Diotenacious earth

[argohauler]

Kids had a show on the other day and my wife saw it. It's a kids show on making things. So they were making syrup and they showed how they were filtering it. They were using a filter press and they were putting in diotenacious earth to draw the impurities to it.

Anybody here use it? Is it commonly used?

[Homestead Maple]

Anyone that uses a filter press uses this. It is used industry wide.

[ennismaple]

It's called Filter Aid and any maple supply store will carry it. Without it we wouldn't have gotten anything through our filter press this year!

[RockFarm]

Those tiny little creatures that leave their 'skeletons' on the sea-bed and eons later the stuff is mined and called diatom-aceous earth. Used in some pool filters too. I stayed awake that day in science class because this really nice girl in the desk next to mine had a blue sweater on, and she could really pull your eyes over the wool.

[Mountain Winds Farm]

Actually I have tried it this year with my flat filter and it makes a heck of a difference. I can filter 15 gallons of syrup in about 10 minutes. I put down the felt filter and then top it with 5 or 6 of the paper filters , mix in a couple of cups of filter aid and watch it filter , when the syrup slows down slide the top paper filter out and the syrup starts moving again. I would say it was at least 3 to 4times faster than without the filter aid

[RileySugarbush]

Does anyone have experience with filter aid in a cone filter? Does it help?

[500592]

I have heard on here that it helps a lot but I have not tried and I probaly should

[Kev]

I use it, and mix it in right after draw off. then pour through a prefilter and then into a cone filter. By next year I will have made a filter "tower" and use the cone prefilter inside the orlon cone.
anyone know of a valid reason a hobbiest could not use a N.I.B. section of stainless flue pipe for the filtering container wraped with bubble insulation?