My plan 2022/23

[bigschuss]

My pan has 2” of sap depth in it and when I stop adding wood to the firebox, I need 15 gallons of sap in the head tank to feed the pan while it cools down and it uses almost every drop of the 15 gallons before it stops steaming. My plan was to only have 10 gallons in the feed tank on the final day, when I stop firing, and then let the pan level boil down to about an inch, give or take. Draw it off once it had cooled down, then finish it on a turkey fryer.

Is this a reasonable plan or a dangerous one?

Thanks

When your season comes to an end Gary you're going to have a lot of syrup in your pan. If you're running a 2" sap depth that's about 10 gallons of sap in a 2x4, and of that 3 or 3.5 will be syrup, if you've been drawing off regularly and have the pan nice and sweet. What I do is SLOWLY and CAREFULLY take the level down to 1"...or about 5 gallons (with 3 gallons of that being syrup). I've gone as low as 3/4" of an inch but don't recommend it. Then when you empty the pan of that 5 gallons you'll have a lot less finishing to do compared to draining it at 2" and 10 gallons.

As I mentioned a month ago or so...a good plan. Assuming your pan is sweet, which I am not sure if it is, of that 5 gallons about 3 should be syrup.