Originally Posted by
Openwater
I assumed the back of the arch where the smaller pan is would be the "coolest", but not sure yet. I guess it all depends how fast the two big pans boil-off. I'm planning on keeping a pretty constant drip/flow into the warming pan from the bucket on the "shelf" which I figured would keep it from boiling too hard.
So, do you recommend maintaining both big pans with the same concentration of syurp? Or transfering/ladling sequentially from warmer to pan1 to pan2? I'm still planning on finishing in a pot on a stovetop.
I think you won't know for sure which end is the hottest until you run it. A lot of times the very front is actually the coolest, because the middle of the fire is a few inches back, and the hot gasses are being pulled back from there.
Forget about a warming pan. If you can maintain a boil in all your pans you will boil off more gallons per hour than you would having a small pan doing nothing but warming things up. Then you want to ladle in sequence from the pan where the sap enters to the next pan, and from that pan to the next pan. Here's what I'd do if I were you:
[-][------][------]
Where the small pan is on the front, and the two big pans are on the back. Then you'll trickle into the back pan, which, with its large size should retain a boil. Then you'll ladle from back to middle, and from middle to front. Your front will be the syrup pan.
So the flow would look something like this:
[-] <-- [------] <-- [------] <--- trickle in from tank.
Does that make sense?
GO
2016: Homemade arch from old wood stove; 2 steam tray pans; 6 taps; 1.1 gal
2017: Same setup. 15 taps; 4.5 gal
2018: Same setup. Limited time. 12 taps and short season; 2.2 gal
2019: Very limited time. 7 taps and a short season; 1.8 gals
2020: New Mason 2x3 XL halfway through season; 9 taps 2 gals
2021: Same 2x3, 18 taps, 4.5 gals
2022: 23 taps, 5.9 gals
2023: 23 taps. Added AUF, 13.2 gals
2024: 17 taps, 5.3 gals
All on buckets