filter press

[lafite]

Another sugar maker was kind enough to lend me their wes-fab filter press for the weekend. I'm looking forward to getting my own for next year's production.

can anyone please help verify how much DE should be added per gallon of syrup?

He also said I should run the syrup through the press 3x. is this really necessary?

thanks in advance!

[dschultz]

Use 1/2 cup of DE per gallon of syrup

[batsofbedlam]

One x through the press is enough. The amount of DE depends on how dirty your syrup is. I use about 6 cups for a 15 gallon batch on a full plate press and can usually process 30 gallons on one set of papers.

[lafite]

thanks for the reply's. Today the stars are in line. 100 gallons to boil, 2 gallons close to syrup and a few guests to come see the backyard operation. It should be close to 50 today and the taps have been dripping all night.

Have fun this weekend!

[Haynes Forest Products]

When he says 3 times thru the press he means to recirculate it. Dint filter from 1 tank to another and then clean and switch the tanks. You let the syrup just filter in and out of the same tank and then when all is running clear you then take the hose and fill your containers or bottler. With small amounts you need to get enough DE to charge the press. Charging the press means enough DE has accumulated against the filter papers to work properly. Then you can go for it. Now filtering 2 gallons can be wasteful when it comes to the syrup loss from filtering. When your done filtering make sure you drain all hoses split the plates and allow to drip drain. THROW all the filter cake away dint try and reclaim.

[markct]

i use one oz by weight of filter aid per gal of syrup as was recomended by a large local producer, so far has given great results on my 5 inch hand pump press. i filtered 14 gallons last night and when i broke down the press the filters had a cake almost completely filling the chamber, maybe 1/8 left between them so i think that is about right.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Yes but 2 OZs for lafite's batch isnt going be enough for a filter press the more syrup you have the less fiteraid you need because you dont need to try and pump alot of thick fiter aid into a already full bank of filters.

[Dennis H.]

Once I am done with filter the syrup I wheel the filter press out to the evap and stick both hoses into the flue pan and pump away. Once the oulet hose is running the same color as the inlet I then tear it apart and clean it.

I just hate to see and sugar wasted.

[lafite]

i just finished a 14 hour boil. I had another 65 gallon boil from the other night down to 4. i am very tired (since the beer it takes to get to this level increases). I am looking to finish close to 5 gallons of syrup tomorrow since my sugar content is 2.4%.

time for bed and I'll let you know how the filter press works out tomorrow.

Thanks to all who have been very helpful. :)

[Haynes Forest Products]

Get it hot and get ready to bottle ASAP When your done do Like Dennis does it sounds like a good way to get it all. If your going to put in large containers do it right from the press.

[northwoods_forestry]

Here's a nice write-up on filter press operation by the folks at Proctor Maple Research:

http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/filter_press_brochure.pdf

[lafite]

everything turned out fantastic! I can't believe how easy and clean the syrup came out. 4.5 gallons of light/medium amber.

I am now hooked on getting a filter press for my own. The days of wool and paper filters will be soon a distant memory. I saw a nice one for my size operation created by Daryl. 5" hand press that many have had good things to say about.

[Haynes Forest Products]

BUY IT and rent it out to all the non believers.........:lol:

[lafite]

I did in 10 minutes which would have taken me 2+ hours in the past.

no changing out pre-filters, no maintaining temperature of the syrup, and the best thing of all.....no more arguments in the kitchen! ;)

[Dennis H.]

I got my filterpress from Daryl, Great little filter press. Now it is a handpump so it will require somemore effort that flipping a switch.

I can see maybe some day putting a gear pump on it, but so far for my size of batches it works quite well.

One thing I did do today with the filter press was use it to clean the syrup pan after I filtered the syrup that I drew off for the day. I stuck the inlet hose into the drawoff box and the oulet hose into the floatbox and started pumping. After maybe 5 mins the syrup pan had very little sugarsand in it. Then once again I ran the hoses in the flue pan and clean all sugar out of the filter press before tearing apart to clean.

[cropseyvillemark]

Is there a down side to using more than the reccomended amount of de ? I'm having some trouble guessing how much syrup is in the finisher. When I didn't use enough de, it definately went badly. when I used more than suggested. It seemed to go fine. I'm wondering if you can use too much, and what the consequences might be.

[markct]

make a dipstick for your finish pan, thats what i did, just calculated and marked the gallons on a piece of stainless flat stock, stamped them in with number stamps, no more guessing!