Steam Pans

[Swingpure]

Through the use of angle iron I keep the sides of my steam pans out of the flames and in addition I run sap on the high side at least 2 inches. Thus I have been able to produce some light and lot of medium high quality syrup.

When pour off time comes to the sugar pan, I let the fire die down a bit. then take the high sugar pan off the fire, pour it in a pot for filtering/finishing and then fill it with fresh sap/concentrate. I then move each pan down the line one spot and put the pan I just poured off back at the start of then line. My pans are out of the fire box so they are easy to grab and quickly move.

This diminishes sidewall scorching as it rotates the sugar content in the pans. (pans with the highest sugar content scorch the easiest and I still get a little even though my sidewalls are up out of the flames) . Hint .... I also use flat iron in conjunction to the angle iron between the pans.
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Would you have any pictures of your angle iron and flat iron setup?

Thanks

[Sugar Bear]

These were my pans in 2016. Three pans with 1/4" by 4" running the length of the pans on each side ( front to back ). On top of that 1/8" by 1.5" angle iron running across the pans turned up holding each pan in place. 1/8" by 1.5" flat iron between each set of angle irons. Short pieces of 1/8" by 1.5" angle iron at the ends of all pans to block draft.

Bricks on sides ... but also used scrap wood to prevent cool draft moving across sides of pans. Wood will want to flame on eventually so be careful if you use it. Bricks seem to work better but are more work with placement removal.

1/8" by 1.5" inch angle iron from old bed frames can be used but be sure to flash off any paint with a nice fire before sugaring season. God knows what is in old bed frame paint.

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[Sugar Bear]

This was my first season back in 2016 with three steam pans with sidewalls out of the firebox.

Seven boils beginning with the first boil on the left. Space between jars indicates a boil. Season started in late January and ended with a seventh boil at the end of March far right and very dark. The syrup color followed the temperatures very closely that year. A cold spell in late March lightened the syrup up a bit for boil 6 second from right

I was meticulous that year with scooping. But well placed steam pans and at least a bit of scooping will make the highest quality syrup that can be made. Don't bother with a ladle ( that is a bad joke ) use a small pot ( Git er done! )

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[Sugar Bear]

The net effect of having steam pan sidewalls away from the flames and having dry firewood can not be overstated in a back yard sugaring operation. Two simple and easily achievable tasks.

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[Swingpure]

Thank you for all of the pictures, information and tips. I really like the idea of having the lips of the steam trays above the concrete blocks in order to grab them and I can appreciate blocking the flames from going up the 20” sides. I also think there may be an advantage to having the pans sunken down into the fire box. I might have a solution for me that accomplishes both goals.

I have been told the metal on the sides is not a good idea and I will have to learn that the hard way, but until I do, I could weld angle iron on to the steel walls at such a height that the steam pan lips sit an inch above the blocks. I could also have 4” wide metal bars spanning the angle iron, that would block the flames from coming up the sides of the pans.

The attached crude drawing has a red arrow showing the approximate height of the angle iron and the yellow lines showing where the metal could go.

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[Swingpure]

I purchased the 1/4” thick, 1” wide angle iron today. A friend will weld it onto my sidewall metal sheets. I also purchased some beefy 1/4” thick, 4” wide steel plates that will rest on the angle iron and will prevent the flames from coming up the sides of the pans. The pans will still be below the top of the cinder blocks by about 4 3/4”, giving me about an 1 1/4” space to be able to grab and lift a steam pan if I so desired.

I can always remove the 4” wide steel plates, if for some reason I prefer the flames going up the sides of the pans.

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[Swingpure]

Today the metal side plates arrived back with the angle iron welded on them. They work exactly liked I hoped. They raise the lip of the steam pan off of the cinder block to make it easier to grab and remove, The 4” wide pieces of metal will keep the flames from going up the sides of the pans.

The one thing that was not right is I guess when I cut the metal sheet in half, exact accuracy was not necessary and I guess I was a 1/4 “ off center. I did not realize that one sheet was a half inch taller than the other. The angle iron was welded on 3” from the top for both sheets, so now the pans do not sit level. It is an easy fix, I just have to cut off 1/2” off the taller side plate.

I am planning on doing a test boil this weekend.

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[Sugar Bear]

Looks good.

One additional thing I would do on your rig is cut 8" pieces of angle iron the same size as the angle iron you welded to the side walls. Two 8" pieces for each pan and sit them on top of the angle iron you welded to the sidewall at the short sides of the pans. The angle iron upsides of the 8" pieces should sit against the short sides of the pans.

This will block any draft in that area more effectively.

You can see in one of my photos of how I do that if you look at the base of the short sides of the pans.

[Swingpure]

I made changes to the evaporator as posted on another thread. Do you see any advantage in adding the third course of concrete pavers to the evaporator? In both cases, it will be easy to grab the lips of the steam pans.

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[berkshires]

I made changes to the evaporator as posted on another thread. Do you see any advantage in adding the third course of concrete pavers to the evaporator? In both cases, it will be easy to grab the lips of the steam pans.

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Depends on how high you plan to run your pans. Some folks run their pans really high, like four or five inches, because they like to just throw a ton of wood in the evaporator and walk away for a while. This is inefficient from the perspective of gallons per hour, but more efficient in terms of multi-tasking. Anyway, if you plan to run your pans really high, the extra course of concrete pavers would definitely increase your evaporation, since it would keep high level of sap in the pan from being cooled down on the side. If you plan to keep it 2" or less, then no.

Another thing to consider is a ribbon of pan gasket on top of your wide red pavers, that the pan would sit on. It would keep any fire/smoke from coming out around the sides, and you could get away with just 1 or 0 of those white pavers.

Gabe