Sugar settling after opening

[Springfield Acer]

I am having a problem with sugar accumulation in the bottom of my mason jars after I open it and then put it in the fridge.
I can get as much as a one inch rock in the bottom of the jar. I boil to 219 to 220 depending on my hydrometer at exactly 211* and immediately filter thru four paper filters and an eight qt wool cone. I try to bottle at 190 to 195 which I understand is too high. Could this be the problem? Do I need to filter below 190*?

[SPILEDRIVER]

filtering at 190 isnt your problem,i draw off and filter rite off the evap when the hydrometer says its done.my guess is your hydrometer is off and your boiling it down to far(only reason youd get sugar)i bottle at 190 to 200 all the time so thats not your problem either.do you reheat your syrup befor bottleing?if you do dont take it back to a boil because that will do it to

[PerryW]

[QUOTE=Springfield Acer;183932]I am having a problem with sugar accumulation in the bottom of my mason jars after I open it and then put it in the fridge.
I can get as much as a one inch rock in the bottom of the jar. I boil to 219 to 220 depending on my hydrometer at exactly 211* and immediately filter thru four paper filters and an eight qt wool cone. I try to bottle at 190 to 195 which I understand is too high. Could this be the problem? Do I need to filter below 190*?[/QUOTE


If it's really sugar (not nitre or sugar sand) then either your hydrometer is off, or your syrup is evaporating more during the filtering process ( after you take your reading.) you could testing a hydrometer cup of syrup at your bottling temp, just remember to measure the temperature of the syrup and use the chart to correct the density.

[Springfield Acer]

Maybe my hydrometer is off.... Is there anyway to test the calibration?
I do my bottling by putting my syrup in a turkey fryer on the kitchen stove and maintaining about 190*. It never gets close to a boil and it usually never gets below 180 between finishing, filtering, and bottling.
Is the sugar/sand a typical indication of boiling it down too far?
My thermometer usually says 220 (no decimal point even though I bought it from the Maple Guys) when the hydrometer is on the red hot line and the temp is at 211*.
I assumed that if anything the thermometer was less accurate than the hydrometer.

[John c]

I'm new to the hydrometer side of things, but from what I've heard and read there is a chance that the paper inside the hydrometer can start to "settle" and/or "drop". I think it would be cool to "etch" the glass on the hydrometer where the "hot test line" is when it is new just to see how the paper "settles" over time.
Since I boil in 1 gallon batches on a flat pan...I found that I turn the heat off when the "hot test line" just starts to show because by the time I filter, reheat, and jar it up it evaporates out just right.

[happy thoughts]

If it's rock like rock candy crystals and not sludge and not showing up until you refrigerate then imho that says you probably cooked it too much and it's past correct density.

From a previous discussion it sounds like the pros keep several hydrometers and test them against each other.

[Springfield Acer]

Thanks for the info. I may try my hydrometer with someone else's to see how it compares. For now, I'll shoot for 1% lighter. And yes the sugar on the bottom is rock hard not sludge.