First Time Boiling! or Just on the Edge of Panic

Here is a journal entry from rookie crew member Jenn who, on her first day, took the risk of learning to draw syrup off the evaporator. Then she risked writing about it.

Jenn writes:

*****First time boiling!******

Important things I have already been told leading up to boiling:

1) Keep an eye on sap levels in the upper tank. (Will need to stop stoking fire as we come to the end of the sap supply.)
2) Don’t let the sap boil over.
3) Don’t let sap burn on.

So with the maple steam obstructing my view and hot sugar steam filling the air, I took my place at the boiling pan. 

To my direct left, a metal stick for opening and closing the last trough, to my right a faucet and bucket for the syrup. In front of me, steam, bubbling sugar and a metal vial with a hydrometer to measure the density of the sugar as it cooks. 

(Also to my right, a little container of powdered defoamer for sprinkling into the pan if it started to bubble over.) 

I have no idea what the boiling position is called, but I spent a good amount of tonight at this station, filled with excitement and just on the edge of panic. [Editor’s Note: The person at this station is called the boiler.]

With vial and hydrometer in one hand, metal scoop in the other, sugar steam all around me, I scooped and measured the density of the boiling sap/syrup. When the hydrometer floated at 60, I would turn on the tap and let the bucket to my right fill two inches from the top.

 (This had to be done while watching the amount of liquid in the trough closest to me. If the level got too low, I would dislodge the stick to my left and let sap/syrup from the other troughs into the trough I was emptying from. Done too soon, and the viscosity would be too low. Too late and the pan could burn.) 

Once my bucket was filled, the density was once again checked from the bucket. Then the bucket of syrup was taken and emptied into a tub across the room and my process started again.

 
If the density got too high in my trough, I could take from other troughs to balance the sugar contents. 

If all of the troughs became too dense I could take from the back pans where the sap first comes in.

Another variable happened when the fire was being stoked (every ten minutes). Because the fan sucking hot air through the bottom of the pans would stop during stoking, the last trough had to be closed while filling the syrup bucket specifically at this time or density levels could be off. 

We stoked the fire,
boiled the sap,
checked the density,
filled the bucket,
checked density again,
filtered the syrup,
checked density in larger quantities and then
filled the barrels.

Tomorrow we boil again! 

-JG