more.
3. Pan acid. Fill with water, add pan acid (typically phosphoric acid). Warm up a little and sit for a day or two. Faster, costs some, hazardous material -- need to neutralize with baking soda when done. Don't use this method (or use with care) on soldered pans.

[lyford]

Thanks for the info guys, i think I'll use vinegar again since I already have a few gallons laying around. Last thing left to clean is the pan, and then start drawing up plans for the new shack. Hope everybody had/has a good season.

[dcast99]

The first 3 years we rinsed out both pans then filled them with water and milkhouse acid. Got a small fire going and let it sit overnight. Next day drained and flushed both pans. In the fall we lightly power washed the tops and bottoms of both pans. Last year we diconnected the flue pan from the syrup pan, which we aways do to finish the last of the syrup. We then flooded the flue pan with water while we finished off the last of the syrup. After draining the syrup, we flooded the syrup pan with water and let it sit for a month. It turned to vinigar and stunk. Flushed the pan with water. During the fall power washing we discovered that the syrup pan was riddled with 2 dozen pin holes and most of the welded seems were weeping. Had to have them Tig welded. NOT going to do that again. Did our normal cleaning this year. Still it's pretty bad that 4 year old Leader welded pans would get pin holes and the seams would leak.

[lyford]

dcast, do you think that was from leaving the vinegar to long?

[wnybassman]

I flooded both pans well over the scale line with the last of the sap I hauled in. I'll play with the pressure washer in July or August when it will feel good

[Samuelvw1]

How do I clean the outside of my pan it was a homemade cinderblock evaporator and flames hit the side and it is charged black

Sam
Shelton,Connecticut

[psparr]

Oven cleaner is about all that will work well. Just try to keep it on the outside.