Re-botting help please

[MustardSeedMum]

I've been finishing off small amounts of syrup (1 quart) at a time. Because I didn't want to waste any going through the filter, I just poured it into quart mason jars. My plan is to wait until I have a decent amount of syrup before I send it through the orlon filter.

My questions are:
1) Should I refrigerate or freeze the syrup in the meantime,
2) When I re-heat this syrup before filtering & bottling (& sealing) - to what temperature do I take the syrup back up to? 219F or 185F or ???
3) Will this affect the syrup in any way, using this method?

Thanks so much in advance

[wnybassman]

1) If you brought it to the correct syrup density the first time and got the lids and rings secured while hot you should not have to keep cold after that.
2) What I used to do is bring it to very near boil again, provided it was the correct density the first time. The hotter the better for getting it through the filter as quick as possible.
3) They say reheating like that will take the grade down a notch, but I never really noticed that.

[MustardSeedMum]

Thanks wnybassman.
The thing is that the first time I'm bottling - I'm not filtering out the sand (so I don't lose syrup through the filter). So I end up with a layer of gunk and sand at the bottom of the jar, which I want to eventually filter out.

I want to at least a couple of gallons through the filter at one go, rather than a quart at a time, to minimize syrup loss.

So when you say near boil, is that 7 over boiling temp?

[wnybassman]

So when you say near boil, is that 7 over boiling temp?

I don't think that temp matters much at this point. More important once you reach the temp you want to filter at that you do it quick so you don't evaporate any more and get the syrup too dense. It might be best to give the whole thing a check again with the hydrometer just to make sure everything combined gives you the results you want. In that case bringing it back to a boil would be best.

[PerryW]

I've been finishing off small amounts of syrup (1 quart) at a time. Because I didn't want to waste any going through the filter, I just poured it into quart mason jars. My plan is to wait until I have a decent amount of syrup before I send it through the orlon filter.

My questions are:
1) Should I refrigerate or freeze the syrup in the meantime,
2) When I re-heat this syrup before filtering & bottling (& sealing) - to what temperature do I take the syrup back up to? 219F or 185F or ???
3) Will this affect the syrup in any way, using this method?

Thanks so much in advance

Yes, refrigerate it. May not be necessary, but if you have room, refrigerate it.

Normally, I would NOT heat above 200 F but since you are not worried about the formation of sugar sand (becasue you are filtering anyway), I would bring it just to a boil to maximize the heat (and Make filtering easier)

Will not affect the syrup.

[Flat47]

Bottle syrup at 180 to 190 degrees. Any higher and you may create more niter to be filtered out. Any lower and you'll risk mold.
Get a copy of the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual (from places like Leader or Bascoms) - it is a wealth of knowledge for every level of producer.
In the Producer's Manual and on-line (google it) is a temp/density conversion chart so you don't need to bring your syrup back to 211 to hot test it with a hydrometer. You can test it at any temp and use the chart to correct for temp.

[PerryW]

if you're not selling the syrup, you could also consider just letting the sugar sand settle out in the fridge and (carefully) pouring off the clear syrup on top. That's right, skip the filtering process entirely.

[happy thoughts]

Bottle syrup at 180 to 190 degrees. Any higher and you may create more niter to be filtered out. Any lower and you'll risk mold.
Get a copy of the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual (from places like Leader or Bascoms) - it is a wealth of knowledge for every level of producer.
In the Producer's Manual and on-line (google it) is a temp/density conversion chart so you don't need to bring your syrup back to 211 to hot test it with a hydrometer. You can test it at any temp and use the chart to correct for temp.

But she hasn't filtered yet. Hotter syrup will go through the filter better. But yes, once filtered you don't want to bring the temp past 200F or risk more niter. Optimal temp for bottling is around 185F.

And mustardseedmom- you definitely want to keep it refrigerated until it is bottled and sealed. At this point, I'd treat it just as you would a sealed bottle of syrup that has been opened. You would always keep a sealed bottle refrigerated after opening.

[happy thoughts]

And I agree with perry, you could just let it settle out and skip the filtering though at some point you're going to want to get any quantity safely bottled and sealed under the recommended guidelines for packing. A little niter in the jar isn't going to hurt unless your sap/syrup has been exposed to lead somewhere.

[MustardSeedMum]

Thank you very much everyone for your help. That helps a lot.

[Flat47]

But she hasn't filtered yet. Hotter syrup will go through the filter better. But yes, once filtered you don't want to bring the temp past 200F or risk more niter. Optimal temp for bottling is around 185F.

And mustardseedmom- you definitely want to keep it refrigerated until it is bottled and sealed. At this point, I'd treat it just as you would a sealed bottle of syrup that has been opened. You would always keep a sealed bottle refrigerated after opening.

Agreed. Syrup right off the evaporator filters the fastest.

[wnybassman]

I may have misunderstood her. I thought she put the syrup into canning jars and I assumed she put the lids and rings on. That's what I used to do years ago, and 6 months later I took them out of the closet and reboiled, and filtered it to re-bottle.

[Mikeh]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you heat it up to 210 and filter immediately, won't the first few cups or pints of syrup get through the filter at a temp over 180? Then it will just form more niter post filtering... Granted the majority of the syrup will be below 180 when it gets through the filter but that first portion could generate more sand/niter. At least that's what I'm thinking...

I'm planning to do exactly the same thing, store in mason jars and reheat/filter once I have a gallon or two.

[PerryW]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you heat it up to 210 and filter immediately, won't the first few cups or pints of syrup get through the filter at a temp over 180? Then it will just form more niter post filtering... Granted the majority of the syrup will be below 180 when it gets through the filter but that first portion could generate more sand/niter. At least that's what I'm thinking...

I'm planning to do exactly the same thing, store in mason jars and reheat/filter once I have a gallon or two.

I filter my syrup directly off the evaporator. It pours directly into the flat filter at a full raging boil and seems to come out clear. I think it is the act of reheating the syrup creates the niter, not syrup just sitting there above 200 deg.

WHen reheating, areas near the burner have to get much hotter then 200 to allow heating of the batch to take place..


Of course, my syrup gets filtered again anyway when I reheat, standardize and package the jugs..