Steam Tray Budget Evaporators - New Size Double Pans

[Openwater]

Made alot of improvements yesterday boiling 48 gallons of sap (77gal before RO). Going from 4" to 6" deep pans definitely allowed us to boil harder/faster w/o worrying about the boil-overs and the defoamer helped alot as well; no more constant foam skimming.
We also used a 30 gallon brewing pot as our "dosing tank" on a propane burner so we were adding 200deg F sap to the pans instead of cold sap. There was also quite a bit of evaporation occurring in the the 30 gallon pot.
We probably averaged about 6 gal per hr evap rate.
Now, wanting to always make improvements, we are wondering if it would be possible to put a continuous flow channel pan on the evaporator. The opening in the angle-iron edges on the top is 11 3/4" x 48". Obviously, this would need to be a custom fabricated pan, but we weren't sure if it would even be possible with only a 11 3/4" width.
See pics of evaporator below.
Any advice, tips or suggestions about custom fabricators, let me know.
Evap interior.jpgEvap.jpgsteam pan evap.jpg

[PeterHolmes]

For cleaning the burned stuff off the steam-tray pans, I recommend a spray product by Sprayway called "Grill an Oven Cleaner".
On the label it says "Institutional Strength" It is yellow spray can with a white top.

It is like an EasyOff-type product. Directions recommend (when using it to clean an oven) that you first heat the oven to 200 degrees (F), then spray it and let it sit and do its thing. If you can get your steam-tray pans into the oven you could do this, but I found this product works just fine at room temp. It foams up as you spray it so just spray it on the problem areas until they are covered with foam. The stuff will drip as it works so make sure you're prepared to catch this so it doesn't end up on that nice wood dining room set. Oh right-- nobody does this type of thing on their dining room furniture, right?

NOTE: If you have a Marshalls/TJ Maxx/HomeGoods near you check it out to find this product . Right now many of those stores carry this product-- $3.99 as of 03/04/2021.

The crud usually is liquefied after 30 minutes of sitting. You don't need to scrub much. If anything is stubborn and still there give it another spray, let it sit, and you should be good to go at that point. After finishing with the grill/oven cleaner just wash the pan with dish soap and rinse.

This works well on stainless steel pans. I don't believe you should use it on aluminum pans however. If you don't wear gloves this stuff will really sting if you have any cuts on your hands, but it won't burn your skin off like other products.

--Peter

[jrgagne99]

There was also quite a bit of evaporation occurring in the the 30 gallon pot.

Your should try dropping an aerator into your 200F warming pot. You'll have a poor-man's steam-away and get lots more "free" evaporation.

[Openwater]

Don't know what a "steam-way" is; and I've only used aerators when fermenting mash for beer. I guess I'll have to do some research on these upgrades. I'll attempt anything once if it's free.

[jrgagne99]

Search Red Roof Maples Bubble Master on this site.

[Openwater]

Ok, I saw some pix of bubblers and see how they operate. I just don't understand how/why blowing bubbles into hot sap creates more/faster evaporation.

[Ocelotsden]

Ok, I saw some pix of bubblers and see how they operate. I just don't understand how/why blowing bubbles into hot sap creates more/faster evaporation.

Heat transfer probably. When liquid boils it creates bubbles turning liquid into gas, so I guess adding more bubbles creates more gas, heat transfet and evaporation.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/ISS_Science_B...1301433765536/

[Openwater]

Another question for the steam-panners: Regarding normal, full-size steam pans, does anyone know what the actual volume of liquid is in the pan when it's 1" deep? 2" deep? 3" deep? I know what the pan sizes are according to the top measurements, which is way different from the measurements at the bottom of the pan. I'm just trying to compare volumes of 1" of liquid in my rectangular pans to 1" of liquid in my round brewing pots.

[aamyotte]

Another question for the steam-panners: Regarding normal, full-size steam pans, does anyone know what the actual volume of liquid is in the pan when it's 1" deep? 2" deep? 3" deep? I know what the pan sizes are according to the top measurements, which is way different from the measurements at the bottom of the pan. I'm just trying to compare volumes of 1" of liquid in my rectangular pans to 1" of liquid in my round brewing pots.

That is a little difficult since the sides are not fully straight due to the non-jamming design and the radius of the corners. I would suggest to fill it with water from measuring cups keeping tabs on how many it takes to get up to each of the depths that you are looking for.

[Swingpure]

If you don't get all of the soap off the pan (and you won't) it will end up concentrated in your syrup giving it an off flavor.

Well that ship has sailed. Not knowing you were not supposed to use soap in a steam pan, I already used dish soap to clean them. I am not sure if the boil test I did yesterday would have cleaned any of the soap away. I guess I have a bunch of rinsing and wiping to do.