2x6 Boiling Depth & Batch Sizes

[VTnewguy]

On our 2*6 we use two drops of defoamer every time we fire. 7 minutes.

[tysonroggie]

So does your sap not flow through to the front because of foam or because of a hard boil. When mine is boiling hard and pushing the sap back I don't have foaming issues. It's more the actual rolling boil. Maybe I can grab a picture of it next time I boil.

Haha, Cool! She says hello! Lots of good memories! If you ever need an excuse to come over to the Northern part of the state let us know!

[wmick]

On our 2*6 we use two drops of defoamer every time we fire. 7 minutes.

curious . Whereabouts, in the pan do you add it? At the foam, or at the inlet, etc??
Thanks

[tysonroggie]

VTnewguy,
So does that help slow the boil down or just keep the foam down. I don't really have a "foaming" issue as much as a "too hard of a boil" issue. (if there is such a thing).

[Sugarmaker]

I am not standing there you are. But I will give this a go. First off lets look at your rig. You have a back pan with one partition and it boils like crazy. That is normal and a good thing. I really don't think that it is pushing the sap to the back, you just don't get the rolling boil back there and that's no different on any evaporator. Now to the front pan. You have one partition. (pictures of your pan would help) With only one partition it may not and is not allowing a gradient to be occur and you will basically have the front pan full of syrup. Most fronts have 3 or 4 channels to allow the syrup to be pushed by the less dense sap towards the draw off. So my read is that with the current pan your are going to have the 2-3 gallons of syrup at one time and the long duration between draws. Just the nature of the system you have. Its not set up for continuous flow. Which is difficult to achieve even on a larger rig. Now to the reason about moving sap to the front. You are doing the right thing to not let the front pan go dry when you draw off. You might try increasing the sap input rate several minutes before the draw off and or reducing the fire at the time of draw off. All in all I think your doing ok, syrup is good quality. Keep boiling. You might try running a little deeper too. You may not ever get to a drizzel of syrup. Its just not set up for that. May I ask what is the brix of the sap your boiling? That may have a some influence. Have you checked the sap in various places in the rig just prior to draw off?

FIW I learned to boil on a antique 3 x 10 Warren evaporator with raw sap, (Google it?) Anyway 4 gallon "batches" on a series of flat pans made batches of syrup every 2-3 hours. Syrup pan (2 x 3) was lifted (hinged) to drain through a bung that had to be removed. The pan was set back down dry, you had to flood the pan with sap before it scorched. and it sizzled like a hot skillet. Was a oil fired rig so the heat was off during the draw. Made dark delicious "old fashioned" syrup just like Glenn Goodrich is trying to make today! We just didn't know we were so far advanced back then!
Regards,
Chris

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

I am not standing there you are. But I will give this a go. First off lets look at your rig. You have a back pan with one partition and it boils like crazy. That is normal and a good thing. I really don't think that it is pushing the sap to the back, you just don't get the rolling boil back there and that's no different on any evaporator. Now to the front pan. You have one partition. (pictures of your pan would help) With only one partition it may not and is not allowing a gradient to be occur and you will basically have the front pan full of syrup. Most fronts have 3 or 4 channels to allow the syrup to be pushed by the less dense sap towards the draw off. So my read is that with the current pan your are going to have the 2-3 gallons of syrup at one time and the long duration between draws. Just the nature of the system you have. Its not set up for continuous flow. Which is difficult to achieve even on a larger rig. Now to the reason about moving sap to the front. You are doing the right thing to not let the front pan go dry when you draw off. You might try increasing the sap input rate several minutes before the draw off and or reducing the fire at the time of draw off. All in all I think your doing ok, syrup is good quality. Keep boiling. You might try running a little deeper too. You may not ever get to a drizzel of syrup. Its just not set up for that. May I ask what is the brix of the sap your boiling? That may have a some influence. Have you checked the sap in various places in the rig just prior to draw off?
Regards,
Chris

Excellent, I have the same basic set up as the other gentleman here and I thought I was doing something wrong. Great explanation of the front pan with only one partition, makes sense.

[tysonroggie]

Could it be this simple?? I have boiled the last two times at a deeper level (1 notch lower on the float). This runs about 1.75” in the pans instead of the 1” to 1.25”. This pretty much fixed all of my problems. I know it’s a bit deeper than a lot of the rest of you boil but the entire system is working excellent. I can draw off a nice steady draw for 5-10 minutes and then only have about 45 min to 1 hr in between the next one. I’m still going to play around a little bit but I wanted to thank everyone for their input. It’s much appreciated. It’s actually an enjoyable process again. I think if I had a way to fine tune my float I could run a little shallower but for now it’s working good enough. Thanks again to all who replied.

[VTnewguy]

curious . Whereabouts, in the pan do you add it? At the foam, or at the inlet, etc??
Thanks

We add two drops in the flue pan float box. It helps keeping the foam under control and everything going the right direction.

[1arch]

Could it be this simple?? I have boiled the last two times at a deeper level (1 notch lower on the float). This runs about 1.75” in the pans instead of the 1” to 1.25”. This pretty much fixed all of my problems. I know it’s a bit deeper than a lot of the rest of you boil but the entire system is working excellent. I can draw off a nice steady draw for 5-10 minutes and then only have about 45 min to 1 hr in between the next one. I’m still going to play around a little bit but I wanted to thank everyone for their input. It’s much appreciated. It’s actually an enjoyable process again. I think if I had a way to fine tune my float I could run a little shallower but for now it’s working good enough. Thanks again to all who replied.

I run at 2+ inches. Reduces risk of scorching if sap levels were to drop due to heavy foam or faster than desired draw offs.

[Austin351]

Could it be this simple?? I have boiled the last two times at a deeper level (1 notch lower on the float). This runs about 1.75” in the pans instead of the 1” to 1.25”. This pretty much fixed all of my problems. I know it’s a bit deeper than a lot of the rest of you boil but the entire system is working excellent. I can draw off a nice steady draw for 5-10 minutes and then only have about 45 min to 1 hr in between the next one. I’m still going to play around a little bit but I wanted to thank everyone for their input. It’s much appreciated. It’s actually an enjoyable process again. I think if I had a way to fine tune my float I could run a little shallower but for now it’s working good enough. Thanks again to all who replied.

I am on a new Smokey Lake 2x6 this year with forced air, drop flue back pan and a 3 chamber syrup pan. I had the same issues as you.... When running 1.5" depth or less, my draw offs were big (2-3 gallons) and then sat for a couple hours before the next one. At the shallow levels, I believe it was making syrup through most of the syrup pan, instead of the chamber at the draw valve When I went up to 2" of depth, the draw offs ended up around a half gallon every 30 minutes.