Evaporator Pan Question: size and type

[Jim in Clarkston]

Great web site. I learn something new every visit

I have a question regarding pan size and type. And would very much like your opinion.
I collect about 60 gallons a sap at a time throughout the season and RO it down to 20 gallons of 6% sap. Which ultimately gives me 1 1/2 gallon for syrup. At times this is the daily take but more often than not its is every second or third day.

What would you suggest is the most efficient way to process this sap?
Up to now I have been using pots on a wood stove and it takes me upwards to 12 hours to process.

A 2'x3' pan will evaporate my 20 gallons down to 1" in about 4 hours BUT 1" in a 2x3 pan is 3 3/4 gallons. And I am looking to evaporate to 1 1/2 gallons
A pan that will give me my 1 1/2 gallon @ 1" ( maybe 20"x18") will take about 10 hours to evaporate, which is what I am trying to avoid
The best option would seem to be a 2'x3' continuous feed pan, which gives me my 4 hour evaporating time and leaves me with 1 1/2 gallons of syrup (1") in the third chamber when finished, understanding the continuous draw off of syrup and that I would still have less concentrated sap left in the other two chambers for the next boil.


I am considering a 2'x3' continuous feed pan, as I has access to an evaporator built for a 2'x3' pan.
Am I thinking about this correctly? Do you have any suggestions?

Jim

[raptorfan85]

Sounds like you definately want a continuous flow pan. With that style pan it will take several hours to get the pan "sweet" or to the point where you can draw off syrup. Once you get to that point you can draw off small amounts of syrup, and when you run out of sap you stop and leave the rest in the pan for the next boil. You won't have 1.5 gallons of finished syrup in the last chamber as you said but will have drawn off the syrup while you were boiling and have close to syrup remaining in the last chamber. Thats the best part of a continuous flow pan, you are making and drawing off syrup the whole time you boil once the pan is sweetened. As far as size, are you planning on expanding or adding more taps? If so you might want to look at a larger evaporator then a 2x3, but if you stay where you are it sounds like a 2x3 will work just fine with your RO.

[crzypete]

I wouldn't so quickly decide you need a continuous flow pan. I use a 2'x4' undivided pan to regularly make less than 1.5 gallons of syrup. Some batches end up being as little as 1/2 a gallon. Two reasons this works:

1- Although you can boil at 1", the ramp down in heat at the end of your boil gets you lower in the pan without fear of burning.

2- I always finish on the stove in the house, so I don't need to worry about getting the density just right on the evaporator which is designed for raw power. So if there is still 2 gallons of liquid in the pan at the end of the boil, I am quite close, but not at risk for burning.

Pete