Water boiler for maple syrup

garyh

I am looking to pick a few brains about boiling water I boil maple sap to make maple syrup I used wood this year but due to where I live I can no longer do so I do this as a hobby I don’t sell my syrup I give most away it’s just fun to do I am trying to figure out how to boil the sap using low pressure steam at 212 degrees I don’t need a bid steam boiler or generator my pan size I boil in is 2 foot by 3 foot I need to use electric as a fuel source 110 volt preferably 220 volt is not off the table but I’d rather just plug it in I need to assemble something that is a sealed system the steam would travel thru tubing down in the pan and back out any help would be helpful thanks gary

nicholas bonham-carter

What about a big slow cooker?—NBC

Jamie Hall

Ah... no. Check your temperatures. At least in our evaps, the syrup to be usable has to get up around 215 to 220. It won't do that with low pressure (212 to 215 max) steam. This basically means -- to get any sort of usable heat transfer -- your steam is going to have be up around 240 as a minimum, so your pressure will be 5 psig at a minimum. And at those temperatures it will take a long long time. It would work better at around 300 for the steam -- at which point you are looking at over 50 psig.

ChrisJ

You can't use wood where you live?

What about LPG or NG for a large burner and a outdoor turkey cooker setup?

Leonard

Technically can get it to boil at 212 degsF or even 180 if you pull a hard enough vacuum on it. Problem is it's not practical to pull off that much water with a vac, vac pumps don't like water.

Heat and a fan is the practical way to go. Heat to evaporate it and a fan to remove the 100% humidity steam and replace it with low humidity air so water can evaporate a bit easier.

ChrisJ

Leonard said:

Technically can get it to boil at 212 degsF or even 180 if you pull a hard enough vacuum on it. Problem is it's not practical to pull off that much water with a vac, vac pumps don't like water.

Heat and a fan is the practical way to go. Heat to evaporate it and a fan to remove the 100% humidity steam and replace it with low humidity air so water can evaporate a bit easier.

To boil tree sap?

He said it's a hobby, he's not commercially producing syrup.

Leonard

Agreed.... did say vac is not practical.
It's just a technical answer.

Seen a write up in a vacuum magazine of wood carver using vacuum chamber in a microwave to dry green wood. Assumed it was a kitchen sized MW, was spinning mixing? bowls. ( magazine = Vacuum technology and coatings)

HVACNUT

You guys do what you want. I wont be a Guinea pig.
@Jamie Hall does your facility sell syrup?

Jamie Hall

We did at one time, not any more -- we don't make enough of it (too much hassle...)

mikeg2015

Cant you use a vacuum pot to drop the boiling point. You’ll retain more flavor and it may be a little lighter in color as well. That’s how a lot of large industrial evaporators operate. They draw a vacuum to reduce the boiling point. Corn syrup gets darker if you get it too hot.

You need a stainless steel pressure cooker, drill and tap fittings and add a vacuum pump. You need A condenser to remove the water ahead of the vacuum pump.

Then you can just use a basic electric heating element.