Off season evaporator use.
Anyone have some good uses for their evaporator on the off season?
We just used ours for sweet corn. Got a rolling boil of water and filled up coolers of sweet corn with it. Let sit for 30 minutes and cooled down with cold water. We always got held up with having enough hot water. Not anymore. We did 15 bushel including all cleanup in 5 hours. I finally dont mind doing corn.
I am seriously considering a pizza oven accessory for my oil tank build.....
Pete
I thought about doing canning in it. If the walls of your pan are high enough...
Jake
smoky lake 2x6 drop flue SSR on homemade arch
235 taps on 2 gast 1550s and lappiere releasers
24x12 sugar house
2019 Kubota L2501 work horse
Ive thought it would be a good way to pasturise apple cider.
If an Evaporator is lead-soldered, it should NOT be used for canning or cider or other similar things. That’s what led to the issues of lead in syrup during the 1990s. A family processed and stored cider in a lead-soldered maple syrup canner and the children got lead poisoning. Cider, tomatoes and such are very acidic and will quickly leach lead out of the seams.
Dr. Tim Perkins
UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
https://mapleresearch.org
Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu
Sorry, i just had to edit your reply.Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins
Very good point though, I had not heard that had happened but it makes sense.
I used to think lead wasn't a big deal, heck all of our grandparents likely drank from a lead pipe. However, being a dairy farmer and seeing what happened to milk consumption when rBST was introduced and the panic from the consumers that followed my opinion has evolved. Anything that puts a shadow of doubt into a consumers mind about what your are producing and selling is NOT a good thing.
Not to get off point here. I love the idea of getting more use out of the evaporator. Lobster cooker?
Sorry....was typing on my phone.Sorry, i just had to edit your reply.
The concern isn't just about the optics of the situation. Water is generally not acidic, so there is very little movement of lead into solution. Sap and other plant-based material (cider, tomato sauce, etc.) is often quite acidic, as is the vinegar used in canning, so a good amount of lead can move into the solution and end up being consumed. There really is no "safe" dose of lead, and children are affected quite a bit more than adults. The only good approach is avoidance.I used to think lead wasn't a big deal, heck all of our grandparents likely drank from a lead pipe.?
Dr. Tim Perkins
UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
https://mapleresearch.org
Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu
Our maple season was so bad up here it pushed me to think outside of the box.
This summer we made birch syrup, strawberry rhubarb, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, apple cinnamon and spruce tip syrup. We made them in small quantities at first because we were unaware of how people at the markets would respond. Now I know. I will use my 2x4 evaporator to make large batches of each.
The birch and spruce tip was a huge hit,
2016- 32 taps, 3 1/2 gallons
2017- 150 taps, 13 gallons after building an evaporator
2018- goal is 240+ taps. 20+ gallons.
2018 Reality- 235 taps, 5 gallons of syrup. Average 50 birch taps and 3 gallons of syrup.
2019- 180 maple taps, 20 gallons of finished syrup.
~ 160 birch taps, 13 finished gallons of syrup.
Latitude 47.278150
www.facebook.com/livingoffmyland2015
Interesting. Do you give pointers for making any of those?
There wouldn't be any harm in using the evaporator pan to steam lobsters, right? I intend to make an outdoor rocket style cooker. Syrup, lobsters, canning if I get a tall enough pan, maybe a griddle top too.
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