What size evaporator pan do I need for different amounts of sap?
When deciding on the size of an evaporator, the maple producer should consider the amount of sap to be processed, how quickly the sap will be processed, amount of time available to process the sap in any one day, future plans, and amount of capital available. For example, if a producer has a 1200 tap sugarbush that will produce 1 gallon per tap in a good year, wants to process all the sap the day it is collected, and has 10 hours in the day to process sap, he or she can estimate the size of the evaporator as follows: Number of sap gallons in run = 1200 taps x 1 gallon/tap = 1200 gallons Time available for boiling sap = 10 hours Evaporating capacity required = 120 gallons of sap/hour The producer can then contact a maple equipment dealer to determine the optimal evaporator size. Evaporator size varies from 2 feet x 6 feet and a capacity of 25 gallons per hour, to 6 feet x 18 feet and a capacity of 380 gallons per hour.
