flue pan cleaning

[tcross]

how often do you guys clean up your flue pan. my syrup pans get cleaned every other boil or so. I'm just curious if it helps with excessive nitre build up in the syrup pans. i tend to do it 2 to 3 times a year, but it's a PITA and i'm not sure if it's worth it. But, since it's a PITA and its sugaring, it's probably necessary.

[MISugarDaddy]

Whenever we have a break, such as a hard freeze or an extended warm period when sap isn't flowing I drain and clean our flue pan. By cleaning, I mean spraying out the flue pan with hot water. Quite a lot of sludge comes out each time. I don't leave sweetened sap in the flue pan for more than two days without draining it and storing the sweetened sap in a cold storage area. I agree it is a lot of work, but having the sap get funky in the flue pan is a lot more work.
Gary

[NhShaun]

But, since it's a PITA and its sugaring, it's probably necessary.

I totally agree with that statement. I don't have flues on my rig yet, but from what i have read it is worth it to clean it at least the 2-3 times a season you are doing. Some people clean after every boil others not at all, so some is better than nothing i would guess.

[n8hutch]

It All depends on how many taps you are boiling on compared to the size of your rig. If you are boiling 20% sap on a 2x6 from say 2000k taps you'd probably want to clean that flue pan after every boil , possibly every other. The big guys running 20k taps on a 5x14 are cleaning their flu pans alot. If you don't you risk ruining the pan or having a burnt flavor due to all the minerals building up in the Pans.

Generally I try to clean my flu pan atleast once a season. Sometimes twice .

[jrgagne99]

I usually do it once per season. If you boil down the sweet separately and start over, especially after a nice cold snap (like right now), you can lighten your next round of syrup a fair amount. Often by a whole grade.

[tcross]

i agree on cleaning it a few times during the season. i have 400 taps, on a 2 1/2 x 8 rig running straight sap... no r.o. The major reason i cleaned it in the past is because i wanted to clean fire side of the flues. So, the sap side got cleaned as well. This season, the nitre has been horrible for us (however we're making the lightest syrup in my 9 seasons of boiling), so the flue pan is going to get its 3rd season cleaning this evening. thanks for the responses. i like learning how other folks run their operation, compared to how i do things. i'm often too busy to visit other sugarhouses to see their processes... this place is a good replacement!

[ennismaple]

Ideally we'd wash ours 3 or more times per season but it doesn't always happen that often. We washed the flue pan on Saturday morning after putting more than 700 gallons of finished syrup through to pans and it wasn't too bad - some minor niter. Time and energy are generally the limiting factor.

On Saturday I pumped the contents of the flue pan into the evaporator feed tank and filtered the contents going in to catch any sediment that went through the pump. While we pressure washed the inside of the pan we started the RO and added concentrate to the feed tank. Once the pan and float box were clean we opened up the valve and re-filled the pans while the RO continued to run.

[DrTimPerkins]

how often do you guys clean up your flue pan. my syrup pans get cleaned every other boil or so. I'm just curious if it helps with excessive nitre build up in the syrup pans. i tend to do it 2 to 3 times a year, but it's a PITA and i'm not sure if it's worth it. But, since it's a PITA and its sugaring, it's probably necessary.

It's one of those chores that is never fun, but cleaning when you have a chance is a whole lot less a PITA than having to stop in the middle of a boil to clean because your pans are nitered up.