Someclown. I'm also using a New homemade 2x3 evaporator and flat plan. Based on your work, what is the minimal amount of sap needed to be able to finish it to syrup right in the flat pan without burning it?Originally Posted by Someclown
Someclown. I'm also using a New homemade 2x3 evaporator and flat plan. Based on your work, what is the minimal amount of sap needed to be able to finish it to syrup right in the flat pan without burning it?
I talked to that same builder last year but my maple partner (a.k.a. the wife) vetoed the decision. Went with a 2x3 flat pan on a home-built oil tank that can be expanded to fit an additional 1x2 or 2x2 pan in the coming years. Would love to hear from people who use his rigs but I don't know anyone who bought one up this way.
I would say minimum150 litres but there's a LOT of variables
Yesterday was the first time I got brave enough to try it and started with approximately 130L of sap as there were a couple big spills after measuring , dohh!. I slowed the boil by only adding twigs to the fire to keep a bit of a bubble in the pan when it was about 3/4 to an inch deep. My pan is not quite 2x3 its actually 22Wx33Lx8H and I can't recall what gauge stainless and not perfectly flat either as it was made for free but very close to flat and works great, so a lot of variants going on. The fire wasn't hot enough to burn the edges of the pan were it sits on the rails were the least amount of syrup was in that area. I'm not positive but seemed like about 1/2" probably less, left in the pan when I was finishing and I did not boil at that stage, it was more like a slight bubble/simmer towards the end as well. DO NOT take your eyes off the syrup for a second at this point, bad things WILL happen. I then raise the pan off the evaporator and open the valve to drain into my pot to finish on propane to temperature and proper brix. Even though it was just a bubble/simmer it was still a lot faster than how I was doing it before in a pot on the propane cooker
By bringing the level that low in the flat pan there is no real way of knowing if you're at the proper brix as a thermometer will not read properly and you cannot remove syrup to brix test, that's why I had to finish the last bit on propane. Maybe a refractometer will work but mine was in the house and I was not going to get it. Never had much luck using it in the cold
outdoors anyway.
I boil outdoors and yesterday was -7*c and north wind made it feel like -17*c or more like -100 but I had to boil as I had other things to do for the next 5 days and my sap was already 4 days old. Another variable if you boil indoors as the wind kept my pan cool
2019 - Barrel evaporator 2 steam pans 44 taps 13 Liters syrup
2020 - Barrel evaporator 2 steam pans 51 taps 21 Liters syrup
2021- New homemade 2x3 evaporator and flat pan 80 drop lines to buckets
2022- (•,•)1350L naturally ROd sap 44L syrup
2023- "\_(°•°)_/" 1100L sap 30L syrup not accurate due to natural RO
2024 { ';' }1862L sap 52L syrup 52 drop lines to buckets
I haven’t been brave enough to finish it in the pan, but I get it pretty close, to minimize the time in the finishing pot.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
I am looking for the right time to broach the subject with my wife. I am going to go at it from a health perspective as I will not be able to take another season of the smoke on my lungs and eyes. If that fails, I might take on a summer job, just to earn about $4000 to cover the price and tax and extras.
I cannot do another season with the smoke. Today the wind was in the right direction, I had removed some of the walls and my mask was still pretty dirty halfway through the boil. And the mask does not help my eyes. The mask last Friday was much dirtier.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0dei...32r5q71XDIWr4g
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Boiled 43.5 gallons today, I will finish and bottle it on Thursday, when I can have the garage door open.
My boil rate was about 8 gph, but the thing with steam pans is when you consolidate your pans, your boil rate drops dramatically. I have four pans that boil, and when I get down to just one pan, I am losing 75% of my evaporation rate and it takes awhile to finish the final pan, or even the final two pans.
I am hoping I get five litres from it.
Freezing rain tomorrow, but +12 on Thursday and sap should be surging!
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Some thoughts on this years' run.
Background. I'm in my 20th year in this hobby gone wrong. My rig is a 2x8 D&G flat bottom continuous flow. I converted it a few years back and figured out a way to burn used veggie oil. Another story altogether. I am pushing 40 gallons an hour with this thing on the veggie oil. When I was running dry, small split hardwood, the best I could get was 22gph.
So far this year I've only bottled 78 litres of the good stuff. Im cleaning my pans tomorrow so I have cleaned the "sweet" out of it. I have 5 gallons at 30%, 5 at 18% and 10 gallons at 10%. That is all in pails now and will settle and then back into the pans once I've scrubbed the bottoms.
I am on hard, rocky maple. Not swamp stuff or river stuff, edge of the road or a grassy maple bush. They are all growing on the shield. Not sure if it makes a difference.
This year the nitre is up. The syrup is a shade darker than normal. I am using more filters. I have not used the skimmer once yet. There has been absolutely no scum to skim. The colour is dark but the taste is early season. Almost rice crispy square or 80s vintage girl guide cookie flavour. It is shocking when you sip the darker syrup and get the butter, vanilla and marshmallow flavour.
I normally make about 370 litres. Last year was only 260. My high is 405. This year I added another 75 taps.
I built my first RO 3 years ago and should have done it 15 years ago. It is a 3x100 gpd filter system with a little booster pump. Works great. Pulls about 100 gallons out overnight after a fresh flushing. I need to upgrade and am ordering a 4x40 system so I am going to sell this little rig. Basically it is the RO in a bucket without the bucket. I am initially getting 1 canister for the 4x40. The pump and motor will be able to handle 3 in series when I expand again. This should bring my 400 gallons of sap a day up to 8 brix overnight. Will save time, fuel and make a lighter syrup.
Anyway, that is the report from Corbeil.
Justin
Wow, 40 gph!
Wow, 405 L
I have had little scum as well. The nitre caught in my filters has varied. One time there was much more than the other times.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
My buddy ended up with one in Port Sydney. It's the 2x4 with 2x1 and 2x3 flat pans. manual transfer of sap between pans. I'm sure he'd be happy to have you come check it out if you're in the area if you let me know I can put you in touch. Pretty nice work, works well depending on what you are after. I had a deposit down on one of Bross's 2x4 evaps but backed out cause I found a thor 2x4 drop flue last summer after I already gave him a deposit. Heavy as hell cause the steel and full fire brick, I wouldn't have been able to get it down to my sugar shack by the time they were ready in January. Give him a call he's a good guy to talk to.
Thanks, if I get the blessing, I may check him out before making a decision. I had asked about how the sap got from the pre heat pan to the main pan and was a little surprised it was manual transfer. If I was to get it and get a simple flat pan, it almost makes me wonder if getting a 2x5 pan and just add heated sap from my induction elements would be a more productive way to go. It also would be $200 cheaper. To get the raised flue pan and divided pan would be an additional $1500.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
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