e-Vaporator

[Fyreaway]

Here's the heating element in the kettle. 4500 watt running at 240v. The nut is stainless with an o-ring that came from a home brewing supplier.
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Here you can see the drain valve and the temp probe.
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Electrical connection on the outside. There's a piece of PVC pipe with a cap that the wire runs through to protect from an accidental defibrillation. The ground wire runs to a grounding clip from a metal work box. She sits in a round cradle from the first version that was half a plastic barrel.
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The brains. This PID controller lets me run based on temperature or a percentage of total available power. As the boil nears the end I can dial back the boil to any percentage of capacity to make it a bit less of a panic situation and nearly eliminate boil overs.
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[Cedar Eater]

A suggestion for your next model. Add a switch so you can change the voltage on the heating element to 110 for when you are only heating to bottle. It will only use 1/4 of the power, but more importantly, the heating element won't cake up as badly because the surface temp will be much lower.

[Fyreaway]

Add a switch so you can change the voltage on the heating element to 110 for when you are only heating to bottle.

Cedar, that's a great idea. I've already planned a second power outlet on the control box for 110v so I can use a slow cooker for sous vide cooking. Using the switch to change voltage for the big outlet would be very helpful. By the way - this thing has cooked some pretty awesome steaks to exactly mid-rare, ready for a quick sear on the grill.

[Jeff S]

Eric,

Nice pictures, I'm thinking your 3.0 version with insulated sides will allow for an even more efficient boil.

At $.09 a Killowatt your all ready making a gallon for under $6 ,that's hard to beat.

You say the top is about 18" x 18",this seems like a nice size for the home hobbiest.

Again Great Job!


Jeff

[Jeff S]

An electric stove with a stainless pan on all 4 burners would work good too and way cheaper than propane.

Brandon,

I believe your right, I recently pick up a used apartment size electric stove to put in my garage for summer time canning.

Jeff

[Dennis H.]

Induction heating???
Now that would be cool.

[Clinkis]

Wow, if you can make a gallon of syrup for $6 that's great! That's about what I'm getting on my propane evaporator but I have to RO a lot of water away first to get it. If I was a smaller hobbiest this would make a lot more sense then propane or even wood. Did you notice any difference if your syrup from traditional boiling methods?

[Fyreaway]

Did you notice any difference if your syrup from traditional boiling methods?

Because it's a batch boil process the syrup is usually a bit darker. I prefer it that way so it's a happy outcome. I actually break all the rules of making syrup and add water at the end and boil more to get a richer flavor. Cooking a bit longer doesn't change the density but caramelizes the sugars a bit more. Because I don't sell anything I have to answer only to my pancakes.

[Sugarmaker]

Very nice job on the electric evaporator!
You did a great job breaking the rules! A mini RO would work great with one of these too!
Regards,
Chris

[Cedar Eater]

Another suggestion. Makers of biodiesel who use an electric water heater paint Liquid Electrical Tape on the connections to the heating element to waterproof and oilproof them. It comes in a can with a brush and it sets up really well. You can cut it away with a knife when you need to replace an element.