Wood-Fired Evaporator

This is the basic setup to produce maple syrup. Sap (either fresh sap or pre-processed) enters the evaporator pan where it is heated, water is released as steam, and the finished syrup is drained off. The fuel source is wood.

Generally, there are two evaporator pans. Fresh sap enters the sap or flue pan. It has narrow, deep channels to improve heat transfer from the fire. More concentrated sap then flows into the flat-bottomed syrup pan. The flat bottom allows shallow layers of thicker sap to evaporate with little danger of burning.