best size coffee urn for filter/canning?

[oldboyscout]

What's the best bet for urn size to use the typical cone filter with? I've not compared these closeup but it seems a 100 cup urn would fit the cone filter inside? Any thoughts?
thanks!

[psparr]

Doesn't need to fit inside. Here's a picture of someone else's setup. I filter the same way. Works well. Mine is a 100 cup and the filter would be too low in the urn. 6971

[oldboyscout]

6989
my filters fit nicely into a bucket which worked well for me in the past, but the syrup gets cold and slows filtering. I'm hoping to keep it hot by keeping it in the urn. This is a borrowed 42 cup urn, and the bucket fits down to the 18 cup line, so there'd be 102oz of syrup below the filter. I could put some screws in the side of the bucket to rest it on the urn top a little higher. I haven't been doing this long, but a gallon of syrup seems to be what I make per batch. Should I go for a 60 cup instead? Does this make sense?

[psparr]

As long as you preheat the urn and cover the filter with a lid, you should be in good shape. Be sure to use prefilters they really help filter faster.

[DanE.]

I have used a 42 cup for the last few years, setting the filters inside of the urn. nothing but the urn supporting them.

Just as an fyi, if you are looking for a in expensive urn take a look at your local salvation army or rescue mission store. I stop in at on a week or two in Syracuse and there were a h=few real nice urns for under 5.00$ 42 cup and 60cup.


Dane.

[jd maple]

I have a smaller urn but with my special order bucket top that fits perfectly on the rim and between the handles. The filter is just at the top of the urn and i cut the bottom out of the bucket. It's works great. 7013

[bstewar]

This past season I used a 110 cup Avantco stainless urn. I wanted to maximize the syrup space so I used some sheet metal and added to the cylinder height. I fastened the additional metal using the two side handles. Removed the handles, inserted the sheet metal as a cylinder and reattached the handles to secure. I use the cone filter with 3 pre filters and secure with spring clips. I bring syrup to density on the evaporator, draw off and pour into the filters. Once I'm done on the evaporator for the night I turn on the urn and bring it to 195 and shut off. If I notice the temp dropping, I turn it on for few moments. The syrup did not produce any nitre as I did bottle in some glass. Between cleanings I did notice some sugars forming in the bottom well where the heating element is. I checked density at the evaporator but not as I bottled. I figured if density was affected it was negligible....I hope. This is a lesson learned. If I keep the set up and don't go to flat filter/canner, I will be running the brew cycle with water, dump and filter into the urn.

I picked up this urn new on Ebay for about $50.

[Sugar Daddy]

After getting some ideas from this thread, I modified a coffee urn essentially the same way that bstewar did. I picked up a 100 cup coffee maker - that had been returned - from a kitchen supply dealer for $40. I fashioned a 12" cylinder from a roll of aluminum flashing (cleaned it up very well before using it) and attached it as an extension to the top of the coffee maker. Wrapped the whole thing in foil faced bubble wrap insulation. Filters are secured with clips to the top of the cylinder. Unfortunately the cover that came with the coffee maker doesn't fit the modified top, so I covered the top with a sheet of plastic (as a vapor barrier) and a piece of thick cardboard wrapped in a beach towel. That did an adequate job of sealing the top, but I'd like to have a cover that's just a single piece and makes a better seal (before next year I'm going to try insulting a frying pan cover).

I'm a batch producer and typically filter batches that are between 3 and 5 gallons. Using this rig this season was such a time-saver. I was able to filter an entire batch through a set of filters, then bottle the syrup and swap out filters all while the next batch was finishing on the finishing pan.

As for the best size coffee urn for filtering/canning, the 100 cup is sweet. The filters hang just into the urn, allowing for the entire capacity of the urn for filtered syrup. It's the perfect size for the volume of syrup I process at one time. Another nice feature of the 100 cup urn is the sight tube - no guessing how full the urn is.

Thanks to all those who posted information about their coffee urns here to give me some ideas to work with.

783078317832

[nymapleguy607]

I'm not sure of your setups but if you can draw off the evaporator while its running its easiest to filter it right there. I have a stand that holds the filter under my draw off valve and once it geys to density I start drawing right into the filter and into some stock pots. Once there filled you check the density a final time and adjust if necessary, then you could put it in your urn and bottle.

[bstewar]

Filtering off the evaporator makes good sense. I am transferring the syrup right away from the draw off pail to the urn and allow it to filter. I too noticed my cover doesn't fit quite right. I use the cover with clean shop rags to hold the heat in.

S Daddy' your setup is identical to mine minus the insulation. Nice touch. My suggestion to all is clean the urn every use to avoid any sugar crystals on the heating element. The sugars will cause the internal relay/fuse to trip....often.

[oldboyscout]

well I did end up getting a 42 cup urn, and fitting a sap bucket with the bottom cut off. It worked pretty well, but still slow. Still have to fashion a lid, and I see some insulation would be good.
It bothers me a little that the heating element is just that little spot on the bottom. Seems like it must overheat the syrup some. That must be why I see threads about the water jacketed ones.
Right now I prefilter off the evaporator into a kettle, then finish on a propane burner. I'm only doing a gallon or so at a time.
If this works well next year then I may move onto a 100 cup.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.