First of all, I would like to thank Jeremy for getting on a fast project for me. He promptly Sheared and broke up components for a new flue pan. I then performed the welding and finishing here at my shop and completed it in a long sixteen-hour day! I decided to go back to a traditional flat bottom divided pan. It is easier to clean in place when it gets a buildup of solids and sugar sand. The original “drop tube” flue pan did perform more efficiently. It was a better application for an open top cooker, which it originally started out as. My current set up is now all enclosed, so it was much more involved to remove the pan for cleaning. There are more fabrication pics in the “photos” page.
Moving on… We began our first cook officially on Friday March 14th. All equipment is running smoothly!
Today is also the first day of spring,( March 20th) It’s the “March Equinox”…equal day and night. Below is a photo taken here yesterday of the last day of winter. Looks like Old Man Winter has proven that for sure!
Finally, check out the “photos” section again to see a video of our upgraded vacuum pump project.
Billion Drops Sugarbush 