Maple syrup making

[pat32rf]

I know that stainless is the "best" to use for an evaporator, and I used to have a 30" x 48" pan that fit into a steel holder. Then last week the pan took a walk, leaving me with the steel stove but no pan...
I normally tap about 80-100 trees but the past two years I have had to step back due to some health issues (I am 71 yrs old) and my syrup stockpile is getting depleted.
What I am wondering, has anyone just boiled in a steel pan? I remember one old guy who used an old oil tank each year, keeping it clean and coated in vegetable oil during the off season. I have the facilities to make a steel pan but cannot justify buying a stainless pan for the few years I have left...

 

[Mysfyt]

Check on the price of stainless in your area first. I just purchased some 12ga x 304 sheet for a little over $1.00 a pound. Cheapest I've seen it in 20 years.

 

[pat32rf]

I would still have to get it formed and welded. Sheet steel I can do myself...

 

[Oldpath05]

I know that stainless is the "best" to use for an evaporator, and I used to have a 30" x 48" pan that fit into a steel holder. Then last week the pan took a walk, leaving me with the steel stove but no pan...
I normally tap about 80-100 trees but the past two years I have had to step back due to some health issues (I am 71 yrs old) and my syrup stockpile is getting depleted.
What I am wondering, has anyone just boiled in a steel pan? I remember one old guy who used an old oil tank each year, keeping it clean and coated in vegetable oil during the off season. I have the facilities to make a steel pan but cannot justify buying a stainless pan for the few years I have left...

Syrup made in an old oil barrel, yummy, might reconsider and try new 16 ga, steel, easy to work with, vegetable oil to keep it from rusting should work.
Lost most of my syrup making stuff in a fire 3 years ago last month, and my stockpile is long gone, misery loves company. My home made SS sap pans are bent and distorted from the fire, take a lot of hammering to straighten them out but think I can save them for next year.
Is syrup season almost done up there?

 

[motownbrowne]

Post on mapletrader.com and sugarbush.info that you need a new flat pan. I sold a couple of stainless flat pans to another producer a couple of years ago for $150 total. Personally I'd rather use stainless.

You could also bend up a stainless flat pan and solder it together. Use lead free solder, of course.

 

[crazyal]

My neighbor made a stainless pan and welded it with dual shield (flux core) stainless wire. I think he used 20 gauge stainless. I'm not sure how he bent it up but it seamed to work just fine. He has a simple setup, just a pan on top of cement bricks to make 3 or 4 gallons a year. I've thought about tapping a few trees and doing the same but i need a new project like I need a new hole in my head. Plus I would need to get new buckets as all I have are old galvanized ones. In the past I could quickly empty them but I've heard that if you let the sap sit in the old buckets the lead sealing them will leach into the sap.

 

[LD1]

We were gonna use a steel pan. But didnt like how quickly it rusted.

Was considering having a stainless pan made to fit the top of the wood burner. But then ran across these Full Size Standard Weight Anti-Jam Stainless Steel Steam Table / Hotel Pan - 4" Deep

Two of them fit perfect on top of the wood stove. Not sure what your heating setup is like, but if not looking to boil a huge amount, these are about the cheapest easiest solution I found

 

[pat32rf]

My old pan held about 30 gallons of sap, took an hour to bring to boil and evaporated about 5-8 gallons per hour...
I have often brazed stainless but never tried to solder it.

 

[bamboozled]

A mild steel pan is fine for self-consumption and if you spend a little time maintaining it to keep it from rusting.

I built an evaporator for my brother two years ago and made the original pan out of mild steel to see how the thing would actually work before investing in stainless. Nobody died from eating the syrup that year, in my opinion it was better that year than the following year with the stainless pan...

 

[bamboozled]

Another option is to check your local craigslist and see if you can find serving pans that will fit your boiler.